Chicago Cubs Baseball

Chicago Cubs baseball began the “second half” of its 2008 season the same way it started and ended its first half - by losing.

In dropping a 2-1 decision to Houston, the Cubs - with the exception of pitcher Ted Lilly - looked like they rather would have been anywhere else but in the Astros’ crappy little ballpark. Who can blame them?

It’s a sad reminder of what happens when you cross a ballpark originally named after a corrupt corporation with one of the worst stadiums in the history of major league baseball. It’s a place built on bad vibes and as hollow as the Chicago Cubs’ bats were Friday night.

While it would be much more fun to bag on Houston’s Minute Maid Park, the truth is the Cubs acted like they were still on All-Star break or summer vacation. Dating back to last Sunday’s 4-2 loss to San Francisco, Chicago has totaled just three runs in its last two games .

”Look, we scored two prior to the break, we score one today,” Cubs manager Lou Piniella said. ”I don’t know if it’s a combination of too much rest or too little.”

Or it could be neither. Baseball is a game of ebb and flow - it giveth and it taketh away.

Right now the pop in the Chicago bats has stopped, the sizzle replaced by a fizzle. It’s not the first time this season the Cubs offense has gone into hibernation. With the exception of the steady Ryan Theriot, the remainder of the Cub batters are a streaky bunch - first baseman Derrek Lee included.

Anyone remember Geovany Soto’s string of eight straight strikeouts - against the Washington Nationals, no less? Or more recently, how about Aramis Ramirez? After nearly single-handedly wrecking the Chicago White Sox pitching staff one week, seven days later Ramirez looked like he had never swung a bat before.

It’s the nature of the game, and a lot like life. Ask the Tampa Bay Devil Rays. Baseball’s newest darlings were the toast of the sport - till they dropped seven in a row. Suddenly, they’re a normal team again, battling baseball’s ebb and flow.

The Cubs will hit again. And again and again.

The bigger question is will they be a hit at the end of the season or will it be another swing and a miss in Chicago Cubs history.