by Bob Secter and Rick Pearson
In this age of the political confessional, presidential candidates have revealed past drug use and hinted at marital infidelities.
But the tell-all revealed by Republican presidential candidate Rudy Giuliani as he campaigned in the Chicago area Thursday was shocking for a candidate trying to win over a state of cynical and superstitious baseball fans.
“The last time I was at Wrigley Field -- you won’t want me to come back -- was the sixth game of the playoffs a couple of years ago,” Giuliani acknowledged.
To be specific, that was the night in 2003 that the Cubs appeared to have the National League Championship series clinched until a fan snagged a foul ball out of the hands of left field Moises Alou and the game unraveled.
For the record, Giuliani does not go by the alias Steve Bartman. The former New York mayor said he was sitting in the stands wearing a Yankees hat and jacket, and the fans around him “thought I was a spy.” The Yankees then were playing the Boston Red Sox in the playoffs and it looked at the time like a Yankees-Cubs World Series might be in the offing.
While Giuliani was revealing painful baseball secrets, his fellow New Yorker -- Sen. Hillary Clinton -- was at a Chicago fundraiser but tiptoeing once again around her baseball allegiances in the playoffs.
Clinton, who grew up in Park Ridge a diehard Cubs fan, contends she’s also had a long affinity for the Yankees, who are from the state which voted her into the Senate.
“The last time we faced this really historic moment, I said it was like a no-hit game and I didn’t want to talk about,” said Clinton., who refused to say which team she’d root for if they both ended up in the World Series.
“The idea that there could be a World Series between them is more than I can imagine. I’m not going to comment on it. I’m just going to hold my breath and see what happens.”
She did, however, go out on a limb and admit a preference for the Cubs over the Diamondbacks, perhaps putting in jeopardy Arizona’s 10 electoral votes.
Comments
I would like to know their stand on arugula. Please list all the candidates stand on arugula for us so we may make a good decision. If there is time left, can we please hear what are the candidates favorite toothpaste brands. Are they made in China, are they minty tasting, do they use a whitener, or is it plaque removing types.
Posted by: bill r. | October 5, 2007 7:39 AM
Can you reporters give poor Bartman a rest? He didn't lose that game for the Cubs. Prior, Dusty and Gonzales did, Prior falling apart pitching, Dusty not taking him out, and Gonzales fumbling a double play ball that would have ended the inning. By the way, I didn't see Bartman in Arizona but the neo-Cubs (that's new Cubs for people who don't know the meaning of the word) still lost the games. And as for Hillary, we know she's a consummate liar, so why ask her?
Posted by: Phil C. | October 5, 2007 7:39 AM
Do these fans at the game really understand the arugula arguments? Is there enough arugula for everyone at these games and most importantly, do they give the players performance inhancing arugula?
Posted by: bill r. | October 5, 2007 7:52 AM
Go D'Backs!
Posted by: Anonymous | October 5, 2007 7:52 AM
SWEE?
The "P" will be provided on Saturday.
Posted by: Terry | October 5, 2007 9:27 AM
Wow, two out of four posters on the Chicago Tribune want the Cubs to lose in the playoffs. You guys are really great!!
Trickle Down Terry,
What (acknowledgingly miniscule) respect I might have ever had for you has officially disappeared. You're a ghoul.
Posted by: Distrust and Verify | October 5, 2007 11:52 AM
DV (Tony),
Not from Chicago are you?
I'm a White Sox fan and a White Sox fan roots for two teams: The White Sox and whoever is playing the Cubs. I stand on my principles, I'm not a bandwagon jumper. A true Cub fan wouldn't want be sharing their moment of glory - as short as it will be.
Posted by: Terry | October 5, 2007 2:30 PM
DV (Tony),
Posted by: Terry | October 5, 2007 2:30 PM
My name isn't Tony. Unfortunately, he appears to have given up on this site, and I can't hardly blame him. Keep guessing.
As a Chicagoan, I cheered for the White Sox when they won the World Series.
You're a ghoul and a jackass.
Posted by: Distrust and Verify | October 5, 2007 3:32 PM
D&V
My guess is that if you cheer both teams you either didn't grow up in Chicago or you are one of those exceedingly rare exceptions to the the rule.
And the rule is that natives cheer one team or the other, not both. That may seem odd to you, and maybe it is... but it's hardly ghoulish.
Go D'Backs!
Posted by: Anonymous | October 5, 2007 5:53 PM
And now the "P" can be provided.
SWEEP
Posted by: Terry | October 7, 2007 7:17 AM