Chicago Cubs Baseball

Did you hear that?

If you didn’t, you’re not alone.  That sweet nothingness emanating out of Mesa, AZ, is the sound of Chicago Cubs baseball spring training style.

And my guess is Cubs manager Lou Piniella couldn’t be happier.

With a little more than two weeks left in what must be the longest spring training in major league history, the Chicago Cubs have been able to accomplish this March what previous year’s teams have been able to avoid - that peaceful, easy Arizona feeling.

How quiet has it been?  If you listen hard enough you can almost hear manager Lou Piniella erasing his lineup card for the 15th time each day - and that’s before shuffling the 40 or so players left in the Cubs camp into games.

So who are these guys and where has all the spring training controversy gone?

For starters, spring training 2009 must be the year of the gag rule when it comes to making predictions.  After starting pitchers Carlos Zambrano in 2007 and Ryan Dempster last year each failed miserably as World Series prognosticators, one gets the impression Piniella has firmly snapped the lid on any pie hole predictions.

Of course, when a pitcher wilts under the NLDS spotlight like Dempster did, I suppose the focus becomes more on throwing strikes than tossing out a prognosis. If nothing else, Dempster should have learned not to feed the animals - Cubdom is hungry enough.

Beyond any World Series talk, this is the first Cubs’ spring training without any Kerry Wood and all the wonder that came with his right arm - both good and bad.   Instead, the Cubs have Rich Harden, the guy with the gold-plated stuff and a glass shoulder.

At least, Chicago Cubs management learned their lesson over the past 10 years and stocked their staff with swing arms - pitchers who can fill in as starters if need be.  And I imagine if times get desperate there’s always the off-again, on-again trade talks for San Diego’s Jake Peavy.

For now, all’s quiet on the Western front.  Of course, there’s still two-and-half weeks before the regular season starts, leaving plenty of opportunity for that ol’ Cubs controversy.