War Bear is a Bad Man (Who Sorta Called His Shot)

Photo of Evan Altman Evan AltmanOctober 13, 2015

This kid just keeps doing big things. He crushed the Pirates’ collective soul in the Wild Card game and popped an opposite-field shot to open the scoring for the Cubs in Game 3 against the Cards on Monday. So it wasn’t a surprise when he got into a Kevin Siegrist fastball and darn near near put it into orbit. The power is just…well, it’s something to behold.

I don’t really know where it landed, but it sure liked as though the ball cleared the new video board in right. The original verdict was an exit velocity of 113 mph and a distance of 419 feet, but there’s no way that ball was less than 450. I can only assume StatCast lost track of it when it got to the board. I don’t care how classy and experienced they are, that had to be demoralizing for the Cardinals. I mean, that’s two nights in a row they got to Cubs pitching and two nights in a row their own staff got taken out behind the woodshed.

And as proof that I was correct in my assessment of the hit’s distance, I present the Oakland A’s Vine account:

While I sure thought the ball cleared the board entirely, there is evidence to suggest it actually landed up on top, which might explain the underwhelming reported distance.

But don’t bother checking on that “FULL STORY,” which contains literally nothing about the home run or its landing spot. Nice clickbait though.

After the game, Schwarber even copped to calling his shot during the previous half-inning. When he and Dexter Fowler were hanging out during a pitching change, the rookie said he was going to hit a home run in his next AB. Here’s his quick version of the story:

Whether he called it or not, he blasted a mammoth shot and the Cubs are going to the NLCS!

Photo of Evan Altman Evan AltmanOctober 13, 2015
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