Posted By: Mike Rodbard
July 23, 2009
The Cubs swept the Washington Nationals last weekend. 4 games, 4 wins.
Nice.
The Cubs almost got swept by the defending champs, the Philadelphia Phillies. 3 games, 1 win.
Not so nice.
Just so we're clear, we smoked the worst team in baseball, and then got spanked by one of the best.
That darn lack of hitting thing. It's a good thing former hitting coach Gerald Perry was replaced by Von Joshua. The results are staggering.
OK, they're not. You got me on that one.
The Cubs deliver pretty much what you'd expect from a mediocre team. I certainly was not surprised by the past week's results (at least the Phils only won 2 of 3), nor was I giddy ("Oh my gosh, we swept the Nats; I'm convinced now more than ever that we're the best!").
Speaking of mediocre, that's what the next 7 games will be. Why, you ask? Simple. The Cubs will play the Cincinnati Reds for 3 games, and then the Houston Astros for 4. Both opponents are in the NL Central, arguably the most mediocre division in all of MLB. As consistently inconsistent as the Cubs are, the Reds and the 'Stros are right there with 'em.
One could also say the Cubs are right with them. This division is up for grabs. Even the lowly Pittsburgh Pirates have as legitimate a shot at the Central crown as anyone. You can't deny that.
Is this a good or a bad thing? Well, if you come from the school of the typical North Sider, it's good. The so-called "greatest fans in the world" tend to have very shallow (disguised as lofty) expectations. Made the playoffs? That's good enough for us. Two years in a row no less? We're almost a dynasty!
Even the Chicago Sun-Times, the only Chicago major daily not in bankruptcy proceedings, had a delusional moment. On Wednesday, July 22, columnist Neil Hayes had written, "...[manager Lou] Piniella was hired...to change the losing culture that has permeated the franchise for nearly a decade."
Um, a decade? We've eclipsed, excuse me, surpassed, the century mark as a loser culture.
The Cubs have tried it all. Managers have been hired and fired (wasn't former Cub and current Red's manager Dusty Baker supposed to be the savior?) Players have been signed and forgotten. Just think pitchers Mark Prior and Kerry Wood, INF Mark DeRosa, OF Jacque Jones, and the great slugging OF Sammy Sosa.
Some should just be forgotten. (OF Milton Bradley is front and center in my mind. He was hired to hit. Now he seems to mostly sit. $30 million doesn't seem to go as far as it used to.)
All of that being said, the Cubs are actually in a good position to pad their win column in the next week. With these next 7 games being played at Wrigley Field, home of Billy Joel, Elton John, and Rascal Flatts, things are looking up.
On paper, anyways.
That seems to be where the Cubs are usually the strongest.
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Please visit Mike Rodbard's blog, So it Goes... It's animated thoughts and opinion about life and living as a professional musician in the City of Chicago.
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