Not With a Bang, But a Whimper…Again
Every time I do my stomach the disservice of reliving the Cubs’ three-game sweep at the hands of the mighty, mighty 84-78 Dodgers, one word keeps floating to the surface of bile in my throat.
Pathetic.
Just pathetic. The Cubs aren’t a kicked dog. At least a kicked dog has a chance of putting up a fight. They’re a goldfish, gasping for oxygen and flopping on the floor after flinging itself out of its bowl because it tried to reach the stars. They’re a turtle on its back, flailing its legs and roasting in the hot sun after trying to climb a mountain. They’re helpless, heartless, and hopeless.
I’m tired. I’m tired of summer after wasted summer. I’m tired of “tipping my cap” to opposing pitchers. I’m tired of hearing, “Well, the [INSERT OPPONENT NAME] were really hot at the end of the year.”
No, they goddamn weren’t. The Cubs entered the postseason having gone 5-5 in their last 10 games without even trying. The Dodgers, who were fighting for their lives to hold off the Arizona Diamondbacks, went 5-5. The Dodgers had a great July and September. The Cubs had a great April, May, June, July, and August. The Dodgers barely won a horrible NL West. The Cubs ran away with the toughest division in the National League.
You do realize that the Astros would have won the NL West over the Dodgers by two and a half games, right? The Cardinals would have won it by two. The Cubs went a combined 22-17 against those three teams during the regular season (and 5-2 against the Dodgers).
Oh, and just a thought, but maybe these guys should have taken their series against the Brewers a little more seriously. If they were so afraid of the mighty Dodgers, they had the opportunity to bump off the Brewers and set up a first-round matchup against the reeling Mets. Of course, does anyone think they would have won a single game against the Mets?
The worst part about sitting through one crushing defeat after another is the excuses. It just feels like the Cubs in the postseason just sit back and wait for something to blame for losing. It’s Steve Bartman’s fault for touching a foul ball. It’s Steve Stone and Chip Caray’s fault for being mean to them. It’s the fans’ fault for not cheering loudly enough for them.
I’m sick of it.
Did you hear Alfonso Soriano’s excuse for not winning this year? It wasn’t his 1-12 postseason flop. According to Soriano, “We’re a very good team for [162] games, but we don’t do nothing after that,” he said. “That’s the difference. We’re not put together for [a short series].”
What?
WHAT?!
The team built to win 97 regular-season games wasn’t built to win THREE OUT OF FIVE postseason games? The Cubs finished the regular season with a .602 winning percentage. You know what winning percentage you need to win three of five games? .600.
I know. I know. Winning percentages in the regular season even out with winning streaks and losing streaks. But don’t insult my intelligence by telling me that a team that won 97 games in the regular season wasn’t built to win a five-game series, especially when the Cubs had the deepest starting rotation in the postseason.
Or how about this gem from Lou Piniella? “I was concerned about our offense coming into this thing, to be honest,” he said. “And basically my concerns were realized. What can I say?” Well, you can start with why the hell you decided to try to remedy the Cubs’ offense by starting Kosuke Fukudome and leaving two guys on your bench (Reed Johnson and Mike Fontenot), and one guy off your roster entirely (Micah Hoffpauir) who were much better options at the plate.
Why are the Cubs always the ones on the embarrassing end of the stick? What sort of cosmic joke is this? The only reason the 2001 Yankees came back from an 0-2 home deficit against the Oakland A’s is because the Cubs were in the National League, so they couldn’t do it against them.
It is infuriating that every other team in the 2008 postseason managed to win at least ONE game except for the “Best Team in the National League” Cubs.
Horrid.
I turn my attention to the Tampa Bay Rays. I am rooting for them until my throat bleeds. I want the Rays to win the whole thing, just so the Cubs can realize how truly pathetic they are right now.
The worst part about watching the quick bounce is the fact that it’s nearly impossible to pinpoint how to “fix” this team. They won 97 games, for God’s sake. What the hell do they need? Middle relief? Take Bob Howry out hunting and leave him for dead? Pack Fukudome in a crate, label it “Abu Dhabi,” and drop it on a dock? I’ll tell you one thing I’d do. Give Sean Marshall a spot in the starting rotation. That kid is about the only damn one who showed up for the postseason, and he has done whatever job was asked of him all year.
