That Game Was Crazy and Historic Even Before the Ending, Epstein’s Status, and Other Cubs Bullets

I don’t know that I’d intended to stay up for all of Game 4 last night – if I’d fallen asleep watching in the chair, that would’ve been fine. Or at least, that was my thinking in advance. But then the game just got so nuts with the back and forth and back and forth, and that was BEFORE the insane ending.

•   The win probability chart sums it up:

•   Enjoy the highlights if you missed the game or just want to enjoy it again:

•   Why Kenley Jansen just stood there and watched the whole play unfold at the end, I’ll never understand. As soon as Chris Taylor booted the ball (if not sooner), there’s just no reason not to get behind home plate. Would it have made a difference? Impossible to say. But there’s really no reason to just be wandering around off the mound.

•   Dave Roberts is going to get a whole lot of grief for removing a cruising Julio Urias so early in the game – after which the Dodgers bullpen kept giving it up – and I don’t have enough intimate knowledge of the usage plans for Urias to comment intelligently. I just know that Roberts is already so deeply under the microscope for his playoff decisions that if the Dodgers were to go on to lose this series, I wouldn’t at all be surprised to see him fired, justifiable or not.

•   Anyone think Clayton Kershaw is feeling some pressure for tonight’s 7pm CT Game 5 start?

•   I am contractually obligated to get at least ONE Cubs thing into the “Cubs Bullets,” so I’ll make it this: in the article about the change at assistant hitting coach (Termel Sledge is out after two years), The Athletic duo of Sahadev Sharma and Patrick Mooney added yet another line in the vein we talked about at the end of last week: that it’s still not a lock that Theo Epstein is actually still with the Cubs next season. Here’s their section on that:

This may also be Theo Epstein’s last series of exit interviews and strategy sessions with the Cubs. Though Epstein has signaled that he expects to finish the final year of his contract as president of baseball operations, he also hasn’t publicly guaranteed that outcome.

•   Now with multiple articles from multiple media at multiple outlets, we can say pretty firmly that, yes, Epstein departing the Cubs this offseason is still on the table. The expectation might yet be that he returns for the final year of his contract in 2021 to help guide the transition, but clearly, there are still conversations being had/considerations being made. If there weren’t, we wouldn’t see informed and connected media continuing to sleep in these “by the way” sections into otherwise unrelated articles.

•   It remains so crazy that this is the view of the guy who scored the walk-off run:

•   Another view of the final play:

•   Believe it or not, a walk-off error had happened four times before, with today being an anniversary of one you know well:

•   That game was historic even before the 9th:

•   Man, baseball is fun, wow:

•   Last call:

written by

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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