Loves us some Jim Dalton and crew! Those guys play hard! Cubs just came to the field last night with hitting shoes on! Cubs amassed 20 hits and plated 17.
Cubs started Carlos Espada on the mound. Carlos worked out all winter on his pitching mechanics and trying different pitches. It paid off - threw all six innings giving up only 5 hits. Pirates tested him in the 4th inning where 4 of their 5 hits were swatted.
During that 4th inning, Carlos had a milli-second of doubt and said to his manager, "They're starting to hit me, skip - what do you want to do?" His manager paused, thoughtful and replied................"The world aint all sunshine and rainbows. Its a very mean and nasty place, and I dont care how tough you are, it will beat you to your knees and keep you there permanently if you let it. You, me, or nobody is gonna hit as hard as life. But it aint about how hard you hit. Its about how hard you can get hit and keep moving forward; how much you can take and keep moving forward. Thats how winning is done"! Needless to say, shut them down after the impassioned speech! :)
Highlights:
Cubs: - Carlos Espada - CG/got the win, 3 hits - Dave Mitchell - 4 hits (one being an adult triple) - Bryce Cutler - 2 hits - Jerry Rosen - 2 hits - Andy Hoyle - 2 hits - Sherwin So - 2 hits
Pirates: - John Haff - blasted a double to super deep left center (really good player/super nice guy) - Greg Allen - roped a screaming double down the LF line - I just call him "Legend" but his real name is Jim Dalton. Respectfully, he had the faceplant of the year while making every effort to leg out a groundball. He laughed so I'm hoping it's ok to retell the story. We love you, brother!
-- Edited by slounello on Friday 29th of May 2026 09:24:04 AM
