I guess, if you told me that the Cubs would go 4-2 in the combination of two series against the Marlins and Pirates, well, I would have happily snapped that up. Still, that doesn’t make these last two excruciating defeats at Florida’s hands any less painful.
Consider:
- Three warning-track shots by the Cubs, over two games, all which would have won or tied or made a difference.
- Three bloop-base hits by the Fish, all which drove in runs in monster innings, even off two starters who didn’t throw all that bad.
- One 2-out base hit RBI that anyone but Cliff Floyd would have caught
- A Cubs team that simply isn’t built for this crappy ballpark, can’t exorcise the demons of the Florida Marlins, or has picked absolutely the worst time in the season to go ice cold. (Actually, April and May were just as bad for ice-cold, and if we’d even been .500 in those months, this would all be over. So don’t make this more important than it is. He said while stabbing himself in the eye socket.)
- A young team of smackers that knock the Cubs’ junkballers around, with nothing to play for.
- A one-game lead with four to play is better than the alternative, you would think – which the Cubs faced in 2003. The frustrating play of the last two days has deadened any optimism, however. (Ed. – I wrote this before the Crew lost to St. Louis. Two games up with four to play.)
- Is this any more heartwrenching than Cubs trips to Houston, or San Diego, or Los Angeles, or Cincinnati, or Texas off of a homestand, all ending with bizarre, frustrating, lackluster losses? It seems different. It’s in September, but any of those other wins all counted just as much. And yes, I’m well aware of how much you detest stat geeks trying to normalize all wins and losses. It’s true, but I detest it, too.
This is not over, not by a long shot. But how has Florida beaten the Cubs five straight times? When can the Cubs trade for Jeremy Hermida, just so he doesn’t have to face them? This is ridiculous. The Cubs go from packed stadium full of base hits to barren concrete box with near misses and bad calls. If they can get out of Florida with a one-game lead, maybe we should be thrilled. Wait, never mind that.
The nice thing is there is still tomorrow. Such as it is. It feels like the Cubs may never win again, but in Cubland, all losses carry that awful stigma. They’ll be fine. Tonight’s loss is no longer the year’s most important game. It’s tomorrow’s.
By the way, number 18 is “Ignore the smoke,” from Blue, by A Perfect Circle, perfectly appropriate.
And it’s dedicated to a neverending cycle of sports radio, which gave the Cubs a 90 percent chance to reach the playoffs, started talking about rotations in the postseason, mentioned that no team has blown a 3.5 game lead in the last week (except Brooklyn, so not unprecedented), and generally consisted of a rush of sportswriters attempting to be correct. The Cubs are going to win this thing, in spite of all of this garbage. They can and they will. I hate saying keep the faith, I hate beating the drum, I hate sounding like a cheerleader, in the midst of the din – relentlessly positive on Sunday night but now full of whiny disbeliefe. Ignore it. The Cubs will win this. And, no, I still have no freaking idea if this team is any good or not.
