Chicago Cubs

By kjchroust@gmail.com (Kevin Chroust) When Carlos Zambrano led the Cubs in no-hit fashion to their third straight win last night as the Phillies completed a four-game sweep of the Brewers, the National League Central Division race ended. A decision also needs to be made in right field, where Kosuke Fukudome has all but lost his starting role, which I certainly don't agree with. I know his bat hasn't been at all productive since the first half, but his glove has absolutely saved the Cubs a number of times. Had he not been in right against the Cardinals the other night to rob the Redbirds of a couple runs, we would have been talking about another blown lead rather than a close win.   [read the full post]

By tophersteven@gmail.com (Chris De Salvo) Kevin wrote, "If they do manage to win the World Series, you'll talk about it for a few days. You'll then realize the suffering you get high on is gone." Yeah. For some, this is true. For the college kids who get too drunk to text their parents what time they'll be back at the Metra Station. For the family from Macomb who drove three hours just for a glimpse of Wrigley Field. For Mark Cuban. For the countless trixies who relentlessly unbutton the tops of their pink cub jerseys just in case WGN's cameras find them stumbling through the stands. For that guy in the stands who insists on blaming Steve Bartman. As for the postseason. Let's get past St. Louis first.   [read the full post]

By Kevin Chroust

By bigjohnsonblog@gmail.com (Paul Johnson) On this date back then, the Cubs were up only 1 1/2 games with no chance of earning a Wild Card berth. This season, the Cubs are up 4 games on the Brewers in the Central after Milwaukee's comeback win over the Reds this afternoon. The Cubs are 7 games ahead of the Phillies in the Wild Card race. Baseball Prospectus' PECOTA projections still rate the Cubs at a 99 percent chance of reaching the playoffs. This is not the time to panic. Losing first place is time to panic. Until that happens, I'm not going to feed into this 1969 paranoia. Rich Harden is pitching tomorrow. Carlos Zambrano is pitching Saturday. And everybody in the National League is still chasing the Cubs, and not doing a very good job of it, by the way.   [read the full post]

By tophersteven@gmail.com (Chris De Salvo) Nine years later, they were back. Throughout a season largely overshadowed by a collectively juiced chased of a fabled Home Run record that has subsequently become as tainted as the men who broke it, they earned a Wild Card birth, and (again) a quick trip back to mediocrity. Last season there was an excitement in the air all season, and though the Arizona Diamondbacks made us look like our Single-A Peoria affiliate, we were loaded and ready for a return to form in 2008. Though the Milwaukee Brewers have been playing just as poorly, I still get this text message from a man who used to work as an usher at Wrigley while still a bright-eyed young optimist.   [read the full post]

By Paul Johnson Thursday, September 4, 2008 Settle Down, Cubs Fans Cubs fans are genetically predispositioned to expect the worst. Not winning for a century will tend to do that to a fan base. But when looking at the current five-game losing streak and the arm problems of pitchers Carlos Zambrano and Rich H...