CHICAGO – The call them the “Lovable Losers”, but that moniker is about as old as Wrigley Field itself.
Their postseason donut stands out prominently and is impossible to ignore.
After being swept by the Los Angeles Dodgers in the Division Series last year, it sealed 100 consecutive seasons without winning a World Series.
Despite going wire-to-wire and winning nearly 100 games in 2008, it has gotten to the point for the 2009 Chicago Cubs where now the regular season has become meaningless. All 162 games take on an entirely different meaning, only serving as a warm-up for their eventual final exam to be administered in October when the playoffs begin.
Games in April against the Colorado Rockies do not matter.
The Cross-town Series with their rival White Sox? Nothing more than fun for the fans.
A July series with the St. Louis Cardinals? Nothing much to be gained there.
Playing the New York Mets in September? Just going through the motions.
It is very difficult to go through a season like that. When you are far superior to any other team in your division, you find no worthy opponents. The only games of consequence you can get up for are when the Mets, Dodgers and World Champion Phillies are on the schedule. After that, with the offense and pitching that the Cubs have, they have no equal. The 19 games each against the Astros, Pirates may as count as games against AAAA squads with the Reds, Cardinals and Brewers providing just marginally better competition that may give them an occasional sweat.
But when you are zero for your last nine in the postseason, including being swept out the last two years that is only thing people will talk about. It signifies failure of the highest order. For a team that six seasons ago was one way from going to the World Series with three chances to win and two of those games at home against the Florida Marlins and blowing their chance, it has been a long road back to that point.
In 2007, they were an average team that was blitzed by a stronger, savvy and more athletic Arizona Diamondbacks team.
Last year was to be their year. With the best offense and strongest pitching rotation in the National League, it appeared as if they would finally get to the Series for the first time in 63 years. The problem is that they ran into a team that had the strong right handed pitching that neutralized their lineup and someone by the name of Manny (yea, that guy) that took advantage of their main flaws and the Dodgers sent them to early vacation.
Did the Cubs choke? No.
Anyone dumb enough to simply conclude this about that team obviously hasn’t watched baseball for any length of time. Chicago’s lineup feasted on terrible National League pitching for most of the season, but was always susceptible to being shut down by any strong right handed pitcher who would throw strikes against the Cubs newly formed “Moneyball” style lineup that was intent on drawing walks (they led the league in that category in 2008). Once strikes were being thrown, they were forced to swing and this played right into the hands of Derek Lowe, the hard throwing Chad Billingsley and Hiroki Kuroda.
Ryan Dempster over-performed last year and at some point was due for a market correction. By coincidence, that happened in Game 1 last year when he couldn’t find the strike zone. By the time he did Dodgers first baseman James Loney sent his pitch over the left center field wall for a grand slam that set the tone for the series and allowed doubt to creep into the players and fans minds inside the ballpark.
Pressure mounted and eventually they self-destructed the next night in Game 2 making four errors in an eventual 10-3 defeat. They was really no need to fly to Los Angeles to play the next game, they series was already over. True to form, they played like zombies and their best hit of the series came when a player busted a pipe in the dugout with a bat and caused a flood.
So now their fans were left with that memory as look ahead to this season. The silly catch phrases of “Reverse the Curse”, “It’s Gonna Happen” and the signing of “Go Cubs Go” after games are nice marketing ploys to boost morale, but that has never won ballgames.
However, they can take solace in this:
By the random nature of how baseball is, it is inevitable that the more times the Cubs make the (as Bill Parcells likes to say) tournament, eventually the ball will bounce your way. Even the greatest of teams needed a bounce here or there to help propel them to a championship or it sometimes goes the other way and you end up losing.
I submit to you three examples (in no particular order):
1. In Game 4 of the 1988 World Series, Dodgers manager Tommy Lasorda elected to start a little known outfielder named Mike Davis who hit less than .200 on the season. With him a several other below average players in the lineup, Bob Costas referred to it as “The worst lineup in the history of the World Series.” David would make Costas eat his words and put a smile on Lasorda’s face by drilling a go-ahead three-run homer that eventually led to a Dodgers win and a 3-1 lead in a series they would clinch the next night.
2. In Game 1 of the 1998 World Series, a close 2-2 pitch from San Diego Padres lefty Mark Langston was called a ball to run the count full. On the very next pitch, Yankees first baseman Tino Martinez connected with for grand slam that essentially ended the series before it ever started.
3. Boston Red Sox pinch runner Dave Roberts takes off for second in the bottom of the ninth in Game 4 of the 2004 AL Championship Series against the Yankees. Had catcher Jorge Posada’s throw been to the right of the second base bag instead of the left, Roberts is out. Instead, he is called safe and eventually scores on a single by Bill Mueller against Mariano Rivera to tie the score. Boston would go on to win that game, the pennant and eventually their first World Series since 1918.
In the end, it all evens out. It may not even happen this year for the team that plays on the North Side, but their day is coming as long as they keep on knocking.
The door will answer soon.
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