Chicago Cubs Baseball

Right about now, my guess is the Chicago Cubs are doing their best Dorothy of the Wizard of Oz impersonation, “There’s no place like home. There’s no place like home.”

After yesterday’s extra-inning loss nothing could look more appealing than the Friendly Confines. Except perhaps curled up in a padded room where no one notices the drool.

The Cubs are 10-13 in road games this season. Which isn’t horrible by 2008 standards. Of the 30 major league teams only five have .500 or better records on the road.

It’s not like this is a new phenomena for Chicago Cubs baseball. In 2007 the Cubs finished with a 41-40 road record and it wasn’t until mid-June that the club began winning consistently at home before finishing 43-37.

It’s the way the team’s performed when the bags have been packed and Wrigley Field is out of its field of vision that is most disturbing. Besides batting 50 points lower and scoring three fewer runs away from home, the Cubs have looked unfocused and, most disconcerting of all, uninspired.

After watching the Chicago Cubs drop their second extra-inning loss in as many days, even manager Lou Piniella found little to say.

“Let’s forget about what happened and go about our business,” Piniella said following the loss. “That’s all I’ve got to say about the last two days. Too many mistakes, you’re going to get beat in close games on the road.”

I guess I wouldn’t be talking much either after watching his “superstar” left fielder Alfonoso Soriano lose a routine fly ball in the sun with two outs in the ninth, allowing the tying run to score. It’s at least the third time this season, that I remember, when Soriano’s lack of defensive skill directly has led to a Cubs’ defeat.

Piniella has rushed to Soriano’s defense for previous fielding faux pauxs in the past. Yesterday, Lou bolted before Soriano’s play could be brought up.

Fortunately for Cubdom, WGN announcer and former major league manager Bob Brenly said aloud what Piniella and his broadcasting partner Len (Judas to the truth) Kasper failed to.

“You can throw a dart into that (Cubs) dugout and find a better defender,” Brenly said during yesterday’s broadcast.

It would be unfair to place all of the Chicago Cubs road woes on Soriano. His lack of defensive skills are only part of the problem. But eliminating “too many mistakes” begins with recognizing your players’ strengths and weaknesses, and playing to those accordingly.

Lou knows baseball. And it’s admirable to stand by his man.

But what will Piniella say if the Cubs should finish two or three games out of a playoff spot?