I don’t know. I’m still pissed. I’m embarrassed. I’m disgruntled and disillusioned. I’m not going to pretend to swear off the team. I know I’ll recover, and I’ll be excited again in February when pitchers and catchers report. But for now, I’m going to take at least a little break from baseball and the Cubs, so posting may be sporadic for a little while.
The long offseason starts again for this franchise, so they have plenty of time to figure out that no one wants to hear their excuses. We want to hear, “The Chicago Cubs are World Champions.”
In the meantime, go Rays.
If you enjoyed this post, please consider leaving a comment or subscribing to the feed to get future articles delivered to your feed reader.
CT
StPatrick
PenFoe
BigFlax
Bocaj
Maybe it’s the song. Every time the Cubs have a song (remember “Men in Blue?”) we blow it in the post season. So, I suggest that for 2009? No song.
btw — your blog is way better than mine…
shermrants.blogspot.com
Sherm
Shameless promotions are for faggots
I didn’t at the time, but now I think the Cubs could have beaten the Mets. Luis Ayala just gave up another run…nnnnow.
Soriano’s comment is completely mystifying. It’s like the world’s most annoying brain teaser, if brain teasers were written as supposed justifications for the sorry end of my favorite baseball season ever.
How about we trade Derrek fucking Lee? I don’t care if his numbers on the year were at least decent, or he was one of the few guys to hit in the post-season. Why did Lee hit in the post-season? Because he knew the team had no chance to win! If he was up in a crucial AB (see: DP #359), he would have shit his pants like he always does. If he’s staying on this team, which he pretty much has to, put him way down in the order. He does not deserve to be hitting 3rd. Hell, the guy was a #5 or lower hitter until he had his ONE excellent season in 2005. I’m so sick of his inability to hit in the clutch and his “color me indifferent” attitude to everything going on. The only time he shows emotion is when he strikes out. Really Lee? You didn’t think that fastball down the middle was strike 3?
End Rant.
BK, you pretty much wrote word-for-word what I would have written. This fucking bunch totally shit themselves.
Maybe we should copyright a snappy phrase of our own…how about “NUT THE FUCK UP”?
Man did this team shit the bed. This was the most humiliating
thing I’ve seen in a long time. Now we gotta go through another long winter of White Sox & Cardinals fans giving us shit.
Fuck this team till next year and i hope to fuck changes are made.
I hear ya kerm. It was a disappointing season. I also agree with your view on the Rays. I won’t be rooting for them in the playoffs because once the Cubs got ousted I really don’ t care about the MLB playoffs. If the the Rays somehow or another end up winning the world series that would be the 3rd recent expansion team to win a world series along with the Diamondbacks and Marlins..twice! That in my view is pathetic. One would think the Cubs would have at least one…just one.. world series win thrown somewhere in there. Hopefully this team can rebound and do what it takes to win next year and beyond
It’s an institutional thing. This organization expects to lose. The fact the corporate wonks brought in a Greek Orthodox priest to spray some BS curse reverser throughout the home dugout is a telltale sign about how far up their asses their own heads are.
And with Zell looking to sell the team at the highest profit margin possible, they had this year to win it all. There’s no way he’s gonna add salary next season or eat contracts on some players that continue to fail in October, so they’ll be in this state of flux until new ownership takes over and rips up this blueprint.
My loyalty has never been stretched to the brink like this.
Hey al,
Don’t forget about the Mets, the Royals, the Angels, and the Blue Jays. All expansion teams; all have won World Series. Meanwhile the Cubs flail uselessly away year after year.
It’s such a shame Reed Johnson didn’t see a single inning of action. Ronny Cedeno got to pinch fucking run, but the man who basically put his life on the line with some of his game-saving grabs, not to mention the 2nd best avg. on the team, wallows away in the dugout.
@Jaden – I know it’s how the rotation fell, but I feel bad for Lilly, too. That guy was lights-out down the stretch, and he had to stand helpless in the dugout and watch his team get swept.
Of course, with the shitty run support the other three got, maybe Lilly was happy not to get a start.
Thanks pyscho. Also the fact that Boston has won 2(could be 3) after not winning it for 80+ years makes the Cubs look more pathetic.
