Chicago Cubs Baseball

Alot can happen in baseball in a short amount of time.  See last year’s late-season collapse by the New York Mets for proof.

Or, for something closer to home, take the Chicago Cubs game-set-match exit from the 2007 NLDS.   What began on Wednesday, October 3rd, was over by day’s end Saturday, October 6th.

Just that quick. And painful.

As a fan of Chicago Cubs baseball for the greater portion of my life, and I dare say, probably longer than many of the current Cubdom collection has been on this planet, it’s a natural state to think - to anticipate - the other shoe - or in the Cubs case - the other ball to drop.

It’s part of the unspoken curse of Chicago Cubs fans - hope for the best, expect the worst and always, always remember there’s next year.  But, maybe for the first time in a long time, it’s safe for Cubdom to say, “next year is this year.”

Following today’s game with the Washington Nationals, the Cubs will play 32 games in the next 35 days.   It won’t be an easy road to hold to a place in the post season.

Of those 32 games:

• only 13  are left at the Wrigley Field’s Friendly Confines.
• only six (three against Pittsburgh and three against Cincinnati) are against teams with losing records.
• six games each are against Central Division rivals Milwaukee and St. Louis.
• eight games are against NL East Division contenders Philadelphia and the Mets.

But all is not bleak.  Despite the little voices and past visions of Cub seasons gone bad, this is one time I believe this Chicago baseball season is different than the rest - for one very simple reason: manager Lou Piniella.

When he arrived last season, Piniella counted among his many objectives, instilling a winning attitude to Chicago Cub baseball.  He talked about developing a swagger in a franchise who for the better part of a 100 years have been called anything, but winners.

At this point no one knows if a Cub collapse awaits.  But for the first five months of the season, the Chicago Cubs have proven that while they might bend, they’re not ready to break.