Entering his third season as Chicago Cubs manager, there’s two certainties we’ve learned about Lou Piniella: He knows baseball and he’s consistent even in his inconsistencies.

One, his knowledge of the game, has led to Chicago Cubs baseball success, as the two division titles in each of his first two years indicate.  The other, his consistent inconsistency, must have even the most dedicated among collective Cubdom scratching their heads.

Whether magic, madness or a mixture of both, Piniella with the help of GM Jim Hendry’s recession-proof checkbook, has managed to mold the Cubs from America’s lovable losers into a team of - dare I say - winners?

At least the expectation is there. Both from within the organization and from the unwavering dedication of Cub fans everywhere.

But as both know, and all too well, two division titles in a diluted Central Division isn’t the same as advancing to the NLDS or winning the mother lode of all baseball achievements, a World Series championship.

Instead, what Piniella and the Cubs have produced through winning is a palatable  pattern to satisfy Cubdom’s taste for success.  Sure, it may not be a World Series, but it isn’t the Central Division cellar either.

But are a couple of more division flags flying above Wrigley Field enough?  Or now that we’ve seen the menu isn’t it time to serve up something beyond a plate of Little Smokies?

In his defense, Piniella came to Chicago with the Cubs in a crisis situation.  He inherited a club that finished 67-95 in 2006  and the face of a franchise so synonymous with losing that it needed a facelift, not a makeover.

Cubdom was equally to blame.  This loyal fan base accepted coddling its beloved Cubbies, choosing to pin its following on hope rather than actual players or production.  And for that has found fault with a franchise unable to win a World Series for a 100 years.

George Bell in left field?  Oh hell yeah, this is the Cubs year!

Undoing the Tribune Co.’s half-hearted attempt at baseball ownership has only been a portion of the battle that Piniella, Hendry and the rest of the Chicago Cubs brain trust has encountered.  Creating a culture of winning has been another.

And yes, from the owners to the players to its fans winning has become of the psyche of Chicago Cubs baseball.  But I have news for Piniella, Hendry and the players - anothe division title won’t cut it.

To quote someone like Piniella, who inherited a distasteful situation, “This is our moment. This is our time.”

It’s time for Piniella, the Cubs and Cubdom to settle for nothing less than a world title.