Cubs shortstop Russell ruled out for NLCS with hamstring injury; Lester to

Not only are these Chicago Cubs advancing to the National League Championship Series after dispatching their archrivals, the St. Louis Cardinals, they’re doing so with the sort of young, lovable non-losers that even the most avuncular and grizzled fan can’t help but embrace.

The move came on the 12th anniversary of one of the darkest days in the long-suffering history of the Cubs, when spectator Steve Bartman deflected a ball in the stands as Chicago left-fielder Moises Alou made a leaping attempt to grab the ball for the second out of the inning.

Tuesday was one for the record books at Wrigley Field-and he was there to watch it all happen.

For Cubs manager Joe Maddon, that means greater focus on the detail-oriented process that put Chicago into this situation. “We’ve got this, we’ve got this”.

Obviously, since I attended all four Division Series games between the Cubs and Cardinals, I didn’t watch any of the coverage live.

In his next at-bat, Schwarber launched a scoreboard-clearing shot out of Wrigley Field onto Sheffield Avenue, giving the Cubs an insurance run and a 6-4 lead. They also won Game 7 and beat the New York Yankees in the World Series.

After the missed Alou catch, there were other mistakes, including a misplayed ground ball that cost the team a chance for an out or a double play. Eighteen seconds were incorrectly run off the clock late in the fourth quarter of the Pittsburgh Steelers’ 24-20 victory at the San Diego Chargers, and none of the game officials noticed the gaffe and corrected it. After the Chargers hit a go-ahead field goal with 2:56 remaining, the ensuing kickoff went for a touchback, but the clock rolled down to 2:38 instead of remaining at 2:56.

Grant DePorter, chief executive officer of Harry Caray’s baseball-themed restaurants, bought the Bartman ball for $113,824 at auction in order to destroy it in a televised 2004 event. The 70-year-old Spurrier said it was time to go after the Gamecocks got off to a 2-4 start, including an 0-4 mark in the SEC.