George Bell did all he could to avert Tuesday night`s heartbreaking 6-5 Cub loss in 13 innings here.
As Mike Bielecki prepared to fire what turned out to be the final pitch to Los Angeles` Eddie Murray, Bell began waving his arms frantically, then whipped his cap into the air. He was trying to call time out because, he said, a fan had tossed a ball into left field.
”It was a ball somebody had hit foul,” Bell said. ”It was about 20 feet in front of me.”
Bell said he was sure that home-plate umpire Frank Pulli spotted him. ”I know the umpire saw me, 100 percent,” Bell said.
The Dodgers in the bullpen behind Bell saw him. ”We all saw Bell waving his arms up and down, but then it was too late,” bullpen coach Mark Cresse said. ”Because five seconds later, our whole team was waving their arms up and down.”
Bielecki delivered to Murray, who hit a bad-hop single that ended a nightmare evening for the North Siders.
Fifteen hours later, Bell was contending that the game might have ended differently if time had been called.
”Who knows?” he said. ”It might have been different. He might have popped up or something. We might have had a chance.”