“I’m going to take at least a little break from baseball and the Cubs, so posting may be sporadic for a little while.”
Wait…HJE has articles?
To me, the lack of playing time for Reed Johnson is a far bigger beef with Piniella for me than the choice to play Fukudome in the first two games.
Here’s a guy who goes balls-out every play, has gotten clutch hit after clutch hit all year, is great defensively, and was probably dying to play in the postseason after being on so many shitty Toronto teams.
And he somehow doesn’t see the field during the NLDS. W. T. F.
I don’t understand what you are all talking about. The 2008 postseason was cancelled because… hell, a player’s union strike, or maybe an earthquake, or something. Pennant winners were chosen by record and the Cubs beat the Angels in the Series, as decided by coin toss.
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=120313290200&ssPageName=ADME:B:ONA:US:1123
Fro Dog?
I’ve got a fever…and the only prescription is MORE REED JOHNSON!
Yes, that’s what it was. The lack of Reed Johnson’s balls-out clutchiness.
I have a bad feeling that I’m gonna start hating Lou by the end of 2010. What with his senility and all.
Fellahs,
It was completely mystifying how the Cubs fell apart. Lack of clutch hits, defense, managing….man, I was left wondering, as many of you did/do, how it could have happened….and all I’ve come up with is some sort of ineffable, inexorable and (gasp!) inexplicable collapse on all fronts. As if the Hand of God reached out and said ‘Try again – not this year’.
How else can one explain the collapse of so many things that brought the Cubs to 97 wins?
Maybe they should win only the wild card next year – then the expectations wouldn’t be as high.
And I’m going to start hating you too, son.
great article.
Dave Caplin jumped right in on that night’s postgame show, claiming the cubs “will never win the world series with a guy like Alfonso Soriano in the lineup”. Give me a fucking break. Revisionists have come out of the woodwork speculating about weakness that foretold this catastrophe. Continue to tell them to shut the fuck up.
Dude awesome post. Exactly how I feel. What a wasted summer. I’m sick of all the time I wasted watching those meaningless games in April and May. Never again! These guys are bums plain and simple.
Couldn’t have written it better myself, except I would have mentioned Lilly on the bench, along with RJ. WTF – why didn’t we put him in the bullpen? Not that it would have helped, but if you ask me Lou is once again guilty of saving players (Zambrano last year) for games we’re not going to play. And, does Fukudome have pictures of Lou’s wife or something? WHY else would he get so much playing time?? I’m also bothered by the team’s lack of emotion about the choke. If you don’t address, and if it doesn’t bother you, it will just happen again next year. Can you imagine?
Excuses are for pussys. You would think playing in Chicago these players would understand the pressure of the spotlight, but not these lames. For all of Piniella’s so called bluster, he never showed an ounce of urgency.
Anyone could tell that Dempster, who had only walked 8 batters in the whole month of September, after walking 7 in 4 innings was lost. But not our brainiac manager.
Facing the dominant RH pitching staff of the Dodgers, Piniella leaves Hoffpauir of the roster so we can have a 6th outfielder that will only pinch run if lucky. Piniella even said he was worried about the team offensively going into the playoffs and will need as many as LHBs as possible, then leaves one of the hottest hitters off the roster? And don’t even get me started on his decision not only to start but hit the pirouetting pussy 2nd.
Much was made of the Dodger lineup initially buying into Torre’s philosophy but once they had, started to turn their season around. Does Piniella even know what a game plan is? If he does, his players don’t follow it.
Say what you will if you can quantify clutch performances or not, but whatever measure you do use, this club doesn’t have it.
The lack of a real outspoken leader, whether it be a player or manager is really evident on this team.
I don’t have the answers but the problems are all clear to see.
your declare that excuses are for pussies, and then you conclude that our team suffers from “lack of an outspoken leafer”. After playing great baseball for the most part all year, our problems are suddenly clear after losing three games?
I agree with lou piniella, good defense and timely hitting is what wins ball games. traits which we lacked in our short time in the NLDS. Our team won 97 games and dominated the NL, I’m not sure what else we should expect of our team coming into the posteseason… a team that played as well as we have should not logically self-destruct because it struck october and I don’t neccessarily buy that we are mentally weak. And that’s what makes it so bewildering. I would sell my soul for a do-over.