There’s a Moral in this Story

Here’s a Tribune story out of suburban Chicagoland that very nicely illustrates the difference between the Republicans (McCain) and the democrats (Obama) in this year’s presidential election. Of course, the story itself has nothing whatsoever to do with politics. It’s about baseball. But if you swap out “Cubs Couple” for McCain/Palin and “Sox Couple” for Obama/Biden, you’ll get the point.

Like the Cubs Couple, the the McCain campaign seems quite content to poke and prod and just hope for the best, while Obama and the Democrats, like the Sox Couple, go in for the kill. Sad, but true.

That, and the story’s just a classic chapter in the ongoing history of the Cubs vs. Sox rivalry. Do not ever tell me that Yankees vs. Red Sox is the best rivalry in baseball. It’s easily a distant but deserving third behind Cubs vs. White Sox and Cubs vs. Cardinals. 

Here’s the link. Enjoy!

Photo credit: Chicago Tribune

Stay Classy, Cubs

How to Make a Bad Situation Worse 101: Losing is never any fun, and getting swept out of the NLDS has to be an especially bitter experience. But there is just no excuse for acting like a destructive four year old. Rick Telander of the Sun-Times explains:

Moments after the final out (Alfonso Soriano fanning on three pitches), one of the Cubs — maybe two, maybe all 25 — took something large and hard, like a shoe or bat or sledgehammer, and busted a fair-sized water pipe at the back of the visitors’ dugout.

Water gushed out, and very quickly the floor of the area leading into the locker room was flooded.

Worst of all, no one is admitting to who or what caused the damage. The Cubs have officially denied any culpability, yet General Manager Jim Hendry has agreed that the team will cover the cost of repairs, pretty much conceding that someone one in the Cubs organization is a fault.

Cubs Choke in Playoffs… Again

A year ago, the Chicago Cubs won less than 90 games and quietly backed into the post season, aided by the Milwaukee Brewers second half meltdown. Not surprisingly, they quickly exited the playoffs, getting swept by the Arizona Diamondbacks in the NL division series.

This year was supposed to be different, and all through the regular season, everything appeared to be on track. The Cubs got solid (not lights out, but solid) starting pitching from Zambrano, Ted Lilly and Ryan Dempster. The bullpen was shaky at times, but still managed to get the job done on a reasonably consistent basis. The acquisitions of Kosuke Fukodome and Jim Edmonds proved useful in the outfield, even though Fukodome really didn’t get on base during the second half.

Mark DeRosa, Ryan Theriot, Derrek Lee, Aramis Ramirez and others came up big. Alfonso Soriano had his moments and Geovany Soto shined throughout. All told, this years Cubs racked up 97 wins en route to claiming the best record in the National League. But in the end, it was all for naught. Once again, it was three quick losses to a western division team that should have been beatable and it was good night Chicago. The Cubs world series drought will continue, now entering its second century.

On some level, this must be what it was like for those Atlanta Braves teams of the 1990’s and early 2000’s. Of course, the Cubs do not anywhere near that kind of pitching. Still, the results are the same. Unstoppable in the regular season, yet completely unable to step up and deliver when it really mattered most. On the bright side, the Cubs still did better this years than St. Louis, so at least all the Cardinals fans don’t have anything to gloat about for once.