Of bat flips and Ford Escapes: The legend of David Bote grows

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If you didn’t know who David Bote was before Sunday night’s Cubs-Nationals game, you probably do now.

The unthinkable happened Sunday night when the Cubs third basemen hit a pinch-hit, two-strike walk-off grand slam at Wrigley Field, sinking the Nationals 4-3.

Bote has reached household name status with Cubs faithful; he made the media rounds Monday morning, speaking with 670 The Score and ESPN-1000 about his life before and after his historic night.

He has seen time between the big leagues and Triple-A this season. In fact, his Ford Escape is still parked in his apartment complex in Des Moines with half of his family’s stuff packed inside.

But given what happened Sunday night, it made all the extra mileage between Des Moines and Chicago worth it.

It didn’t seem like the Cubs could get anything going against Nationals starting pitcher Max Scherzer. The three-time Cy Young award winner tossed seven innings, yielding three hits, one walk, and 11 strikeouts. But Cole Hamels was just as impressive. Hamels also went seven innings, allowing one run and striking out nine. The Cubs trailed 3-0 going into the bottom of the ninth.

But thanks to a single and two hit batsmen, the Cubs found life. Bote turned on a 2-2 pitch and planted a Ryan Madson pitch into the batters eye, making an emphatic bat flip as he started to round the bases. The crowd erupted, chanting “BOTE, BOTE, BOTE.” The excitement was so surreal that Bote was sprinting around the bases waiting to be mobbed by his teammates at home plate.

Bote’s media blitz continued as he joined ESPN 1000 to talk about his unforgettable moment.

“It was a special moment for sure. To come out and win like that, it was pretty cool.” Bote said.

“I thought I had it, I knew I hit it good…and I was like keep going keep going and I saw it land and I sprinted around the bases.”

“{Madson} has been lights out as any reliever and he’s a closer for a reason. I kept seeing the pitches that were down. He kept going lower and lower and stuck to it … I saw the next one and gave myself a chance.”

While Bote didn’t know if he’d get a chance to play in the game, he started getting loose in the sixth inning just in case manager Joe Maddon needed him in any situation. And it paid off.

“I was ready for anything whether it was a switch, pinch run, anything like that, and to be able to get the blood going.”

“I was thinking I’m ready to go, and the moment the move Joe is going to make, I hoped it would work.”

In the grand scheme of things, Bote won’t forget about this moment for a long time.

This could propel a run the Cubs have been looking for all season long.

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