On this date in 1941, Ted Williams got six hits in eight at-bats during a season-ending doubleheader in Philadelphia, boosting his average to .406. He became the first player since 1930 to hit .400., and no one has done it since. Of course, Connie Mack, the Hall of Fame A’s manager, could have walked Williams every time up and prevented him from reaching the .400 mark on the theory that he was the best Red Sox batter and that not letting him swing the bat would help Mack’s lousy Philadelphia team win one or two meaningless games. Mack didn’t do that, of course, because it would have cheated Williams, cheated the fans, and cheated baseball
Fast-forward to 2025. Yesterday, the Chicago Cubs led the Cardinals 7-3 with a runner on third and two outs in the bottom of the 8th inning. Michael Busch was up, and he was flirting with baseball history: the Cubs player was 4-for-4 with two home runs already, and needed just a single to complete a cycle—a homer, triple, double and single in the same game. Cycles are for hitters what no-hit games are to pitchers: rare historic accomplishments, in fact, there have been almost exactly the same number of each in baseball history. But Cardinals manager Oli Marmol ordered that Busch be given an intentional walk, ending his pursuit of the cycle. The Cubs fans booed, and I’m pretty sure that Cardinal fans would have booed the decision too if the game had been in St. Louis.
Marmol’s explanation after the game was that even though his team was behind by four runs, the game wasn’t out of reach. Baseball, however, is about history, competition and personal accomplishments and entertainment, not just winning. The game was meaningless to the Cardinals, and I assume the Cardinals pitcher, as a competitor, would have liked to have the chance to be the one pitcher that day to get Busch out. The Cubs slugger’s at-bat with a chance to enter the record books with a cycle would add drama to the game, and if he were successful, the fans in attendance would shared in baseball history. (I’ve seen hundreds of games in person, but I remember vividly the Red Sox-Orioles game in Baltimore when the Sox first baseman, Bob Watson, hit for the cycle.) The decision to walk Busch wouldn’t even have been standard strategy in a 7-3 game if he weren’t on the verge of a cycle.
Major League Baseball is in the midst of a period in which teams, players and managers appear to have forgotten why people go to sports events. The main goal is to be entertained, thrilled and excited by the drama of competition. Marmol’s decision to strip away a game’s drama for a marginal tactical advantage at best in a meaningless game for his team was unfair to fans and baseball itself.
Boo.
Ethics Alarms 
Boo — Bah, humbug! — is exactly what I did as I watched my beloved Cubs trounce St. Louis, their arch-nemeses. Baseball should be a refuge from all the Scheiße going on this beleaguered world.
All the best for 5786, Jack.
Thanks, Steve. I expected you to react to that fiasco.
Today I’m thinking about my late dad and uncle, lifelong Cubs fans, who both passed away this month (90 and 94, respectively). They’d have been outraged by this cowardly StL move—they were both “old school.” To my dad’s great credit, he took us to many White Sox games at the old Comiskey Park too, so I’m a rare “both fan.” He loved to tell the story about they went to the 1947 All-star game at Wrigley Field, and how Johnny Mize’s homer landed a few rows in front of them.
When baseball gets infected with such bad faith it’s especially troubling.
Today I’m thinking about my late dad and uncle, lifelong Cubs fans, who both passed away this month (90 and 94, respectively). They’d have been outraged by this cowardly StL move—they were both “old school.” To my dad’s great credit, he took us to many White Sox games at the old Comiskey Park too, so I’m a rare “both fan.” He loved to tell the story about they went to the 1947 All-star game at Wrigley Field, and how Johnny Mize’s homer landed a few rows in front of them.
When baseball gets infected with such bad faith it’s especially troubling.
I’m sorry you had to lose both your dad and his brother, Steve. Old baseball fans never die, they just keep giving us great things to remember. My father would have flipped out if her were at that game, regardless of which team he rooted for. This is the slippery slope greased by the now common tactic of removing a pitcher mid-no-hitter because of the pitch count. Combined no-nos shouldn’t count anyway.
