Chicago Cubs Baseball

Sometime during the rain-drenched night at Pittsburgh’s PNC Park, Chicago Cubs baseball made a roster change. As quick as a Scott Eyre fastball can fly out of any major league ballpark, Chicago management replaced the impostors posing as the 2007 Cubs with the real deal.

Or at least the team that came to the plate in the seventh inning of last night’s game appeared to be. This was the club Cubs’ fans and the rest of the National League had expected to see 29 days and 24 games earlier.

But what’s a month worth of mediocre baseball compared to a 99-year wait without a world championship? Call us Cub fans patient. Or gluttons for punishment. Most of us will answer to both.

Putting my best detective skills into play, I’d say the switch-a-roo occurred sometime between the sixth and seventh innings of last night’s game. Which, for those of you who haven’t been following, eventually became one of two Cub victories today. But that’s a story for another time.

The mystery for myself was whether I was watching a real Cubs transformation or the best of David Blaine. The change was that drastic.

To put this in perspective, Chicago trailed the Bucs, 5-2, entering the seventh. This is the same Cubs team whom no one has confused with the Comeback Kids through the first month of the season. A 1-10 record in games decided by two runs or less probably has something to do with that.

But with two outs the mighty Cesar Izturis brought his .190 batting to the plate - and did the improbable. He singled. Matt Murton connected with a pinch-hit double and before you could say, “Here we go again,” the Cubs pushed four runs across for a 6-5 lead.

Then the rains came. But this time there was no gloom with the downpour.

The game resumed today with the Cubs eventually taking the 8-6 win.  And just to prove it isn’t a hoax, Chicago took today’s scheduled game, 7-1, behind Jason Marquis’ four-hit pitching and Alfonso Soriano’s second homer in as many days.

Yes, this is the same Soriano who went homerless for the entire month of April.

While these Cubs look like the same bunch, but act like the 2007 team we expected - I’m still skeptical.  Afterall, these Cubs still haven’t won on a Tuesday.