Oct. 07--The Cubs arrived at PNC Park for Tuesday's wild-card game workout ready for anything that came their way.
So when a local TV reporter asked Anthony Rizzo which team had more pressure on them, Rizzo calmly responded: "Not us. We have zero pressure."
"So that would be them, then?" the reporter asked.
Correct.
"This is a fun situation," Rizzo said. "This is something everyone should enjoy. We're going to give our best. We're ready to go have a good time."
They're already off to a good start, fun-wise at least.
Starting pitcher Jake Arrieta has been busy messing with Pirates' fans on Twitter, riling up the town like he was promoting a heavyweight boxing match.
"It's all in good fun," Arrieta said. "I don't mean anything negative toward anybody. It's kind of a build-up to the game. You have two very passionate fan bases. ... Just a neat way to start interaction within the fan bases. It's something I like to do."
Jon Lester said whatever it takes to get Arrieta in the right mindset is OK by the rest of them.
"If that's the way he goes about it and gets himself ready, he's my teammate and I'll be behind him no matter what," Lester said. "There's nothing better than a little good trash-talking once in a while. It's all in good fun. We all know these fans are going to be amped up.
"That why you play 162 (games), to get here and to see that aura of the stadium change from a game in July that possibly doesn't matter, to this one (Wednesday) night."
Expect the unexpected when you watch the Cubs in the postseason.
It's a rare occurrence, and it's easy to miss the small moments while looking at the big picture.
"Sometimes you shouldn't bother trying to explain the moment," reliever Terry Mulholland said after the Cubs won the 1998 tiebreaker game against the Giants. "You just have to enjoy it."
Agreed. I've been a part of the Tribune's Cubs playoff coverage for six appearances since 1984 and have seen enough crazy things to last a lifetime.
I climbed a tree on Waveland Avenue for Game 2 of the 1984 NLCS to interview a fan watching the game from a branch, then watched Cubs fans ripping a Padres' jersey off a man and burning it outside of Murphy's Bleachers.
Mark Grace almost single-handedly carried the Cubs' offense in the 1989 NLCS, hitting .674 with eight RBIs, only to have Giants star Will Clark hit .650 with eight RBIs to lead San Francisco to a 4-1 triumph in the best-of-seven series.
We all cringed in '98 as center fielder Brant Brown dropped a fly ball with two outs in the ninth to lose a crucial stretch drive game in Milwaukee, prompting President Andy MacPhail to wail: "Now I've seen everything." But the Cubs managed to get into the wild-card tiebreaker game and, after beating the Giants, Brown proclaimed: "I'm the big fish that got away."
In 2003 I saw Kerry Wood sneak into a hallway at Turner Field after clinching the Cubs' first playoff series victory since 1908 to call ailing broadcaster Ron Santo, who could not travel.
"We love you Ronnie," Wood said. "We wouldn't be here without you."
And in '08, reporters waded through the flooded visitors' dugout at Dodgers Stadium after a Cubs' player busted the water pipes with a bat after the Dodgers' sweep.
Whether the Cubs are one-and-done or go a long way this postseason, there are going to be more of these moments -- good, bad or bittersweet -- that won't soon be forgotten.
Pirates third baseman Aramis Ramirez experienced three postseasons as a Cub, and always heard someone come up with an excuse afterward.
"Whoever wins the World Series has to be hot in the playoffs," Ramirez said Tuesday. "I don't think the best team wins all the time. So I don't think the billy goat or Bartman had anything to do with that."
Rest assured the Cubs will be ready. Rizzo said their confidence level is "through the roof" whenever Arrieta pitches, while veteran backup catcher David Ross predicted the young Cubs' players won't show signs of nerves.
"Those guys are used to the spotlight," Ross said. "They're young heroes in Chicago already."
It's time to create some new memories.
Are you ready for whatever?
psullivan@tribpub.com
