Chicago Cubs Baseball

Baseball is a fickle mistress. She giveth and she certainly taketh away. And she’ll do it with a wry smile and a twinkle in her eye.

Perhaps Chicago Cubs skipper Lou Piniella summed it up best following last night’s latest debacle of the week, an 11-7 loss to Philadelphia. It was a game in which the Cubs scored six runs in the top of the seventh, only to watch the bullpen surrender the lead by giving back six in the bottom half of the inning.

“After you put a six-spot on the board, especially in an away game, and you get the momentum, and before you know it, you don’t even get jabbed at,” Piniella said. You get hit with a haymaker.”

That’s baseball’s Grand Dame for you: She’ll flash a subtle smile before she bares her teeth.

Like Piniella’s comment, last night’s seventh inning summarized the tale of Chicago Cubs baseball of the past two weeks.

It was just a short seven days ago that the Cubs were finishing up a sweep of the Washington Nationals and riding a five-game winning streak Chicago had reached the .500 mark for the first time since the first week of the season, and more importantly looked like the $100 million club that fans and pundits alike, had envisioned.

Boy, were we mistaken.

The $100 million men have played more like a $100 pickup team. The Cubs have bungled, bobbled and blown just about every conceivable opportunity at victory this week.

Like I wrote during Chicago’s winning streak, the Cubs have been living on a razor’s edge - the margin of victory and defeat that thin. The Grand Dame was smiling last week when the hits were dropping, the relief pitching more lucky than good.

While this is a talented Chicago Cubs baseball team, it’s not a very good one - yet.  I’ve been writing all along that this team has been more on a stumble than in a stride.

And there’s nothing like a dance with the Grand Dame to prove it.