One hitter by Lilly, who pitched 7, then the bullpen managed an earned run on no more hits. Cubs are one hell of a “road” team. 
I suspect that the roof in Milwaukee was part of the reason the park was picked, but really, the weather was not going to be bad in St. Louis. And since they didn’t sell tix for the upper deck in Milwaukee, it obviously wasn’t an issue of making money. Astros will feel righteously hosed.
The Astros have nobody to blame but themselves. They knew as of Thursday that a hurricane was bearing down on Houston, and they could have arranged in advance to move the games. They chose not to. One of the reasons given was that the players didn’t want to leave their homes and families. I don’t know how many players even have homes and families in Houston but on their salaries surely they could have paid to take their families with them, if MLB refused to do it for them.
Instead they clung to the asinine and delusional hope that they could stay put and resume play on Sunday in a hurricane-ravaged city, as if nothing had happened. Yeah, right. As a result the players had to spend two sleepless nights riding out a hurricane, then fly at the last minute to an unfriendly park and bat .019. Serves them right.
The way I heard it going down placed more blame on the Astros’ owner for delaying the decision.
Here’s one column.
I agree, even if the players wanted their families out, ultimately that’s the owners call and he screwed it up completely.
I don’t see how. Outside of Houston, where the game could not have been played, I can’t think of anyone other than Brewers fans who have a greater interest in seeing the Cubs lose that game. Sounds like as close to home field advantage as the Astros were going to get.
Oh, yeah, the stadium was just PACKED with Brewers fans there to watch the Cubs lose. :rolleyes:
NOT. :smack:
And, actually, had they played in St. Louis, you might well have seen Cardinals fans there ready to cheer on the Astros; the Cardinals’ fans are MUCH more likely to be Cub haters than the much more new to the situation Brewers’ fans.
I never said it was packed. I asked what stadium was more likely to have home field advantage. I can’t think of one.
St Louis certainly crossed my mind. And if it was the Red Sox-Yankees ‘rivalry’ then I think that would be the case. But the Cubs-Cards rivalry has always struck me in a different way. The Cards fans I know well are fully willing to participate in Cubs-ribbing, but also I am surprised at the number of them who have come up to me (while in my Mark Grace jersey) to tell me that if they can’t see the Cards make the post season this year, they are glad it is going to be the Cubbies. Every time I have experienced the rivalry, it is intense, but also involves a lot of (grudging) respect. I know I hope the Cards win the World Series if they are the NL representative.
I’m bummed that I missed this. I was flying home from Vegas during the game and didn’t get to see a single pitch of the first Cubbies No-No in my lifetime. Crap! That combined with the Bears implosion that I did watch at the Sports Book makes for a disappointing Sunday of sports.
I’m hard pressed to see what better solution the Astros’ wanted here. Their stadium was messed up and there isn’t another venue that would have provided them with anything resembling a home-field advantage. If the Brewers fans had their self-interests in mind they’d have been there cheering against the Cubbies, but I’m guessing that any “neutral” site would have become a huge pro-Cubs crowd the second a no-no was in the making. Who’s to say that had Big Z not gotten on that role the venue wouldn’t have been a pro-Astros crowd. I don’t think too many Cubs fans made the drive considering how screwed up the Chicago area is with the flooding and weather afterall.
Perhaps they could have played in comparatively empty Atlanta or Kansas City stadium but that would have still been a Cubs crowd. What better scenario is there? They should be pissed at their ownership and Mother Nature. This is one case where Selig and MLB isn’t really at fault.
Apparently, WGN America will be re-televising the no-hitter, beginning at 11pm Eastern on Friday.
And tonight, he was in the booth with Len & Bob, doing the same thing!
awesome!
This is true to a point (said as a life-long Cards fan). It is certainly much more civil than the Yankees/Red Sox rivalry (said as someone who went to college in Boston). However, if the Cubs are in the NLCS or WS I will wholeheartedly root against them. The Cubs just aren’t the Cubs if they actually, you know, win! I think the respect you are seeing from Cards fans is just satisfaction in the knowledge that we have 10 WS flags, and haven’t had to wait 100 years for the last one.
I think had the game been in STL you would have seen the same thing as in Mil, except that there would have been a not-insignificant number of Cards fans just looking to watch some good baseball. They would have started out booing the Cubs, but as the no-hitter progressed would have been cheering along - we just love good baseball.
Let’s assume they would have moved it to Arizona. This is a big area for Midwestern transplants and the Cubs have their spring training facility here. Probably would have been a 100% Cubs crowd here as well.
No, they wouldn’t. The Brewers don’t have a hope in hell of winning the division. Their only chance is the wild card, for which Houston is (or at least, was) one of the competitors.
I was kind of shocked hearing an interview with the Brewers ex-manager, Yost, on Sportscenter today when he essentially said he hoped they could get the Wild Card. I know winning the division is unlikely, but to concede it already - when the Cubs play the Brewers 5 more times this season???
Well, he’s not the manager any longer. He’s being realistic.
I’m not the manager of the Diamondbacks, but I know it would take a miracle for them to win the NL West now. Yost knows that the Brewers best chance is the wild card and they have to do well to get it. They’re not likely to play undefeated baseball from now until the end of the season. If they don’t have Ben Sheets, they may not have a chance at all.