Oh, Cubs. You’re so collectively dumb. The pervasive organizational stupidity of this franchise is more consistent than Mariano Rivera. As you’ve probably already heard, Ted Lilly had arthroscopic surgery on his shoulder, and will miss the beginning of the season. In Cubs speak, that means he’ll be back just before Jeff Samardzija makes his fifteenth start. The bad news is that Lilly was the best starting pitcher on the staff last year, even while suffering through his shoulder problems.

…

…

I’m sorry. Were you expecting some good news? There is none. Also, Christmas is canceled this year.

I have no problem with Lilly wanting to wait to see if his shoulder healed naturally. Any surgery is “bad” surgery, and I can’t blame a professional athlete for not wanting to have someone shove a pointy stick into his shoulder. That’s how arthroscopic surgery works, isn’t it?

My problem, as always, is the Cub organization’s repeated pattern of not realizing that, while they may not be mathematically eliminated, they were OUT OF PLAYOFF CONTENTION WELL BEFORE THE END OF THE SEASON. There was absolutely no reason they should have allowed Lilly to make five starts in September, the last one occurring on September 30th. Hell, there was little reason to have him make his three August starts.

I know Lilly is a competitor and would have resisted, but Jim Hendry and Lou Piniella owed it to the franchise to realize they weren’t serious playoff contenders and insist that Lilly shut it down for the rest of the season no later than September 1st. Instead of waiting until the beginning of November, Lilly would have realized at the beginning of October that having the shoulder surgery was the best option, and GOTTEN IT DONE.

Why do we watch this team?

Congratulations, by the way, to the Yankees for knocking off the Phillies last night and capturing their twenty-seventh championship. I hope Ned Ryerson and any other secret Yankees fans who read the site enjoyed the celebration. I’m sure that nine-year drought between championships must have been AGONY, you assholes.