The Missing Mascot and Other Bullets

Oct 16, 2013

The Little Boy has developed a new habit: screaming at the top of his lungs at one singular time between 3 and 4 am. We’re going to have to figure that one out.

With a 4-2 win yesterday over the Dodgers, the Cardinals now have a 3-1 lead in the NLCS. That’s the same lead they had last year over the Giants before losing three straight non-competitive games and bowing out of the playoffs. I doubt that happens again this year, but the Dodgers obviously have the pitching to make that happen.

Of the Dodgers’ win the night before, Carlos Beltran didn’t care for Yasiel Puig’s triple celebration, and gladly shared his thoughts on the subject. The guy got a big hit and he allowed his excitement for that fact to show through. Whoop-dee-do. For a fantastic, sarcastic takedown, here’s Deadspin.

The Dodgers have banned the Rally Bear – or, more accurately, the man in the Rally Bear costume – for six months’ worth of games at Dodger Stadium. Basically, the guy wanted to urge the Dodgers to have a mascot, so he dressed up as a bear and jumped on the dugout in the 8th inning of Game Three of the NLCS. He was escorted out, and promptly placed a decades-long curse on the organization (probably).

Apparently the Dodgers, together with the Yankees, Angels, and Cubs, are the only teams without a dressed-up, on-field-type mascot. I would have thought it was a few more teams than that. We’ve discussed it before, but I can’t remember how most folks landed: a mascot in the stands for the Cubs? Good thing? Bad thing? Meh thing? As a recent father of young children, I’d say I’ve probably shifted at least to “meh.” Kids love people dressed up as things, man.

Kris Bryant is your co-Player of the Week in the AFL for the first week. Albert Almora apparently didn’t get in enough action that first week to qualify, because he’s been all-universe, too. Indeed, Almora went 2-4 yesterday with another couple doubles. Jorge Soler went – you guessed it – 1-5, and had a double. Armando Rivero gave up an earned run on a couple hits in an inning of work.

“5 Outs” premiered last night on CSN, offering a take on the Cubs’ 2003 season and what happened in Game Six. As a non-local, I wasn’t able to watch, but there is related coverage on CSNChicago now, like a take on whether Dusty Baker screwed up by allowing Mark Prior to throw 116 pitches in Game Two of the NLCS when the Cubs were already up huge (they’d go on to win 12-3). Moises Alou, Aramis Ramirez, and Jim Hendry discuss the Bartman play and the aftereffects thereof. A handful of other Cubs and Marlins and broadcasters discuss the play.

Did you know that Jay Marrioti still writes things that people are supposed to read? In one piece about Game Six, he manages to rip the Cubs, Steve Bartman, Cubs fans, Chicagoans, the City of Chicago, and the Chicago media. And then he climbs atop his high horse about all the times he publicly humiliated Bartman but didn’t really want to do it, and would totally not do it again. It’s a laudable trait to realize when you’ve been wrong in the past. But to then pat yourself on the back for it? There’s a reason some folks become trees silently falling in the woods, and it ain’t because of a shadow conspiracy to run them out of town.

written by

Brett Taylor

Brett Taylor is the Lead Cubs Writer at Bleacher Nation, and you can find him on Twitter at @BleacherNation and on LinkedIn here. Brett is also the founder of Bleacher Nation, which opened up shop in 2008 as an independent blog about the Chicago Cubs. Later growing to incorporate coverage of other Chicago sports, Bleacher Nation is now one of the largest regional sports blogs on the web.

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