The Cubs did something that hasn't been done in 92 years, and nobody wanted to talk about it Jeff Passan
MLB columnist
Oct 8, 2016, 11:35 PM
CHICAGO – Within seconds of Travis Wood bathing in congratulations from his Chicago Cubs teammates for doing something that hadn’t been done in more than 90 years, he was warned. Yeah, he had hit a postseason home run, which was great, and he happened to be a pitcher, which made it even greater, and on top of that he was a relief pitcher, which made it Halley’s Comet rare, but nobody wanted to hear about it.
Not because it wasn’t magnificent. Oh, it was. A 29-year-old pitcher, cast to the dutiful role of long reliever – the garbage man of the baseball world – getting to play hero for a night, and at Wrigley Field no less, in a 5-2 victory over the San Francisco Giants that staked the Cubs a 2-0 division series lead and left them one win from the National League Championship Series. Even if his 393-foot home run to left field off George Kontos served more as insurance than a deciding blow, that took nothing away from its glory. And yet because Travis Wood also happens to be an inveterate loudmouth, the sort who loves to talk about how good of a hitter he is, Cubs players struck pre-emptively to save themselves from an aural assault on the flight to San Francisco for Game 3.
“I already told him he’s not allowed to talk,” Cubs ace Jon Lester said.
“It’s gonna be a long ride,” fellow starter John Lackey said.
“It’s 4½ hours of listening to the recap of him hitting a homer,” Lester said.
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Poster Comment:
Will this be the year the "Curse of the Billy Goat" comes to an end?