Thanks, Jack. I agree as to “combined no-hitters.” My late dad used to say that, when he was a kid, pitchers would pitch both games of a full double-header.I’m not sure that was such a great idea then, but wow those days are gone.
The last one to do that was knuckleballer Wilbur Wood for…the White Sox! It was in 1973, the same season he won and lost 20 games. (He lost both ends of the double-header.) Wood also pitched nearly 400 innings in several seaons…now no one tops 250 innings.
Family lore has it that my father’s uncle, my great uncle, took my dad to the first opening day at the then brand new “Old” Comisky Park. As this would have been in 1910 and my dad would have only been six years old, I wonder. But Mrs. OB and I definitely drove over from South Bend to attend opening day at Comisky in 1978 (driving past Charley Finley’s farm and barn both ways). It was an eye opener for both of us. It was a somewhat dank spring day. The stands were full, and it was as if it was a communal scream celebrating the end of winter. About five guys in the row next to us were celebrating by buying, and consuming, an entire stadium vendors’ rack of draft beers beginning well before the game started. By about the third inning, they quieted down. By the fifth inning, they’d all gone home, absolutely stewed. Later that season, the Veecks hosted the ill-fated Disco Demolition Night.
My big beef with current day baseball is all the hugging and laughing and joking that goes on, during games, between players on opposing teams. They all seem to be fellow union members and fellow multi-millionaires who are just happy to be there. I don’t remember this chummy behavior in the ’60s or thereabouts. Players were opponents. Maybe it’s just the preponderance of Latin players who tend to be huggy and affectionate and ebullient? And the goofy home run celebrations, including props, in the dugout for every single home run? Come on, guys.
How dare they have fun playing the game…
Exactly.
With two outs? That just makes even more of a bush league play to walk him. Even in a playoff game, you’d think twice about it, but in a meaningless game it is inexcusable.
I no longer have a problem with the various celebrations, bat flips, etc. that the players do. I think for today’s players it does make a difference for them and their fans are entertained by it (and the other teams fans may well be incensed, not a bad thing).
The Rangers today, in a game that matters little to the team, are playing what is left of their regular lineup against the Guardians, and seem to be hustling. There is a lot at stake for the Guardians, though, they can clinch the AL Central with a win.
Rare disagreement with you Jack. And Steve, your a Cubs fan, you of all people know how deep this arch-rivalry runs and you admitted as much. So – Anything goes.
I’m a passionate, life long Cardinals fan. So my take is this:
First off, comparing Ted Williams in 1941 to Busch in 2025 is apples and oranges. Williams’ .400 wasn’t just a personal milestone—it was one of the greatest statistical feats in baseball history, something that would stand for generations. Busch chasing a cycle, while fun and rare, is ultimately not nearly on the same plane.
More importantly: The game was not meaningless to the Cardinals – this was Cubs–Cardinals. That rivalry has always been about doing whatever it takes [within the rules] to stop the other side from having their moment. You don’t hand your arch-rival history on a silver platter just because fans want a show. Part of the entertainment in baseball is the rivalry itself. Denying Busch his chance wasn’t “cheating baseball”—it was upholding the spirit of Cubs-Cards competition.
I’m not a Marmol fan in the least, by the way. Although – A four-run lead in the eighth is hardly insurmountable, especially against a team you’d love to spoil. Walking a red-hot hitter in that spot is sound baseball strategy, regardless of what milestone he was chasing.
However – I think it was the rivalry, not the strategy for Marmlol, since he stinks at that in my opinion.
Sometimes that means history gets denied, and that denial itself becomes part of the story.
So, sure, boo if you want—but that’s the beauty of Cubs-Cardinals. The intesne dislike [I dont use the word hate for anything] runs so deep that anything legal goes. If Busch wants to make history, he’ll have to do it against a team that doesn’t care about protecting “baseball’s drama.” The Cardinals’ job is to beat the Cubs every time, not to script a fairy tale for them.