No one has to inform the Cubs what opponents might think of their raucous dugout this season.
“We might be the most obnoxious, but we’re all embracing it and enjoying that,” Cubs third baseman Kris Bryant said Wednesday.
The Cubs have made a concerted effort to provide their own energy in this 2020 season without fans, chanting and cheering loudly game in and game out. Bryant equated it to the atmosphere of a college team, where the Cubs say “the dumbest things” in their cheers to make each game fun.
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“Not necessarily inappropriate, but loud and obnoxious stuff that you just wouldn’t do on the street,” he said.
Well, maybe not fun for everyone. After a bench-clearing incident between the Cubs and Reds over the weekend, Cincinnati starter Tejay Antone said the Cubs are “100 percent” one of the loudest dugouts in the league and “chirp the most.”
Obviously chirping falls under a different category, but each team should have as much fun as possible to alleviate some of the stress brought on by a season being played amid COVID-19. Being loud alone isn't a bad thing; for example, the Cubs dugout was audible when David Bote hit a late go-ahead homer against the Cardinals at Wrigley Field a few weeks ago.
“Our dugout is definitely at times kind of over the line,” Bryant said, “but during this year you have to find a way to make it fun and just goof off in the dugout and everybody on this team has found a way to do that.
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“That’s what we got to do to get through the game and enjoy it and win. I think it’s been working for us, so we’ll keep doing it.”