Mark this one down as a Cubs classic.
Save the videotape and cut out the box score. Store them in a safe place young children can’t reach, and retain all the evidence for posterity’s sake.
When archaeologists dig up the remains of the Cubs’ 1997 season, Wednesday’s 4-3 loss to Florida at Wrigley Field will be a perfect reminder of how it all came crumbling down.
With a two-run lead and one out in the ninth inning, Cubs shortstop Manny Alexander dropped the relay of a certain double-play grounder off the bat of Moises Alou, opening up a door the Marlins promptly barged through.
It was Alexander’s second error in two batters, and it preceded an RBI single by Charles Johnson and the game-winning, two-run single to the opposite field by Darren Daulton.
Terry Adams (1-8) took the loss, but Alexander’s fingerprints were all over the crime scene.
“I was playing in the hole and tried to go too quick,” Alexander said of the drop. “Today was a bad day for me. Tomorrow, I’ll pick it up.”
Kevin Orie’s seventh-inning home run gave the Cubs a 3-1 lead, and it looked as though Steve Trachsel would win two straight starts for the first time this season. But Alexander stumbled and booted a one-out grounder by Jeff Conine and then dropped the double-play toss from Ryne Sandberg on the very next play.
“It happens,” manager Jim Riggleman said. “Manny is going to be a good ballplayer. Errors are part of the game.”
Singles by Lance Johnson and Dave Hansen in the ninth put the tying run on third for the Cubs, but Robb Nen induced Scott Servais to ground out to short to end it.
“It’s been that type of year for us,” Trachsel said. “I did what I could do to give us a chance. Things just didn’t work out.”
