Mark Grace has never struck me as one to mince words. Besides being one helluva ball player, Grace’s poignancy and blue-collar approach to the beautiful game of baseball has made him an endearing figure in Chicago Cubs’ lore.
Now a commentator for Fox Sports Game of the Week, Grace has taken his candidness to the airwaves. All I can say is, what a welcome relief.
Following Chicago’s 9-3 win over Houston on Saturday, Grace proclaimed with a straight face and equally straight forward candor to Jeanne Zelasko, Kevin Kennedy and a national viewing audience, that the Cubs would overtake Milwaukee for the Central Division lead within the next two weeks.
“They haven’t been battle tested,” Grace said of the Brewers. Oh, how right he is.
Just a week ago I wrote about the lack of love the Cubs were getting from the national media. As Major League Baseball entered the all-star break, the national baseball pundits were anointing the Brewers Central Division champions with the cast of Prince Fielder (MVP), Ned Yost (Manager of the Year) and Ryan Braun (Rookie of the Year) all in line for post-season honors.
But here we are entering the final two weeks of July, and the Cubs trail Milwaukee by a mere three-and-a-half games. Which in baseball is the equivalent of one three game series where one team goes hot and the other goes to pot.
As Grace pointed out Saturday, the Cubs are the hottest team in baseball - winners of the past 15 of 19 and 25 of their last 37. That’s a .676 winning percentage for those of you who dig the long math.
Can the Cubs keep up that pace? No way. But they will keep winning. Because for the first time in as long as I can remember the Cubs are playing with a killer instinct.
There’s blood in the water. And the Cubs can smell it.
Comments 1
I am going to confess that I am a lifelong Sox fan. However, I have never been one of those insane Sox fans who foams at the mouth and wishes the Cubs would die in a plane crash. Look, a huge victory for the Cubs only makes the whole city look better.
With the season being as horrid as it has been for the Sox, I have to say, it has been rather fun to see the Cubs turn things around lately. Suddenly the race against the Brewers is looking exciting.
I wish the Cubs well and I really think the stand an excellent chance of overtaking the Brewers and winning the division.
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Posted 16 Jul 2007 at 11:00 am ¶Post a Comment
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