Words, Walks Weigh Heavy On Cubs' Loss
Dodgers 7, Cubs 2

By Chico Harlan
Washington Post Staff Writer
Thursday, October 2, 2008

CHICAGO, Oct. 1 -- Ryan Dempster bit off the question before it even finished, because the question referenced that certain something he said back in spring training -- that World Series prediction, whose fulfillment looked less probable now that Dempster himself had been given the chance to shape it.

"I still believe it," he said after this one. "I still believe it."

Perhaps his conviction was the only thing to exit the night unscathed. All the low moments from Dempster's start Wednesday night connected back to the comment that now defines his season, and as a result, the 7-2 Chicago Cubs loss to Los Angeles in Game 1 left nothing but bruised chances and ghoulish conclusions. Dempster, Chicago's most famous prognosticator, walked out to the mound in a form few could have foreseen. He had no control. He ended up walking seven batters, his highest total since a start on August 20, 1999. Three of those free passes turned into runs on a fifth-inning James Loney grand slam.

"How many did we walk today?" Chicago Manager Lou Piniella said. "Seven? Eight? I mean, that's not a formula to win, believe me."

And now, Chicago faces a quick 1-0 hole in this division series. It faces the desperation of Thursday's second game, whose paradox second baseman Mark DeRosa summarized with two separate postgame comments: "We have to go out and win tomorrow." And, "We just have to relax." Most of all, Chicago faces all of the unsettling conclusions left behind by Dempster, who lasted just 4 2/3 innings, charged with four runs.

That day when he became a marked man, Dempster didn't think to say anything until he opened his mouth, and then there was no turning back. So no, this wasn't premeditated. "It wasn't something I sat at home and said, this is what I'm going to say," he later explained. He just got to the park that February day, first of spring training, and felt something. He saw everybody, the 2008 Cubs, and truly felt something. He started talking, and 10 words later -- "I think we are going to win the World Series" -- Ryan Dempster had the attention of headline writers and baseball gods everywhere.

Cursed? Not cursed?

Dempster said not. Lovable Losers? Gone; swagger is harder to love. Piniella liked the attitude, but many fans feared it. Chicago newspapers fielded letters from incredulous fans wondering why this guy woke up 100 years of back luck. Deadspin.com settled on this taunting headline: "Ryan Dempster Says No Wait He Says Really The Cubs Ha Sorry, We Just Can't [Hahahahahahahahahaahaha]."

Perfect then. Dempster pulled off a spectacular season: He redeveloped into a starting pitcher, then developed into one of Chicago's best (17-6, 2.96 ERA) and then developed into a Game 1 playoff pitcher -- perfect, because if anybody could elicit some cosmic sign vouching for or against the curse, it was Dempster.

"I knew the ramifications of saying something like that," he said. "But at the same time, I believed it, and I wanted everybody in there to believe it."

Cursed? Not cursed? Not took the early lead. See, Dempster was doing everything wrong -- a walk in the first a walk in the second two walks in the third -- and still, the Dodgers couldn't score. Right fielder Kosuke Fukudome caught one foul pop-out in the third despite nearly tripping over the visitor's bullpen mound, a booby trap along the foul: Cursed teams don't make those catches. Andre Ethier, in the same inning, sliced a line drive just foul with the bases loaded, then struck out three pitches later: Cursed teams don't dodge such trouble.

By the fifth inning, Wrigley had a surge of believers, and the Cubs had a 2-0 lead. That second inning Jim Edmonds line drive single that helped Chicago to its only runs was just off the shortstop's glove. That home run DeRosa poked to right took just enough power from the wind to tumble two rows into the stands.

But then, sorry, hahahahahahahahahaahaha. Yes, misfortune struck back hard, and Dempster was on the mound, taking its beating. With one out in the fifth, he walked Rafael Furcal. With two outs, he walked Manny Ramírez, failing to finish off an 0-2 count. He walked the next batter, Ethier, too. Bases loaded. Dempster had given up just two hits -- and no runs, at the moment -- but he'd walked seven.

Some fates, you just don't tempt.

"We talked about the importance of throwing strikes before the ballgame today," Piniella said. "I thought that would be a big key."

Dempster was one pitch away from ending the inning, no pain. With the count 1-2 on Loney, he threw a fastball low. Loney swung, and peeled it to left-center, a fly-ball with perfect drama. Balls at that speed and distance sometimes leave, sometimes don't. This one disappeared into the stands by two feet. The grand slam gave Los Angeles a 4-2 lead. With six solid innings, Los Angeles starter Derek Lowe -- 6-1 with a 1.29 ERA in his last 10 regular season starts -- protected that lead. With single runs in the seventh, eighth and ninth -- one on a Ramírez home run -- Los Angeles then grew it.

After the game, DeRosa simply said this about Dempster, his teammate: "I'm hoping he gets another chance."