Pete Crow-Armstrong tripled to lead off the ninth inning of Monday night’s 5-4 walk-off win by the Chicago Cubs. Down by one in the final inning, the Cubs center fielder scored the tying run on a sac-fly hit by Nico Hoerner. JJ Bleday’s throw from left field came somewhat close, but a bit off target as Crow-Armstrong sprinted home without sliding.
Before Michael Conforto ended the game with his home run, Crow-Armstrong was seen in the dugout talking to Matt Shaw about the play at home, and what was actually a great moment between teammates spiraled into a nauseating argument between some of the dumbest Cubs fans you’ll ever encounter.
Shaw was on deck when Hoerner hit the fly ball to left field, and if you’ve ever paid close attention to these plays, then you’ll notice the on-deck player giving the runner coming from third base some guidance. At first glance, it appeared as though Shaw didn’t give Crow-Armstrong any signal, which is why there was no slide at home. However, on replay, it did look like Shaw was pointing at one side of the plate as the throw was toward the first-base line.
In his postgame radio interview, Crow-Armstrong acknowledged that he should have slid no matter what, but during the game, he took the time to talk with Shaw about the play. The interaction between Crow-Armstrong and Shaw that was caught by Marquee Sports Network cameras couldn’t have been more than five seconds, but some fans really lost their mind over it.
🔥 Subscribe to the Untold Chicago YouTube channel to hear Chicago legends tell stories you’ve never seen in headlines — real moments, real experiences, straight from the athletes themselves.
It is 100% ridiculous to make this anything more than two players communicating on how to improve for a future moment, because it is pretty obvious that Crow-Armstrong was telling Shaw that he needs to be more demonstrative signaling to a runner coming in from third base who can’t see the direction of the throw.
Instead, there was this reaction by some in the fan base, painting the interaction as Crow-Armstrong disrespecting Shaw.
Just wild stuff here. Again, no idea how anyone could relate this to a Carlos Zambrano meltdown in the dugout AND a hilarious overreaction by that fan on Shaw as well.
And just when you thought it couldn’t get worse…
I get it, not every fan agrees on everything, far from it, I’m no better than the next person on the internet sharing their views on the Cubs, but what in the world is that conversation? Sending down Pete Crow-Armstrong? Matt Shaw sucks? Huh?
Anyway, back to the PCA-Shaw conversation. That’s what a great team looks like. This is what winners do. PCA saw something and addressed it, going directly to Shaw. There was no dressing down of the player. Meanwhile, Shaw stood there and listened. That’s showing good leadership and being a good teammate from everyone involved.
The Cubs are rolling, now winning 16 of their last 19 games, including 12 straight at home, and they’ll be looking to extend their current winning streak to seven games on Tuesday night.
