As the Cubs crept back into the series opener against the Cardinals on Friday in the fifth inning I sort of had a hunch this game had a bit of magic in it. After all, rivalry games with the Cardinals are always a bit unpredictable, and this one had a special feeling about it from the start of the game as the Cubs welcomed back fans at 100 percent capacity to the Friendly Confines.
But even the presumption that the baseball gods were smiling down on Wrigley Field didn’t prepare me for Anthony Rizzo’s epic at-bat against Daniel Ponce de Leon in the bottom of the sixth inning.