This one has to do with sports. . .and, indirectly, with Hurricane Ike.

Due to said Hurricane, the series between the Chicago Cubs and the Houston Astros that was scheduled for this past weekend at Minute Maid Park in Houston had to be scratched.

Major League Baseball rescheduled 2 of the 3 games for Sunday night (9/14) and Monday afternoon (9/15) at Miller Park in Milwaukee, with the 3rd game to be played in Houston on September 29 if and only if it would impact the final standings.

So the Cubs and the Astros suited up--both in their road grey uniforms--at Miller Park, with the Astros the "home " team and the Cubs the "visitors". . .even though Miller Park, often called "Wrigley Field North," was populated almost exclusively by Cubs fans.

The starting pitcher for the Cubs was Carlos Zambrano, a rather emotional and excitable Venezuelan considered by many to be the ace of the Cubs' pitching staff.  Carlos hadn't pitched in about 12 days because of shoulder soreness. . .he had pitched poorly throughout August. . .and there was the usual Cub fans' angst about his health and whether or not he would regain his earlier form.  (In case you weren't aware, it has been 100 years since the Cubs have won a World Series. . .63 years since they've even been in one. . .they've been having a dynamite season. . .and the popular theory is that "this is the year."  And any possible threat to that long-awaited outcome causes Cub fans to go out on the ledge and prepare to jump.)

Anyhoo, Carlos took to the mound against the Astros' leadoff hitter, Darin Erstad.  Ball one!  Then ball two!! And ball three!!! A 3-and-0 count.  Not good.

So what happened?  Carlos retired Erstad.  And 9 innings later, he had struck out 10. . .allowed only 1 walk and 1 hit batsman. . .and had pitched the first Cubs' no-hitter in 36 years and the first no-hitter ever pitched in a neutral setting!! Final score:  Cubs 5, Astros 0.

And as if that wasn't enough, today Cubs' starter Ted Lilly had a no -hitter going into the 7th inning and wound up with a 6-1 victory, allowing Houston just one hit.  It was the first time in history that a team followed a no-hitter with a 1-hitter. 

Will this be the Year of the Cub??  Stay tuned. . .