What a wild week in Chicago this was.
“You’re shaking your head in amazement sometimes,” Chicago Cubs manager Craig Counsell said earlier this week. “You spend your whole life in baseball and you just don’t see this happen on a baseball field.”
Counsell was referring to Pete Crow-Armstrong’s prolific night Wednesday against the Atlanta Braves, where the center fielder continued to build his case as unanimous National League MVP with two home runs and a triple.
Counsell could’ve used the same basic quote Friday night in Cincinnati when Michael Busch was thrown out at second to end a 6-4 loss to the Reds, leaving the Cubs in a three-way wild-card tie with the Philadelphia Phillies and San Diego Padres. Cubs fans watching on Marquee were shaking their heads in amazement because you don’t often see that happen on a baseball field either.
With the tying run at the plate in Ian Happ, there was no reason for Busch to try to take second, making the attempt a foolish risk.
“It was stupid,” Counsell told reporters afterward. “l’ll take responsibility for it. It was a dumb play.”
Confirmed.
It was good Counsell took the blame away from his player, since a simple “Stay put” order by the manager would’ve at least given Happ a chance for some ninth-inning heroics.
No, it wasn’t why the Cubs lost the game.
Starter Clay Holmes walked five and allowed six runs in 5 1/3 innings in a subpar outing, Javier Assad struggled in relief and Crow-Armstrong went 0-for-5 and stranded nine runners. No one is perfect, not even the face of the franchise.
But in a tight wild-card race in which every game matters, the Busch gaffe was the one that will be remembered if the Cubs don’t get home-field advantage in the wild-card round and are eliminated on the road. There’s still time to finish strong, and the Cubs are capable of winning a wild-card series away from Wrigley Field either way.
But unforced mistakes like that can’t happen at this time of year, as Counsell knows.
White Sox reliever Bryan Hudson (60) walks to the dugout after manager Will Venable, right, pulled him from the game against the Tigers in the eighth inning Friday, Sept. 18, 2026, at Rate Field. (Chris Sweda/Chicago Tribune)
Meanwhile, White Sox manager Will Venable watched his usually reliable bullpen implode Friday night on the South Side, blowing a six-run lead in an 11-8 loss to the Detroit Tigers.
Sox fans roundly booed Venable during pitching moves, a rarity this season. Though Venable deserves credit for the Sox being in the race, his pitching decisions have come under fire of late, and the bullpen arms suddenly looked tired. But on Saturday he pushed all the right buttons in a 3-1 win over the Tigers, with Noah Schultz and Grant Taylor saving the win for Sean Burke.
Counsell and Venable are under pressure to get their teams into the playoffs, like every other manager with a contending team. Venable is playing with house money since nothing was expected of the Sox this season, but he’ll still get some of the blame if the team collapses after 2½ months in first place.
Counsell’s Cubs are a virtual shoo-in for a wild-card berth, but he’s also expected to take the Cubs deep into the postseason with one of the game’s elite players in Crow-Armstrong, a strong lineup and the best defense most of us have ever seen in Chicago.
Both managers have had good years overall, but it’s how they finish that eventually will define their seasons.
In a season as crazy as this, you knew it would come down to the final days.
No one said it was going to be easy. It never is when you’re a baseball fan in Chicago.
Clicks for coaches
Coach Jeff Blashill talks to players during practice Thursday, Sept. 17, 2026, during training camp at the Blackhawks Ice Center. (Brian Cassella/Chicago Tribune)
Kudos to Blackhawks coach Jeff Blashill for reportedly refusing to let the Hawks media department film his opening speech to his players at the first full practice of training camp. This seems to be a common theme in sports these days — teams’ marketing departments trying to make the coach or manager into some kind of Knute Rockne figure for social media clicks.
Whatever Blashill said deserves to be private with his players, not the rest of the world. And as much as we enjoy Ben Johnson’s postgame speeches after wins, it wouldn’t be a bad idea for the Bears to keep it private once in a while.
Is the speech meant for the players or for the glorification of the coach? I’ll sit down and wait for my answer.
Swing-and-a-miss time
White Sox shortstop Colson Montgomery walks to the dugout after striking out in the second inning against the Tigers on Saturday, Sept. 19, 2026, at Rate Field. (Geoff Stellfox/Getty)
Sox shortstop Colson Montgomery is nearing the all-time single-season record of 223 strikeouts, set by the Arizona Diamondbacks’ Mark Reynolds in 2009. Montgomery entered Saturday tied for 10th with 213 strikeouts, one behind the current leader, the Philadelphia Phillies Kyle Schwarber, and had three more Saturday to make it 216.
Former Sox slugger Adam Dunn was one strikeout away from tying Reynolds’ record in 2012, but manager Robin Ventura sat him the final game, an act of mercy for the likeable Sox star in a meaningless game.
Venable needs Montgomery’s bat in the lineup in a tight playoff race, so he can’t afford to sit him to avoid setting the record. It’s up to Montgomery to avoid a date with the record book.
Birds of a feather
Hundreds of Ole Miss students chanted “A–hole” during LSU coach Lane Kiffin’s interview segment on Saturday’s “College GameDay.” Last week hundreds of Texas students relentlessly booed Texas Sen. Ted Cruz during the same show.
Which one deserved it more? It’s a toss-up.
Last call
Tigers pitcher Justin Verlander is retiring next week, making Sunday his final day at Rate Field as a player. Hopefully the Sox will give him a tribute, as other teams have done, since he was part of some great Tigers-Sox games on the South Side in his Hall of Fame career.
Medinah’s star turn
I’ve never been invited to be a member at Medinah Country Club, but if I were I’d ask the club to revoke the invitation to President Trump to be honorary chairman at this week’s Presidents Cup, just as he denied access to the White House for reporters of CNN, MS Now and Politico.
The invite was made by PGA Tour CEO Brian Rolapp, who said in a statement Trump’s “participation will help elevate the event on the international stage while furthering our mission of bringing people together through the game of golf.”
They couldn’t have made a worse choice.