[Lancey Howard]

On the one hand:

If Alou had been allowed to catch that ball without interfernece (and he likely would have) there would have been 2 outs, nobody on, and Prior pitching from a windup, looking to close out the inning. Instead, Juan Pierre, who now has new life, shoots a double into right field after a long at-bat. So now it's one out, man on second, Prior pitching from the stretch, and beginning to throw too many pitches for that late in the game. In the back of his mind he is still pissed because he should be trying to get the third out with the bases empty instead of being in the predicament he is in.

On the other hand, just like with bad calls from umpires, good teams rise above things that are out of their control and don't look back. The Cubs folded like a cheap suit, getting bombed for eight runs, and that wasn't the fan's fault.

[GSWarrior]

In hindsight, I'm thinking that if Alou hadn't reacted the way he did, perhaps Prior gets out of the inning. His reaction planted a seed of "uh-oh" in the Cub players' minds.

Perhaps he should have simply addressed the ump to the effect of "Are you sure that wasn't interference?" instead of his demonstrable display.

[Remole]

No, actually, if Alou had caught it, there would have been 2 outs and Pierre on 2nd base. That would have led to Pudge getting an intentional walk, so 2 outs and men on 1st and 2nd. Then the grounder to Gonzalez would have led to an easy fielder's choice. 3 outs, no runs, 1 hit. Score Cubs 3, Marlins 0.