With no small amount of hyperbole, Sunday night’s Game 5 of the NLDS was simply the most important Chicago baseball game since, well, Saturday’s Game 4. RedEye monitored developments as only we can.
6:45 p.m.: Late-coming fans file past the huge No. 44 monument outside Turner Field. Braves fans think of Hank Aaron and smile. Cubs fans think of Kyle Farnsworth and wince.
7:11: Kenny Lofton smacks a leadoff double, takes third on a wild pitch, then scores on Moises Alou’s single. Back in Chicago, Illinois National Guard troops quietly move one block closer to Clark and Addison. Cubs lead 1-0.
7:15: The headline on www.atlantabraves.com: “Hampton ready to prove in Game 5.” The headline on www.cubs.com: “Cubs set for Game 5.” One of you is fibbing.
7: 18: Kerry Wood throws his first pitch. Fox cameras have yet to find Wood’s wife Sarah in the stands. You love it or you hate it. That’s TV, folks.
7:27: Georgia law stipulates you cannot resell a game ticket within 2,700 feet of the stadium. That puts the perimeter right about where Alex Gonzalez’s second-inning homer landed. Cubs lead 2-0.
7:32: Commercial break. Our www.google.com says ex-Cub Leon Durham is the hitting coach for the Toledo Mudhens. He’s put 1984 behind him. You should too.
7:37: Fox announcers note Andruw Jones is just 1-of-13 in the NLDS. Make it 1-of-14 since he grounded out. Jones hasn’t been the same since they closed Atlanta’s Gold Club.
7:40: Two innings down and Braves infielder Robert Fick has yet to collide with anyone. But it’s still early.
7:45: Game 3 NLCS tickets are available at www.FloridaMarlins.com. A search for the best available seats finds a $25 ticket way up in section 403. Searched again and the result was one in section 441.
7:46: Sosa breaks his bat and thousands of fans chant, “Check that bat for cork.” A few others chant, “Check that bat for pork.” Umpires find neither. Play resumes.
7:55: Counter-programming on local Fox Sports Net is a couple of tortoises racing on “You Gotta See This!”
7:57: Former President Jimmy Carter is at the game, one of 17 presidents to serve since the Cubs won a playoff series. And it looks like he’s available if Bobby Cox needs a lefty off the bench.
8:07: California Gov. Gray Davis appears on “Larry King Live” but shows little emotion when the Braves go down 1-2-3 in the third.
8:10: Fox promotes the next “Joe Millionaire” featuring a young Texan supposedly worth $80 million. No, this does not mean the Cubs gave Kerry Wood a new contract.
8:22: Hampton has retired the last nine batters and none of them are 65 years old.
8:27: With one out in the fifth inning, Fox shows Sarah Wood. It appears she’s wearing the same outfit as in Game 1. Baseball is a game of superstitions.
8:30: In the first five innings, Wood threw 73 pitches and Hampton threw 75. The official word for that is “monster pitch duel.” Wait, that’s three words.
8:32: More commercial break history: On the same Sunday in 1984, the Bears won at home and the Cubs lost a Game 5 on the road.
8:36: Aramis Ramirez hits a two-run homer. Speaking of long scoring shots, congratulations to Bears kicker Paul Edinger. Score: Cubs lead 4-0.
8:37: There are designated smoking areas at the back of the Turner Field concourse, and Braves fans just lit up and sent smoke signals to the bullpen.
8:49: With two on and no one out, Gary Sheffield singles home a run but the replay shows Lofton caught the shot on the fly. See, this is when you need Bears coach Dick Jauron throwing that red flag out there. Score: Cubs lead 4-1.
8:55: Random thought: Did Ivy Man make the trip to Atlanta? And did he wear the leafy outfit on the plane? Let us know at ritaredeye@tribune.com.
9:04: Braves nab Lofton trying to steal second. Then the Braves called the cops, the cops called his family, and now Lofton is grounded.
9:14: Vinny Castilla’s line drive bounces off the shortstop to the second baseman, who calmly throws to first. If this was “H-O-R-S-E,” you’d really have to call that shot.
9:21: The Browns return an interception 75 yards to go up 30-10 on the Steelers. Whoa, wrong channel.
9:30: A fair number of White Sox fans just folded up their Braves jerseys and donned Marlins one instead.
9:39: With two on and two out, the Cubs pinch-hit for Wood in the ninth. What is Dusty Baker doing? Tom Goodwin?
9:40: Goodwin singles home a run. Cubs lead 5-1. No way anyone’s getting their food order in at the Cubby Bear anytime soon.
9:51: Mark the time down, not for the tattoo but because your grandchildren will want to know.
