Playoff Pressure

Defensive meltdown from Braves' Conrad all too familiar for Cub fans
A rookie mistake(s)?  Not really.  Brooks Conrad cost his team the lead on the third of his three errors in a single game, the third game of the NLDS against the Giants.  This set an NLDS record for errors by a single player in a single game.  Brooks Conrad made his major league debut with Oakland in 2008, and has played only 139 games in the major leagues.  However, he is already 30 years old and no longer a kid.  After spending this much time in the minor leagues, maybe we understand why now.  Not to hate on the guy, but with the Giants winning 3-2 the next night and moving to the NLCS, you know he more than anybody is wondering what would have happened if they had won.  Interestingly, the Braves were able to overcome Conrad's first two errors because of Eric Hinske's huge go-ahead two-run shot in the 8th, which looked like a game winner at the time.  The fact that the Braves held a lead after the first two errors is different than another story Cub fans know.  In the 2008 NLDS the Cubs lost Game 1 being blown out by the Dodgers shocking Cub Nation.  This set the stage for Game 2.  The heavily, heavily favored Cubs would lose again easily to underdog Dodgers.  Conrad said after his bad game, "I wish I could dig a hole and sleep in there."  The entire Cubs infield would have liked to do that after Game 2 against Los Angeles in which every single infield starter (Derrek Lee, Mark DeRosa, Ryan Theriot, and Aramis Ramirez) committed errors in the same game.  Two of them, the ones shown in the photos here, set up a five run second inning that silenced the crowd and Cubs.  As if you have, don't forget about the Bartman game either.  Something about the playoffs makes fielding much harder than it normally would be and maybe the players are nervous or something.  But it seems like routine plays aren't routine in the playoffs.  As a fielder, you have to hang tough and keep focus on the ball.  As a fan base, there is nothing you can do to help your team except help the player forget it, like the Atlanta crowd did tonight in Game 4 when he was cheered despite his catastrophic game the game before and very bad defensive stretch to end the regular season.  The playoffs are where players reflect on their roots, and give it all they've got because as a player you never know if and when you will be going back.  The playoffs are where everyone tries to make a difference to the team in the way they know how.  It all comes down to the basic fundamentals you learn at a young age; the fielding fundamentals.  For as long as baseball is played in October, fielding will continue to have a big impact in both a positive and negative way.