Sympathy For The Devil

What is it with foul balls and cats?

In an obscenely-offesnive montage that tested the sanity of even the most centered Cubs fans, a fan leaned over the wall in left field and prevented Alfonso Soriano from grabbing a fourth-inning foul ball. The scene, and the location, were eerily similar to THAT moment in Game 6 of the 2003 NLCS.

If it didn't happen in a game attended by Dusty Baker, it just wouldn't have felt right.

Shortly after, a cat was seen prancing around the field, a sure-fire tribute to the black cat that streaked in front of the Cubs dugout in 1969. While 2009's four-legged version of terror wasn't black, didn't pull a Tom Cruise and fly by the dugout, and didn't occur in New York, it rekindled beliefs in omens all over again.

Wonderful. ESPN is going to love this one. Ron Santo is strangling his microphone.

Somehow, someway, the Cubs overcame any semblance of spiteful Godly intervention and surged ahead for a 7-2 win over the surprisingly mediocre Reds. Apparently Micah Hoffpauir doesn't believe in ghosts.

Hoffpauir, making the most of his recent string of at bats, tied the game early with his first home run of the season. He added a tie-breaking sac fly in the fifth inning. Filling in for Milton Bradley, Hoffpauir is hitting .375 in limited action when compared to the amount of at bats he had in Spring Training. However, the drop off hasn't hurt the 29-year old rookie, who's showing signs of being a big piece of this team's offense.

Rich Harden was also worthy of world wide web praise, efficiently cruising through six innings and holding the Reds to two runs. Harden picked up his first win of the season and ran his strike out total up to 26. Not bad for three outings.

The bullpen was flawless. The offense was clicking. Any relevant curses were brought back to the country's forefront and quickly downplayed by the "W" flag. My heart registered a few healthy beats for the first time since February.

Altogether, very un-Cub. I like that.