“Baseball Time Is Here Again”

In the words of Steve Goodman’s “Go Cubs Go,” “[b]aseball time is here again,” and even though you can sadly no longer “catch it all on WGN,” it still feels good.  It has been a long time coming, but last night Kyle Hendricks did what he could to make up for lost time: A nine-inning, three-hit, nine-strike out, complete game shutout victory over the Milwaukee Brewers.  3 to 0.  A two-hour thirty-minute game.  Baseball the way it is supposed to be played – except for the fact there was nobody in the stands.

It was great to be able to watch the game on the Marquee Network, but it was tough to not be there in person, though, per Jennie, it would not have seemed like Opening Day “without the foot warmers, blankets, and gloves.”  It was the first home opener I have missed since 1995, and one of just a few since I came back from law school in the summer of 1974 and went in 1975.  (In true home opener fashion, the 1975 game was delayed two days by snow, and there was still snow under the seats in the upper deck for the opener.)

Which brings up the last Opening day I couldn’t go to (until this year): 1974.  That was the last Cubs’ complete-game shutout on Opening Day¹ – until last night, at least.  Back then Bill Bonham threw a four-hit 2 to 0 gem that lasted two hours and nine minutes.  The Cubs got two runs in the first on a double, three walks, and two errors (it was, after all, 43 degrees), and that was it.

But it was the ninth inning of the two games that showed how baseball has changed.  Last night, Manager David Ross came to the mound in the ninth after Orlando Arcia got a single with two outs.  The trying run was on deck.  While Ross left Hendricks in (darn good thing), you sort of had the feeling that this was the last batter Kyle was going to face.   In 1974, Bonham entered the ninth with just a two-run lead.  After a double, an E5, and a bunt single, the Phillies had the bases loaded with nobody out.  The tying run was on second; the lead run on first.  But Bonham stayed in the game.  He struck out the next batter and then got a 1-2-3 double play to win the game and save the shutout.^2,3  As I said, different.

In any case, it is good to have baseball back.  Let’s hope they are able to get the whole season in.  

Finally, in honor of the last two opening day complete game shutouts in Cubs history, here are Bill Bonham (a 1977 card) and Kyle Hendricks (a 2013 Tennessee Smokies card):

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¹ I’m sure whether it is the first complete game shutout by a Cubs pitcher on Opening Day since 1974 or the first complete game, but it was at least the former.
² Ross said it would have been cooler if Bonham had struck out the side, like Mitch.
² To show you how bad the Cubs were in 1974, even though Bonham had a 3.81 ERA, he lost 22 games (he had an 11-22 record).  He was the last Cubs pitcher to lose 20 games.  The point is that you have to be at least a decent pitcher to lose 20 games because, it you’re not, you’re not going to get in enough games to lose 20.