Friday, July 18, 2008

Cubs are the best.....for now!

So. The Cubs are about to start the second half of the season. This is often a trying time for Cub fans. In my life experience, two Cub situations seem to occur a this point in the season. One is that they are hopelessly mired in last place or darn close. So who cares.

The other scenario is similar to this year. That is, the Cubs do GREAT during the first half of the season. For example, this year they and the Los Angeles Angels are tied for the BEST record in major league baseball. So far. Many Cub fans have seen the collapse before. 1969. The Cubs were leading the New York Mets by 10 games in August and end up losing that lead. (that got blamed on a black cat) Meanwhile, the Mets go on to win the World Series that year. So Cub fans everywhere are cringing. At this precise moment, they know that the second half of the season is starting in about 15 minutes. They know what happened in 2003 when the Cubs were 6 outs away from going to the World Series. The image below is etched in every Cub fans mind. A fan interfered with a foul ball that could've been caught. Darn! The other team that night, the Florida Marlins went on to win the World Series. Cub fans were in agony. The particular fan who interfered was forced to join the Federal Witness Protection program.

This year, we have a new manager who likes to kick his cap when things don't go his way. The umpires don't seem impressed in this photo. But 75% of baseball is theater and the umpires get to play villain some of the time.

For Cub fans, it often comes down to numbers:
1908=last time Cubs won a World Series.
1945=last time Cubs were IN a World Series.
1869=Cubs choke and lose to the Mets. The Mets????!!!!
2003=Steve Bartman interferes with certain out. Cubs choke. (Bur really, the choke can't all be blamed on Mr Bartman. Well, maybe a lot of it. haha)
2008=????????????????????

But it would be really nice to see the Cubs win a World Series this year in beautiful Wrigley Field. So, I still have hope.


Sigh!

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