Chicago Cubs Baseball

With six weeks remaining in the 2009 season there’s plenty for Chicago Cubs baseball fans to be thankful for.

For one, the Cubs have proven they still have enough talent to kick the crap out of the also-rans of major league baseball.  As evidenced by Friday’s 17-2 drubbing of the Pittsburgh Pirates Triple A team, it’s good to know that a $140 million payroll can still buy mediocrity.

Another reason for optimism is the amount of young talent, especially among the pitchers, the Cubs have been able to parade out this season.  Thus far, the Cubs have used nine rookie pitchers, one shy of the franchise record from 1958 and 1962.

There’s at least some comfort in knowing the next time Ryan Dempster breaks his toe hopping the dugout railing or Carlos Zambrano finds another way to the disabled list, the Cubs have developing young talent that will serve them well into the future.

But most of all, Chicago fans can be thankful that they don’t have to wait till October for their beloved Cubs to fold. The choke came early this year, starting about a week ago in Colorado and followed them all the way to Wrigley.

There will be no agonizing this year.  The wondering whether “this is the season” the 101-year streak without a World Series championship ends is, simply put, moot.

Forget about another Central Division flag flying above Wrigley Field.  Don’t even think about who the Cubs NLDS opponent might be.  And the thought of a ticker-tape parade through the heart of the Windy City is simply out of the question.

Despite what you might read or hear from the players and the Chicago Cubs baseball brass, this disastrous Cubs season is surviving on life support.

Don’t believe me?  Think of this. When paid-mouthpiece and WGN baseball announcer Bob Brenly begins questioning this team’s heart you know you’ve got problems.

And when the Cubs’ manager feels he has to respond to the charge, it only can mean one thing: the problems on this team are as much internal as they are external.  As fans we only see them manifest themselves on the field.

”I’ve said all along I haven’t seen [a lack of hustle],” Cubs’ manager Lou Piniella said. ”We got few hits with men on base, and our pitching went bad in this stretch, too. Since Colorado, we’ve given up runs — quite a few runs. But I haven’t seen a lack of hustle.”

This is not a new phenomena.  As early as this April, Chicago Cub outfielder Alfonso Soriano began questioning this team’s desire.  And when the Cubs brass refuses to recognize or address the situation when there still was time, Cubdom ends up with a team that looks like this in August.

So Chicago sports fans be thankful.  Jay Cutler and the Chicago Bears take the field in four weeks.