Lou and Matt explain to the officer that while the speedometer is melted, the radio comes in clear as a bell.

Every article on the Cubs' 10-2 loss to the Reds last night shares the anecdote of Lou Pinella and First Base Coach Matt Sinatro getting lost on the way to Cincinnati. The dynamic driving duo nearly made it to Cleveland before realizing they had gone several hours out of their way.

With Sinatro behind the wheel and directions at hand from a Google search, the two set out at 8 a.m. and headed across the northern part of Indiana and Ohio. With Piniella catching up on sleep, the pair kept going past the turnoff for Interstate 75 that would take them south to Cincinnati. They kept going east and were closing in on the Pennsylvania border when they realized something was badly wrong.

Okay, that seems plausible...

Wait a second. No, it doesn't.

For starters, Interstate 75 runs north/south from Toledo to Cincinnati. Why on earth were the two going through Toledo on their way to Cincinnati? It's been about 17 years since I took geometry, but I'm pretty sure the shortest distance between two points is a straight line. So common sense (along with Google Maps) would tell you that a trip from Chicago to Cincinnati should send you through Indianapolis, not Toledo. Check it out here.

Going through Indianapolis makes the trip about 300 miles. Going through Toledo makes the trip about 433 miles.

In addition, how did the pair cross the entire state of Ohio before realizing they were nowhere near Cincinnati. How does that accidently happen? Cincinnati is just across the border from Indiana. Right around hour three of driving through Ohio, shouldn't it have dawned on them that they should have seen Cincinnati?

Let's just hope the pair take the plane back to Chicago, lest they wind up somewhere in Florida.

Labels: Chicago Cubs, Lou Piniella, Matt Sinatro