Saturday, July 2, 2016

Bryant vs. Ryno

This past Monday (June 27, 2016), Cubs phenom Kris Bryant had a game for the ages.  He set a record for a franchise that has been around for 140 years.  No one in the history of the Chicago National League Ball Club had ever accumulated 16 total bases in one game.  No one.  We're talking about team wonders:  Dave Kingman, Mark Grace, Hank Sauer, Stan Hack.  We're talking steroid cheats:  Sammy Sosa, GlenAllen Hill, Marlon Byrd.  We're talking about Hall of Famers,  Ernie Banks, Ron Santo, Billy Williams, Cap Anson, Andre Dawson.  And we're talking about Ryne Sandberg.

In the game on Monday (won by the Cubs 11-8 over the Cincinnati Reds), Bryant went 5 for 5 with THREE, count'em three homers and two doubles.  Drove in six runs, scored four times.  Bryant had a pretty good week on Monday.

Thirty two years and four days earlier, Ryne Sandberg had a game for the ages.  He went 5 for 6, two homeruns, drove in seven runs and scored twice.  Accumulated 11 total bases.

Now just looking at the those simple numbers you can make arguments.

Bryant had a better game:  Didn't make an out.  16 Total Bases.  Scored four runs.  Hit three homeruns.
Sandberg had a better game:  Drove in seven runs.  Well, based solely on the numbers, that's about the only argument you can make for Sandberg.

Yet the game Sandberg played in on Saturday, June 23rd 1984 (I didn't have to look up the date or the day) has endured historically for going on thirty-three years.  It has become LEGENDARY.  It launched an icon, an entire team and possibly a Hall of Fame induction.

Bryant's game was superior yet my belief is that it will fade into the franchise history to be mentioned along side of Tuffy Rhodes hitting three homeruns on Opening Day, Monday April 4, 1994 (I DID have to look up that day and date) off of Dwight Gooden.

Why?  Why would a historic performance like Bryant's not be considered THE GAME of the decade?  I have some thoughts.  I could be right (possible), I could be wrong (probable).  I'll let you decide.

Who Was Watching:  June 23rd, 1984 the Cubs played the Cardinals at Wrigley Field on NBC's National Game of the Week.  Bob Costas.  Tony Kubek.  This was before the MLB channel.  This was before ESPN picked up a baseball contract.  You either watched NBC's Game of the Week on Saturday or you watched your local affiliate to watch your local team.

Monday, June 27th, 2016 was a night game in Cincinnati.  To my knowledge the only live broadcast would have been the local Chicago and Cincinnati affiliates, and possibly a broadcast on the MLB package, if you subscribed, but even then you would tap into the Cincinnati or Chicago broadcast teams.

Expectations:  At the time of the game in 1984, the Cubs were in third place, one and a half games out of first - which for them was quite an accomplishment, and a record of 37-31, also quite an accomplishment.  Ten days earlier the Cubs acquired Rick Sutcliffe in a move that ultimately would launch them into the playoffs, but on June 23rd, no one knew that.  This still was a team that Dallas Green and Jim Frey were hoping would finish at .500.  Sandberg is in his third full season, and while most of Chicago can see he's something special (whether they are seeing it with their eyes or their heart at the time) he hadn't become RYNE SANDBERG to baseball . . . yet.  So this was a bit unexpected.

2016 the Cubs arrive anointed World Series Champions, even though they haven't sniffed a World Series game in 71 years and counting.  Kris Bryant is coming off a Rookie of the Year season last year and came to the Cubs as a very highly touted prospect.  Both he and Sandberg are 24 at the time of "their games".  Bryant is expected to do amazing things on the field, in the dugout and quite possibly in his sleep.

Context Of The Game:  After one and a half innings the Cubs were down 7-1*.  On National TV.  Against the rival Cardinals.  An emotional place many, many Cubs fans have been before.

*There are many interesting story lines aside from Ryne Sandberg's coming out party in the June 23rd, 1984 Cubs/Cardinals game.  We'll get to those below.

