If there’s ever an easy time to be a Cub fan, Friday was not it. Nor Saturday.
However, after Cubs ace pitcher Greg Maddux averted a sweep at the hands of the Demon Birds in their new facilitiy — then, today, Sunday, it’s a little easier to breathe.
I can’t say enough about Maddux. He’s been an absolute godsend in the last two years, simply because he takes the ball and throws strikes each fifth day. However, this season, he even appears a little more focused, a further step ahead of hitters, and wholly on his game — it looks like 1996 out there. Sure, it’s a contract year, but, come on, he’s 40. And he’s 4-0.
And he mowed down the Cards today. Even when Chicago could only muster one run after threatening with more than a few baserunners, I still felt comfortable. He was, again, that good. In a stadium (Well, sort of) that at one time was a House of Horrors. (We’ve sort of fixed that, but you know…) On a weekend, in which the Cubs didn’t appear mentally capable of surviving, let alone competing in their most heated rivalry.
I’ll admit my emotions were conflicting before this game. The Derrek Lee injury is a huge, huge blow.
We can’t worry about, why, as Cubs fans, this happened, tempting as it is. We can only move forward. However, watching all-star after all-star trek to the disabled list with injuries isn’t exactly the way to cultivate our healthy minds. Plus, we’ve got this little nugget from the Tribune, which hints that neither Wood nor Prior nor Miller will be healthy until well into June. Nice, huh?
So, the guys we’ve got now, are the guys we’ve got from here on out. (And if you think a broken wrist takes only 10 weeks to come back from, you are mistaken. First, wrists don’t heal the easiest of all bones. Secondly, between loss of timing, atrophy, and rehabilitation, do we really expect to see the Savior until August, if that?)
Forget that the Birds were going well, and that they’d be thirsting for payback after the sweep at Wrigley. Forget that our entire offense may be a little shellshocked, going into the Cards series, I felt reasonably confident still. . Forget that our two biggest starting pitcher liabilities were opening games one or two.
For a change, I actually believed in Dusty. Yes, I said it. I thought, you know, this guy managed a bunch of no-names in San Francisco, time and again during Bonds’ happenstance injuries. His players always played unquestionably hard for him. I thought, perhaps, that this Derrek Lee injury would matter least of all to Dusty– and that we may even win some games, after he was able to batten down the hatches and bring everyone together. Ewing Theory, anyone?
Well, Friday, that didn’t happen. It wasn’t so much Jerome Williams‘ BP fastball, it was his inability to locate strikes to the bottom of the Cards’ lineup. On Saturday, Glendon Rusch was cruising until he started walking everybody. Who knows what shook either of them? Still, the offense was totally in a funk on Saturday, and last night it felt as though we may never win a game again.
(And, let’s be frank again about Dusty. He’s a bad tactical manager. And whereas our new, aggressive style may have masked some of that — so will Derrek Lee‘s injury further bring it to the forefront. Look no further than the litany of double-switches in Saturday’s game, discussed ad nauseum. Somebody please mention to Mr. Baker that pinch-hitting or relief pitching doesn’t have to involve a double switch. He knows that, right?)
Anyway, the Cubs needed to stop the bleeding, and start making things happen. And Maddux did that today, aided by Ronny Cedeno, Juan Pierre, and Aramis Ramirez, notably. Tonight, on Sunday night, it’s actually possible to have optimism again.
It was the biggest Game 17 of a season that you’ll see. We had to have this win. We had to have a winning road trip. I always want the Cubs to come out of each week with a 4-2 record — but even going 3-3 this week feels big.
The Cubs hit today — not perfectly (Matt Murton‘s in a minislump), but they looked better at the plate, still, than 2005. (Except for Neifi F. Perez, who’s never met a first pitch he didn’t want to marry.) All things worked today, and even though that happens occasionally for every team — it feels like a monumental victory for the Cubs, today.
The Marlins and Brewers (Ugh–more agonizing games) arrive in Wrigley this week, and we should be optimistic. We have holes, surely, but the Cubs lineup can win, for now. Angel Guzman and Rich Hill may both get starts this week — probably not a moment too soon. The bullpen is still solid. The offense still aggressive. The defense at first base hasn’t suffered — yet.
There’s a lot of baseball to be played, and there’s no reason not to be cautiously optimistic, even if it’s tough to cope while Derrek Lee is on the sidelines. There’s been much hand-wringing about who to replace him with, and I think if you’re not careful, you can get caught up in blogosphere arguments, and all of a sudden think that Doug Mientkiewicz, Hee Seop Choi, Travis Lee, blah blah blah could be the key to our season.
They’re not. (However, if baseball was played based on blogs’ player evaluation, Hee Seop Choi would be the MVP.)
What it boils down to — is there a first baseman reasonably available, whom you would feel more comfortable with his bat in the lineup over Jerry Hairston? And for me, there is not. Not yet, anyway. Walker at first, Hairston at second. Sometimes Neifi, sometimes Mabry. That works. For now.
The Cubs press on this week. As will we all. And the only thing that the Cubs continue to prove is that tempered expectations are the worst kind to have.
Out of 17 games so far, only four haven’t been winnable for Chicago. I expect a little drop-off offensively without Lee — yet I also expect more of the same. Bring on the fish.
