Michael Busch was one swing away from the cycle Saturday at Wrigley Field. Two home runs, a triple, a double, four RBI already in his pocket. But when he came up in the bottom of the eighth, St. Louis Cardinals manager Oli Marmol made a decision that set social media on fire. Four fingers went up. Intentional walk.
The boos rained down. Busch lingered at the plate, only to be sent to first base with no chance to add the single that would have completed the rare feat. The Cubs went on to win 7-3, locking in the No. 4 seed to face the San Diego Padres in the postseason.
“I’m not here for anybody’s amusement,” Marmol told reporters afterward. “I’m trying to win a game. The next guy grounded out to the pitcher, so I think it worked”.
Context made the move sting even more. Just before Busch’s plate appearance, Dansby Swanson stole third base to give the Cubs three players with 20 homers and 20 steals — tying an MLB record. Busch himself had been tormenting the Cardinals all season, hitting .467 with nine homers and 17 RBI against St. Louis heading into the series finale.
Busch took the high road afterward. “Selfishly, I wanted the at-bat,” he admitted. “But there’s nothing better than the victory itself.”
If the manager’s reasoning was cold, the reactions were heated. Cardinals fans defended the choice as part of the rivalry’s DNA, while Cubs fans saw it as cowardice. On Reddit, the comments rolled in:
“Elite level hating ngl,” one user wrote, summing up the spiteful beauty of the moment.
Another Cubs fan dismissed it as “Busch league,” a pun that landed with extra sting.
A Cardinals supporter celebrated the move as “just pure pettiness. True hate.”
One fan explained, “It’s not cowardly. He didn’t do it because he was scared of pitching to him. This is exactly what a rivalry game is for.”
I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: Oli Marmol is the Joe Mazzulla of Major League Baseball. Both managers have endured calls for their firing, both are now winning hearts with microaggressions. Mazzulla once sprinted across the court to swat away a harmless three-point heave after the buzzer, later calling it “mind games.” Marmol’s intentional walk carried the same message. Don’t expect me to make you comfortable. Expect me to make you think.
The Cardinals are going home for the winter. The Cubs are heading to October. His decision won’t show up in the box score, but it will live in the rivalry reel. Pretty, petty, petty… petty good.
Photo: St. Louis Cardinals manager Oliver Marmol (37) stands in the dugout during the first inning of a baseball game against the Chicago Cubs, Saturday, Sept. 27, 2025, in Chicago (AP)
