The most hyped regular-season pitching matchup at Wrigley Field in the last 30 years took place on June 7, 2003, when Kerry Wood faced his boyhood idol, Roger Clemens.
It was the first Yankees-Cubs series at Wrigley since the 1938 World Series, Clemens was going for his 300th win, and Wood and Clemens were two of the three pitchers at the time with a 20-strikeout game.
The nationally televised game somehow lived up to the hype, and Wood walked away with a 5-2 win and a memory to last a lifetime.
Monday’s meeting at Wrigley between Yu Darvish and former Cub Jake Arrieta didn’t have quite the pregame buzz as the Wood-Clemens showdown, but it still drew plenty of media attention on a chilly May night. Neither starter wound up with a decision as the Phillies won 5-4 in 10 innings.
“I imagine Jake is really excited about this start,” Phillies manager Gabe Kapler said before the game. “He accomplished really incredible things here in Chicago. A World Series ring, a Cy Young Award, the most dependable starter they had for the better part of two years … and the city adores him for that. And I think he wants to perform for the Philadelphia Phillies but also to remind everybody that he’s still capable of greatness.”
And also to remind the Cubs they made a mistake by not re-signing him?
“That sounds like something you’re saying,” Kapler replied.
Correct.
But any player who accomplished as much as Arrieta did as a Cub seemingly would want to show his former employers they made the wrong decision by letting him leave.
“Anything’s possible,” Kapler said.
Correct again.
Whether the Cubs made the wrong move in choosing Darvish over Arrieta is something that may be debated in Chicago for years to come, or at least until Darvish proves he can dominate the way he did for the Rangers. It’s not his fault he’s not Jake, but for $126 million he could at least outperform Edwin Jackson.
Arrieta, who allowed one run on eight hits over six innings in his return to Wrigley, remains a beloved player in Chicago. When he went out to the mound in the bottom first inning, with no sleeves, naturally, he was applauded by the many fans who’ve missed him, including Renee Fellman of Naperville.
“It’s very hard,” Fellman said from her seat down the first-base line. “I dreamt about Jake last night I was so excited about tonight.”
So who won?
“The Cubs, 1-0,” she said.
What did she think of Darvish?
“Ehh,” she said.
That response seemed about right. It was no surprise when Arrieta received more cheers than Darvish, and Arrieta milked the ovation when he received when stepped up to the plate in the third inning. After several seconds, Arrieta finally tipped his helmet to the fans and got into the box before Commissioner Rob Manfred could create a “no helmet-tipping” rule to improve the pace of play.
Darvish is still waiting for a collective hug from Cubs fans, though he has a few years to prove himself. He had shown a glimmer of promise his last start, striking out 11 and walking no one in a 5 1/3-inning outing against the Reds, and was sharp early on.
“We’ll see if he can get it going at home,” President Theo Epstein said before the game. “He had really good stuff and he threw strikes last time out. That was a good combo. Let’s see if he can do it again.”
Darvish did for the most part, pitching five shutout innings before allowing three runs in the sixth, winding up with seven strikeouts and three walks in six innings.
Darvish even received some “Yuu’s” Monday night after striking out Bryce Harper in the fourth inning. Harper naturally was booed all night for being Harper, probably by some fans who were upset he didn’t sign a 13-year deal with the Cubs.
The Cubs didn’t have enough money left and have been trying all season to get Darvish not to think, which is harder than it seems.
“Yu, he’s a thinker,” manager Joe Maddon said. “In spite of how I want him to think, it’s not going to happen that way, and I’m fine with that. He’s a bright young man and he’s got his own ways.”
Epstein insisted the matchup was not a “referendum” on the Cubs’ decision to sign Darvish or let Arrieta leave via free agency, adding Arrieta was deserving of the “warm embrace and the huge tip of the cap for everything he meant for all of us.”
There’s no doubt the Cubs would not have won a championship without Arrieta, and in a perfect world the Cubs would’ve signed him to a long-term deal before he got to free agency. But the same could be said about Maddon, and the Cubs aren’t in any rush to re-sign him before the end of his contract this year.
Hopefully he’ll be back and we won’t have to have one of these “welcome back” games for Maddon next year, with Maddon waving his cap from the opposing dugout.
But, as Kapler would say, anything’s possible.
Twitter @PWSullivan
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