Throughout the years. one of the more confounding aspects of the Cubs’ many personalities has been their penchant, almost willingness, to play to the level of their competition.Of course, this trait holds no candle to the years besieged by bad ball players and a tendency towards mismanagement from ownership downwards. But those are issues better suited for the flailing of arms and frothing of the mouth.
Playing to the level of the opposition is far more subtle of a problem, and probably closer to the underlying psyche of this franchise than most Cub fans dare to venture. It’s not one that can be as easily as fixed as with a few hefty checks or replacing old faces with new ones.
Learning how to win is a far greater adversary than any club Chicago Cubs baseball will face on the field.
Unfortunately for Cubs skipper Lou Piniella, or any other manager that’s previously held the helm, it’s an area he’s been forced to explore - like it or not.
I can’t help but think that somewhere in the “culture shock” the Cubs manager expressed last month regarding his club, the Cubs “will” to win, or lack thereof, has been one of the many eye-openers endured in the first three months of the season.
It may not be the core of the Cubs’ “culture” problems, but it certainly has attached itself like a barnacle to the hull of the organization’s floating ship for far too many seasons.
”Look, the biggest job that a manager has coming into this situation is to change the culture,” Piniella said, embracing a concept he spent much of the last four months publicly downplaying. ”[If] I don’t change the culture here, I’m not going to succeed as a manager, period.”
Last season was a perfect example. The Cubs actually won two of the four season series from National League playoff teams (11-8 over St. Louis and 4-2 over Los Angeles). Of course, they didn’t fair well at all against San Diego (0-7) or either Detroit (0-3) or Minnesota (0-3) of the American League.
And against National League teams that finished with losing records in 2006 (and there were nine of them), the Cubs only managed to capture the season series from Cincinnati.
Which is exactly why this season is becoming a joy to see unfold. In this recent stretch of winning baseball, Chicago has shown that will to win. It’s not only the come-from-behind victories, it’s taking two of three from the front-running Brewers. And then not letting down and winning three of four from the lowly Nationals.
For now, winning has found the Chicago Cubs. Or maybe, Lou has taught the Cubs how to find winning.
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