Ben Stiller, Vince Vaughn and company stumble upon an alien invasion and play Batman to their town as the vigilantes known as the neighborhood watch.
The gang shoots down an alien, after using several bullets, to which the alien squirms and fights for its dear life. Even when it appears to be dead, Stiller and Vaughn comically continue to shoot the alien out of fear that the alien could still come back to life. The thing just wouldn't die.
As I watched game 3 of the National League Division Series, one thing became increasingly clear- the San Francisco Giants are the annoying alien that never seems to die, defying every logical reason that they should be gone. In other words, they aren't dead until somebody actually chops their head off and puts them to bed.
Over the course of game 3, Cubs fans experienced a wide range of emotions, all the way from pure ecstasy and hope to bitter heartbreak and despair. The threat was real. It had felt as if the Cubs had stopped firing the gun and allowed the alien to get up and walk around.
Suddenly we were all reminded just how great of an empire the Giants have built. Midway through the 2010's, the Giants had already collected three rings- all in even-numbered years. The Giants had won each way imaginable, including a 2014 Wild Card run finishing in a game 7 thriller. With a 10-game win streak in elimination games, we knew exactly what the Bay Area Bombers were capable of.
Game 3 slipped out of the Cubs' fingers and with the Giants nursing a comfortable three-run lead a night later, panic set in for fans. A couple of guys were texting me wanting to talk about what the Cubs needed to do in the off-season- all this, with the Cubs still holding the 2-1 lead in the series. Yet at the time, it didn't seem so crazy; it felt like the Cubs were going to be the Giants' latest prey.
What happened next is something I haven't fully digested yet. Backed in to a corner, the Cubs offense came up big and knocked in four runs to take a 6-5 lead. Less than 24 hours after blowing game 3, Chapman made up for his mistakes and the Cubs were going to the NLCS. The alien had finally been obliterated.
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| Photo via AP |
Through four series', the Cubs had never won a playoff game in the pacific time zone, much less eliminated a west coast team from the playoffs. Ever. In the back of my mind, somewhere, there is my memory of the 2007 and 2008 playoffs, where the Cubs got swept in back-to-back NLDS's by the Diamondbacks and Dodgers.
Then there's the one time the Cubs have faced the Giants in the playoffs, in '89- when they split 1-1 at home, and got embarrassed on the west coast. And who can forget '84? My parents did an excellent job of shielding me from the misery that was '84 and the Cubby-killer that was Steve Garvey, until I stumbled upon one of the San Diego games last year on ESPN Classic. Oh, the evil and disturbing things you see in college.
But after a century and a quarter, the Cubs have gotten over another hump. And what better than to do it against a team that's a modern dynasty? A team that won its last 10 elimination games and possesses the indisputable, without argument, best postseason pitcher of the era? And what better way than to do it in dramatic, comeback fashion?
As the victory began to sink in, I started to think back to the 80s and 90s NBA Eastern Conference. Teams had to wait and pay their dues before they could be the new sheriff. Isiah had to wait through Bird's Celtics. Jordan had to get past Isiah's Pistons. Everyone else had to wait until Jordan stepped away from basketball (twice) to get their chance to reign supreme. The Knicks and Pacers, led by alpha dogs Reggie and Ewing, got to the top of the Eastern Conference, but only after Jordan was done running them over.
And now, for the National League in an even-numbered year of the 2010s, the Giants are finally out of the picture, and it's someone else's turn.
Fear David!
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