Sandberg hit his first homerun leading off the bottom of the 9th tying the game at 9.  Prior to that the Cubs had never led or been tied in the game.  Pretty good?  Yeah.  But why so great?  Wait for it.

He hit his second homerun of the game in the bottom of the 11th with two out and a runner on base to re-tie the game, this time at 11.

Bryant hit his first homerun in the 3rd inning putting the Cubs up 3-2.  His second homerun was in the 4th and gave the Cubs a 7-3 lead.  His third homerun was a solo shot in the 8th inning extending the Cubs lead to 8-7.

So while Bryant was having an amazing game and it turned out the Cubs pretty much needed every bit of offensive output he could muster, (final score 11-8) his last two homeruns gave the Cubs some scoring cushion.

Without Sandberg in the bottom of the 9th and again in the bottom of the 11th, Cub fans go home having watched a loss.

Hit It Off Who?:  The thing that elevated Sandberg into the stratosphere is that he stepped into the batter's box in the bottom of the 9th inning and faced Bruce Sutter.  Five time All-Star, Cy Young Award Winner, Four time league leader in Saves.  World Series Champion (with the Cardinals in 1982 where he won one game and saved two including Game 7).  Sutter was on his way to a career high of 45 Saves in 1984 and another (would be his 6th) All-Star appearance.  And Sandberg parked Sutter's pitch in the leftfield bleachers.

Then Sandberg came up in the in the 11th inning with two out, one on and his team trailing by two and faced . . . Sutter again.  And again he knocked it out of the park.

Bryant hit his homeruns off of Dan Straily, Dan Straily and Ross Ohlendorf.  Doesn't really have the same cache.

How Old Are You?:  Back in June of 1984 I was an impressionable, naive 18 year old.  Everything was bigger when it came to baseball and especially the Cubs.  My world revolved around them.  I certainly didn't have to concern myself with girls or a wide circle of friends as a distraction from absorbing everything about the Cubs into my soul.

June 2016 I'm 49.  Still a big Cubs fan but with a career and children, the Cubs don't absolutely dominate every part of my being anymore.  So on a personal level, the Sandberg game will always have a more lasting impact.

There could be other factors as well, but those are the one's that come readily to mind as to why Sandberg's game endures and Bryant's may well become a footnote.

As I mentioned, in 1984 the Cubs/Cardinals game had numerous story lines.  Some well documented, some not so much.

Something that was often overlooked immediately after the game but has since been mentioned consistently years after the fact - Willie McGee hit for the cycle.  In fact by the 7th or 8th inning it was customary for NBC to name a Player of the Game.  And so with the Cardinals leading and to that point Sandberg "only" having three singles in four at bats, NBC named Willie McGee the Player of the Game.  Not really a big deal since I think it was tied to some sponsorship thing and didn't really impact the players.  But after Sandberg's second homerun Costas commented to Kubek that they may need to rethink the Player of the Game honors.

Bruce Sutter, as the Cardinals CLOSER, entered the game IN THE BOTTOM OF THE 7TH INNING!  No one inning closing for Sutter.  This was before Tony LaRussa "invented" the 9th inning closer and Sutter, Gossage, etc. were closing games as early as the 7th inning.  Sutter pitched three and a third innings that day.

And perhaps my favorite story line.  The starting pitcher for the Cardinals that day was Ralph Citarella.  If you watch the broadcast and hear Tony Kubek say his name but you're not really paying attention it almost sounds like Ralph Cinderella.  But this wasn't a Cinderella story.  Citarella was staked to a 7-1 lead after two innings.  He pitched 5.1 innings, giving up five earned runs.  Not a great outing, but he did last long enough to qualify for the win.  And until Sandberg faced Sutter in the bottom of the 9th, Citarella was going to get the win.  But the Cardinals lost and Citarella received a No Decision.  Big deal, happens all the time right?  Starting pitchers lose win opportunities as often as the sun rises and sets.  But the point here is that Ralph Citarella NEVER won a major league game.  He appeared in three seasons for a total of 21 games and didn't record a win.  I often wonder if he thinks about this game and how close he came to winning a major league baseball game.