At least it was painless.  This time (or ever) there were no Bartman’s or Billy Goats or Black Cats to blame.

There was only Chicago Cubs baseball and all of its mystifying, stupifying ways.  From general manager Jim Hendry to the last the guy on the bench, each played a role in this latest franchise fiasco.

In the three-game set, the Cubs committed nearly every baseball faux pas known to the game - base running, perhaps, the exclusion.  The Cubs offense generated base runners, but it was a case of where they landed is where they stayed.  For the series, Chicago hitters stranded 23 and were 5 for 28 with runners in scoring position.

“Let me tell you this: You can play postseason baseball for now to another hundred years, but if you score six runs in three games, it’s going to be another hundred years before we win,” manager Lou Piniella said. “We just didn’t hit. We had opportunities and you have to take advantage of them. ”

Piniella’s statement wasn’t as profound as much as it demonstrated how dismal his club performed.

How bad was it?  When Los Angeles scored two runs in the first off of Cub starter Rich Harden it was time to head to the exits, or in this case, find a competitive college football game to watch.   Even TBS announcers Dick Stockton, Ron Darling and Tony Gywnn sounded as if they were anywhere else but there.

Which is exactly how these 2008 Chicago Cubs played.

How fitting was it that Alfonso Soriano (1 for 14 for the series) ended the Cubs season by striking out on a checked swing at a shoe-top high fastball?  From his ridiculous hop-and-catch in the outfield to his mind-boggling spot at the top of the order, Soriano exemplifies what went wrong and is wrong with this year’s club.

What’s worst, is the Cubs are saddled with Soriano and his bloated contract to 2014.

Soriano isn’t the lone scapegoat.  Aramis Ramirez now has a collective .194 batting average in four post-season series.  Geovany Soto played like the rookie he is, while Derrek Lee’s lack of power continues to decline with each passing year.

Wait till next year?  Hope spring eternal for Chicago Cubs baseball?  It’s gonna happen.

Good luck in believing that horse hockey.   Piniella was right about one thing in his assessment: with this team it could be another 100 years before the Cubs win again.