Chicago Cubs Baseball

With less than two months remaining in the 2009 season, Chicago Cubs baseball sits one game back in the Central Division standings and two games back in the hunt for the wild card slot.

Both within striking distance of either a third consecutive division title or a trip into the playoffs.  Both are achievable and attainable as well.

Despite the Cubs themselves and the countless number of squandered opportunities this 2009 season has wrought.

So what happens if neither of these reachable goals are attained?  How will this baseball season be judged?  Is a second or third place finish in the Central Division good enough for a nation of winning starved fans?

The mainstream media has attached any number of adjectives to the next two weeks’ worth of games.  Pivotal and critical are but two of the descriptors assigned to series involving Colorado, Philadelphia and Los Angeles.  You can throw in games against Pittsburgh and San Diego if you care to be precise.

Given the nature of the Chicago Cubs season thus far, this team is as capable of running off 10 wins in the next 16 games as falling completely flat and desperately out of contention.

And in my opinion, neither would be that great of a surprise to Cubdom.  It’s been that kind of a season.

Regardless of the outcome, the one thing the Cubs brass is certain - and counting on - is that Cubdom is a forgiving lot.   From the top of the Chicago organization on down, Hendry and brass are banking on that even with a cadre of all-star caliber talent and its $134 million payroll the underachieving Cubs are safe from the wrath of outraged fans.

Sure, grumbling will ensue if the Cubs do manage to miss this year’s playoff.  Which is extremely likely given the on-off switch the team can’t seem to find.  Whatever happens, however, Chicago Cubs baseball will not become a healthcare reform townhall meeting.

The endless stream of Cub injuries has assured the organization of that.  Talk about a built-in excuse.  I can’t remember a season in recent or not-so-recent past that a Cubs team has been beset with as many players on the disabled list as this year’s club.

And the list may have a new face added, depending on the outcome of Carlos Zambrano’s MRI.  With Zambrano, however, it’s difficult to say whether the problem exists from the neck on up or the shoulders on down.

Oddly enough, the player who’s health was considered the question mark before the season began has logged nearly as many innings as any of the starting pitchers.  Rich Harden, he of the glass shoulder, has 104 innings pitched - not that many less than either Zambrano, Ted Lilly or Ryan Dempster.

One has to wonder how good Jason Marquis would have looked in a Cubs uniform this year.  He’s on pace to pitch close to 200 innings this year and his two complete games is one more than the entire Chicago staff.

But if Hendry would have kept Marquis, along with Mark DeRosa, etc… whom would he have to blame?  Himself?