MLB: Cubs

Hi All. I was hoping to sound out some of the baseball folks about the way the season is shaping up as the playoff push forges ahead. As a life long Cub Fan, my mantra Has been: "Our Time will come." "Or not". As all of you know, it's been 100 plus years of the latter, not the former.

I have been very much in favor of the long term rebuilding process that' s taken place with my ball club for the past four or so years. The brain trust of Theo and Jed have done a tremendous job of stockpiling talent and the Cubs are at least a year ahead of where I expected them to be at this point in the season, sitting in third place in arguably the toughest division in baseball, and currently holding a lead for the second Wild Card place in the NL Playoffs.

I was hoping that fans of other teams could give me their reasoned assessment of where The Cubs are both short and long term, what the realistic expectations for the post season should be? No snide remarks or Chicago haters please, just good baseball talk. Do I dare to dream?

Arguably? The Cubs are third in the division and have a better record than four of the other five division leaders. I'd love to see three NL Central teams in the playoffs (with Pittsburgh as division champs, of course). That reminds me, it's almost time to bring back the September Pirates avatar.

Barring a major paradigm shift in the organization, next year will be the year of The Cub.

August West said:

Barring a major paradigm shift in the organization, next year will be the year of The Cub.

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...Maybe. NL Central is the best division in baseball and Pirates are suppose to be good too. And the Cardinals are the Cardinals. The Cubs are definitely getting better though.

blary54 said:

...Maybe. NL Central is the best division in baseball and Pirates are suppose to be good too. And the Cardinals are the Cardinals. The Cubs are definitely getting better though.

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So true. I believe the wild card will keep them in the playoffs and as they build confidence will go deeper into the post season. Not sure if they will take the division outright next year.

I'm rooting for the Cubs to get a ring.

Historically, it seems to me that young ball clubs are notoriously inconsistent. That was certainly the problem at the beginning of the year. When the Cubs got the pitching, they weren't getting the hitting and vice versa. They've recently gone on a tear and I attribute a lot of that to rookie Kyle Schwarber whose appearance has been nothing short of astonishing. He hits wherever they put him in the lineup.

There just seems to be (for lack of a better phrase) a "veteran vibe" to the club. I believe a lot of that is due to Anthony Rizzo. The club never gets too high when they are up or too low when they are down. Remarkable considering how young the club is.

The Pirates are very tough, and they are tested in the playoffs. McCutcheon is one of my favorite players in the league. I just fear that the Cardinals might just have too much for everybody else. Again.

I still find it remarkable that Maddon took the Rays from losing 100+ games in his first season as skipper to winning the AL pennant in his third. I haven't followed his run in Chicago closely this year but by most accounts the guys in the clubhouse have bought in to his management style, he's got Theo and a front office that's solidly behind him and putting resources into winning, and the fan base is eating it all up. You don't need much more than that.

That said, I don't know if they get through Pittsburgh and St. Louis this year, but I don't think it will take too much longer if it isn't this time around--and hey, Joe does "scrappy" and "underdog" VERY well so anything's possible. I think it'd be great for baseball if the Cubs finally go all the way.

For the love of God...keep Bartman away from Wrigley for the next two months!
I'd love to take in another game at the friendly confines. My wife and I were there two years ago, and loved the experience. I want to now see how the renovations have changed the ballpark.
If the Cubbies fade down the stretch, Maddon will certainly have them reloaded for next season.

For me this season has really been all gravy. In the preseason I was thinking that they'd finish near the .500 mark and was looking for next year to be the breakout season. They are still a very young ball club, and even if they don't go deep in the playoffs, it looks like they will at least get blooded in the post season, which can only be helpful next year and beyond.

I share a season ticket package with some friends and drew the Bartman Game and Game three (game 1 at Wrigley) for the World Series in 2008. When the Bartman game was over my buddy and I Were the last ones to leave the park. They had to ask us to leave. We knew it was over.

I'm a traditionalist. I don't like the video boards. They are extremely LOUD. Our seats are 4 rows back from the Cubs Bullpen, and I can't hear my neighbors speak between innings without difficulty. That said, if they needed to do it to stay at Wrigley, then it had to be done. My son gets to watch baseball in the same park that his Great Grandfather and Grandfather watched the Cubs. That means a great deal to me.

My best friend was a Cub fan, and sadly, he passed away without seeing his team in a World Series. My team is the Angels, and I got to see it happen. The closest he came was in 1984, when the Padres defeated them in the NLCS. On the 25th anniversary of his passing I bought a Cub cap in his honor.

I used to tease him in high school about not winning since 1908, and found out the last surviving member of that team died in 1971. Now, the surviving player to play for the Cubs in a World Series in 1945 died this summer at the age of 98. It bothers me that Ernie Banks and Ron Santo won't see it happen.

Cub fans need and deserve better, and unless they go to the Series against the Angels, I'm pulling for them. I've got my cap.

If the Cubs are EVER in the hunt for October...I'll watch every game and buy a Jersey...being raised in the burbs of Chicago, they're always in the blood a bit

Born and raised ... and my dad, a long-suffering Cubs fan passed this year. I'm hoping he pulls a few strings up there to make it happen this year

Porgy Tirebiter said:

For the love of God...keep Bartman away from Wrigley for the next two months!

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For the love of God, keep Dusty Baker away from Wrigley the next two months...err, the next two millenniums!

Yikes. I think I'm more worried about Chicago than St. Louis now. Even worse, Pittsburgh just lost one of their best players.

The post season approaches. Looks like Cubs and Bucs at PNC in the NL Wild Card game on October 7! What a pitching matchup! Cole and Arrieta. It Should be awesome. Good luck to the Pirates fans. Go Cubbies!

Oh, and one other thing... Should the Pirates oust the Cubs in the Wild Card game (God forbid), I hope they sweep the Cardinals.

With the playoff field set, it's time for my annual rant:

Heron said:

I have to say this now so it won't sound like sour grapes if the Pirates lose, but I don't like this one-game playoff wild card format.

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In a sport where only two teams had a 60+ winning percentage, not to mention the fact that even the regular season is played in series, it's just not right to have a single elimination playoff round.

And I'm with you, Windy. Whichever team wins the WC game, I hope they oust St. Louis.

Heron said:

With the playoff field set, it's time for my annual rant:

In a sport where only two teams had a 60+ winning percentage, not to mention the fact that even the regular season is played in series, it's just not right to have a single elimination playoff round.

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I am a Cubs fan, and obviously I hope they win. If the Cubs lose tonight I will not feel they got screwed by the fact that they lost in the one game play off. Honestly, I am really giddy as can be that they have chance to go forward after having such a wonderful season. Twenty years ago neither team would have had a chance; for instance, the 1977 Boston Redsox won 97 games and their reward for all that hard work was a trip home for the winter.

All that being said, I think that the club that should really be upset by the way the post season is set up is the Cardinals. Their reward for having the best record this year is that they get to play the team with the 2nd or 3rd best record this year in the first round of the playoffs!