The Chicago Cubs were having a heck of a sixth inning Sunday afternoon at Wrigley Field. A few minutes earlier, Miguel Montero had hit a tie-breaking grand slam before teammates practically pushed him out of the dugout so he could make good on a curtain-call request by the home crowd. Montero grabbed a teammate's cap, took a couple of steps up, and obliged.
Two batters later, it was Jonathan Herrera's turn. Or so he was led to believe.
Herrera lined a solo home run to right, his second of the season, and Wrigley let out a collective roar as he rounded the bases. The noise died down significantly by the time Herrera had reached the dugout. Another 30-40 seconds had passed, and a pitch had been thrown to the next batter, by the time Anthony Rizzo was encouraging Herrera to take his own curtain call. So he stepped out and waved to the fans:
Just because Anthony Rizzo tells you to do something, that doesn't mean you do it! If he said to jump off the Wrigley Building, would you do it? Well, maybe Jonathan Herrera would!
Even if some fans had wanted to coax Herrera out of the dugout, nobody could be heard making any such demand. Rizzo took a left turn for the tunnel, and the rest of the Cubs dugout cracked up. The Cubs won 6-4. Well, when you're 78-57 and on the verge of a playoff berth, this is the kind of silly stuff that helps make it a memorable season.
Jonathan Herrera and the curtain call no one asked for. Oh, you Cubs.
