May There Be Many More Nights Like Tuesday Night

A quick peak behind the curtain: When I watch baseball through a writing lens, I'm doing it almost robotically, examining mechanics, decisions, body language, and anything else my years of coaching have taught me to look for. It's more dutiful and academic than joyful. Luckily, I'm commonly able to find a middle ground with the fan side, and the fan side craves excitement. 

I want loud things. I want showy things. Nick Kurtz throwing his bat when he launches a walkoff homer that didn't land until the following afternoon? Yeah, I'm going to eat that up. Elly De La Cruz throwing a 98-MPH seed on a relay to nab a runner at home? That's cash. So Tuesday night very much fell into my wheelhouse, in multiple respects. 

The day started with former Chicago Cubs infielder Javier Báez getting his recognition for 10 years of service in Major League Baseball. If you haven't followed, Báez is having a resurgent season for the best team in baseball, carrying his best offensive output in roughly four years. So after the Cubs and Detroit Tigers shared a joint Instagram post acknowledging the milestone, Javy decided to celebrate accordingly: 

The game, and the season, have been heartwarming for fans of the Cubs to witness. There isn't a single member of the franchise (this side of Sammy Sosa) who has brought the level of excitement that Báez provided. He's gone through a lot since signing in Detroit, but is now proving to be a very important component for a very good baseball team. He's even back at shortstop on many days, after a significant and highly successful stint in center field.

It's somewhat appropriate, though, that such a night for Báez came on the same evening in which Pete Crow-Armstrong showed out in his latest fashion. The heir to Báez in the excitement game, the eighth inning of Tuesday's Cubs win belonged to Crow-Armstrong. He made a diving catch in the top half of the inning to rob Brice Turang, before turning around and hitting a monster home run that sealed it to start the bottom half of the frame: 

Seventy-one feet covered. A 5% catch probability. A homer that traveled 452 feet, courtesy of a 111.5 MPH exit velocity, both of which are career bests. I genuinely hope that we don't start to take these types of moments for granted. Of course, neither half of the inning was surprising. We've seen Crow-Armstrong do each of these things. Sometimes it's one on a night. Other times, it's both, but with several degrees of separation. In this instance, we got the best of Pete Crow-Armstrong on each side of the ball, within about 10 minutes of each other. 

For it to happen the night in which Báez was not only recognized for his longevity in the sport but reminded us exactly who he is in doing so carries a certain degree of poetic weight. While Cub fans have, obviously, longed for this team to be a contender for the last handful of years, there's also been a rather dull air around the organization. It's not only that they weren't a very good baseball team. They were boring in their pursuit of the .500 threshold. In not only serving as a key element in the quality of their roster in 2025, Crow-Armstrong is carrying on the Báez legacy in the excitement department. It's that ol' chestnut: how can you not be romantic about baseball? (And don't say the obvious ways.) 

Of course, the two are always going to be inextricably linked. They were part of the same deal that saw Báez's departure and Crow-Armstrong's arrival. But the manner in which they play the game—the defense, the free-swinging, the flash, and all the other things Matt Ostrowski discussed earlier this month—allows that connection to remain strong. It's rooted in passion and in instinct. The two are linked not only in the transaction log, but in Cubs lore.

Consider where things stand. Báez is officially back and in the public eye, given the success of his team. Crow-Armstrong is a viable candidate for Most Valuable Player in the National League. At their best, each can give you something you've never seen before or something that renews your appreciation for the game. Here's hoping Tuesday night won't be the last time we see the two overlap like this.