Jake Arrieta announced his retirement yesterday despite the league essentially announcing it for him about two years ago. Still, I will never forget his run that really started in 2014 and continued through the 2016 World Series.
There are few, if any, better feelings for a baseball fan than when your team not only has an actual ace, but one that has it all coming together at once. The day they begin awaits you not so much as a game but as an art contemplation. Since there is no chance of your team losing that day, that uncertainty and drama is removed. You just watch how the canvas gets covered, how the brush strokes would look.
Jake did it for about two seasons with a cutter that moved so late and violently you’d think your reception was skipping and with a fastball that turned bats to dust. He finally couldn’t get over the incredible increase in innings from 2014 to 2015, but we’ve had enough of it. He also.
He won the Cy Young in 2015, 22-6 with a 1.77 ERA in 33 starts.
It’s rare when you know the other team has no hope. When Jake took the mound during that time, it was one of those few moments where all Cubs fans could just relax and enjoy a game without anything riding on it. Even in stressful situations like the 2015 wild card game. Once the Cubs got on a run, we knew it was over. The pirates too. He also had two World Series wins, which basically gave him more wins than any other Cubs pitcher that round.
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Maybe that time is over as pitchers don’t go more than five or six. Whether it is or not, it was fun living there.
