Because I can’t say it any better myself…..
Posted by Pun on June 26, 2008
From Jim Armstrong in the Denver Post:
Just so you know, I’m typing these words beneath a framed set of tickets to the 1984 World Series That Wasn’t, the one the Cubs were in until Leon Durham kicked it all away.
Not that I’m still bitter about it all these years later. Not that I’m, you know, hoping Durham is living under a bridge somewhere.
Having been raised at Wrigley Field, they tell me I’m supposed to be excited about this 2008 season. They tell me next year, the one we’ve been waiting for for your basic century, has arrived.
Trouble is, I know too much. I know where the skeletons of lost decades are buried. I know, given time, this isn’t anything the Cubs can’t screw up.
But just to remind me of how adept they are at botching things, I also keep a framed picture of the ‘69 Cubs in my office. Beside the picture of Lou Brock in a Cubs uniform, circa 1964. Before they traded him to the Cardinals for a right-hander with a broken right arm.
What, you think I made that up? The guy’s name was Ernie Broglio. You could look it up.
I could tell you more horror stories, but the point is, I’m not excited about what’s going on in Wrigleyville. I have allowed myself the occasional smirk, but no smiles. Not yet. I have been there, done that too many times. I have suffered too many fools for too many seasons and heard too many excuses.
For years, I thought they were just talking in clichés, but now I know what all those athletes mean when they say they they’re taking it one game at a time. One pitch at a time is more like it.
I must say, though, it’s getting tougher by the day not to wonder about these Cubs. They’re 32-9 at Wrigley. They just had a 14-game home winning streak snapped. A friend of mine e-mailed me Tuesday to inform me they’re 1-8 favorites in Las Vegas to win the N.L. Central and 4-1 to win the Series.
The Cubs 4-1 favorites to win the World Series? Excuse me, did I wake up on the right planet? Those are by far the shortest odds in the National League. The Phillies are 12-1 the Mets 15-1 and the defending champion Rockies 50-1.
Maybe it isn’t all a mirage. The Red Sox did it, so maybe the Cubs can do it. Maybe this really is next year. Maybe they won’t cough it up in September. Maybe they …
What’s that? Yeah, you’re right.
Maybe I should just shut up.
tarheelmike82 said
Whoa whoa whoa… the METS are the third most likely team to win the NL Pennant?
Solly said
3rd? I could buy that. Only 2 games back in the loss column for the division while not getting production from C, 1B, 2B and both corner outfield positions. They definitely have the pitching for October, they just need some offense.
Pun said
And there’s the problem. It’s becoming painfully obvious that they are not going to get anything out of what they currently have. And they traded away all their bargaining chips for Johan. I just don’t see it happening.