June 24--This is why God invented the video board, Cubs fans: The third out in the bottom of the second inning at Wrigley Field on Tuesday was a barehanded catch by a 29-year-old Cubs fan with an infant dangling in the crook of his other arm.
Fans inside the stadium got to watch it over and over on the gigantic left field screen, and they roared in delight every time.
Dodgers first baseman Adrian Gonzalez ran down a foul ball popped up by Cubs pitcher Jason Hammel but came up empty when Keith Hartley leaned over the rail and snatched the ball from the air. Seven-month-old Isaac, sucking contentedly on his bottle, didn't flinch.
This is also why God invented instant replay, by the way. The inning ended after officials reviewed the play, ruled it fan interference and awarded the Dodgers the out. Oh, to have had that option in the eighth inning of Game 6 of the 2003 National League Championship Series...
But never mind.
Fans could afford to be forgiving on Tuesday, with the score tied 0-0 and plenty of baseball left to play, on a beautiful summer evening with hope in the air. Nothing says "new beginning" like a diaper-clad Cubs fan with both hands on his bottle as Dad scores the souvenir of a lifetime.
(Seriously, though. Someone get that kid a Cubs hat.)
Cubs security officers visited Hartley's section to explain to him where the stands end and the field begins. But they didn't eject him.
Cubs manager Joe Maddon called the catch "outstanding." Dodgers manager Don Mattingly, who also has an infant son, said he "absolutely" could have made the play. Gonzalez allowed that it would have been more impressive "if the baby would have caught it."
How did Mom feel about Dad's heroic catch?
"I was a little bit scared that he was going to drop him," said his wife, Kari.
"She had complete faith in me," Hartley said.
The Cubs won it 1-0, with a walk-off in the 10th inning, putting them nine games over .500.
The highlight reels were all about Hartley's catch, with the obligatory archival footage of the Steve Bartman fiasco. Yes, you had to cringe.
If you were around in 2003, you can understand the calls for zero tolerance on spectator interference. Fans were all over social media on Tuesday night, insisting that Hartley should have been ejected.
Others complained that he'd put his son in harm's way by reaching for the ball. More than one commenter suggested a call should be made to the Department of Children and Family Services. Dodgers' play-by-play commentator Charley Steiner called Hartley "Daddy Dearest."
"Mister, there are bigger things in life than a foul ball," he said on the air. Oh, come on.
Watch the replay. The batter -- er, the baby -- was safe.
This is Isaac's rookie season as a baseball fan. His dad caught a foul ball for him on national television. The Cubs won -- in a spiffed-up stadium that is home to the most promising lineup since (pick your nightmare collapse). Let's just savor the moment.
The Cubs are .565 in Isaac's lifetime. How many people can say that?
