The Hundred Year Itch

The 2008 Major League Baseball Season has kicked off with Boston off to a smashing success in defending their 2007 World Series Title. And while most of us are not terribly interested in the “other” league, there are some interesting things to consider.

For the first time since 2000, the season has begun in Japan. Harkening back to 2000, it was the Chicago Cubs and their nemesis New York Mets that squared off before flying back to the US to continue what would end up being a dismal season.

The Cubs led off on March 29th by winning 5-3 as the “visitors” and unbeknownst to Cub faithful, some benchmarks were achieved that day. Most notably and saddest, the fact that they had reached their high water mark FOR THE SEASON of 1 game over .500!!! The next day, playing a “home” game, they lost 5-1 in eleven innings (damn you, Benny Agbayani and your pinchhit grand slam!)

So back to America they came, an even 1-1 record. They would never see .500 for the remainder of the 2000 season. In fact they would finish 30 games back at 65-97 in Don Baylor’s inaugural season.

Was it the 12,640 mile round trip road trip that did them in? Could be. Maybe they didn’t get back on US or Chicago time until mid-May. That could certainly explain the funk they were in for the season. Until you look over to the Eastern Division and see that the New York Mets travelled 13,486 miles and finished the season 94-68, Wild Card winners of the National League and eventual runners up to the New York Yankees in the World Series.

Hmmm. Not the travel schedule then. Could it be the talent? Oh diggedy dog, yes. As is always the case (at least for the last 100 years) it was the talent. The Cubs starting line-up that year had one player under the age of 30. The world famous Willie Greene manned the hot corner at age 28. Other stellar performers on the diamond for our boys were Ricky Gutierrez at shortstop and Damon Buford in centerfield.

Our starting pitching was able to produce one double digit winning hurler (Jon Lieber, with 12). Scott Downs held down the 4th spot in the rotation and Rueben Quevedo and Ismael Valdez took turns as the fifth starter.

And yet somehow, as Cub fans, we believed that 2000 was our year. In the ‘70’s when we had Steve Ontiveros, Davey Rosello and Joe Wallis fielding their way to infamy, we still believed that this was our year. That is the glory and the failing of Cub fans. We embrace Bump Wills and believe that his game opening home run in Cincinnati to start the 1982 season was a sense of great things to come. But how could it when we had 36 year old Larry Bowa playing shortstop and Gary Woods running around in left, center and right? Karl Rhodes homers three times off Dwight Gooden in 1994 and we still lose 12-8 on the way to a 5th place finish, 35 games below .500.

And yet again we are seven days away from Opening Day, fully believing that D. Lee, Soriano, Fukadome, Wood, Zambrano and Lilly will lead us to the promised land. The baseball gods have it in their plans. Once every 100 years the Cubs and their fans will get a taste. Jack Brickhouse was wise beyond any of our expectations, a franchise really can have a bad century. It all ends now. Next year is here! Beware Red Sox, we have you in our sights and we are loaded.

The Rights of Spring

At long last, the first weekend of March. The dreaded groundhog has made his appearance a few weeks back and . . . who cares if he saw his shadow or not? It always stays cold and snowy for another month anyway, damn rat-like varmint. But all that is behind us, it’s now March. The gods are about to reward us for the harsh winter by bringing to us, straight from the desert, Your Chicago Cubs!!! Live at 2pm Central Time on Saturday, March 1st, WGN-TV comes through with the first televised broadcast of 2008.

After 68 inches of snow and 350 days of sub-zero temperatures this winter, the anticipation is high. Our Boys of Summer are back! Lock the kids in their rooms, send the wife out to the mall, it’s baseball time! Sweet Lou leading the way in the first step in putting an end to the 100 Year Drought. ‘Click’ goes the remote and before me unfolds the beautiful green of the baseball lawn, the supercharged high blue sky of Arizona and the Superstation graphics laying out the starting line-up. Hold on, what’s that? Starting at firstbase, Micah Hoffpauir? Who? (Hey Abbott was right – Who really is on first!) At thirdbase Alex Cintron? Are you kidding me? Starting at shortstop is Ronny Cedeno? Hasn’t he been traded to Baltimore about six times this offseason? Rightfield is home to Sam Fuld? I know he’s competing for an outfield position, but he’s one-third too far west in the outfield. Where’s our newest Japanese import? Where’s the guy that actually makes me wish Harry was still broadcasting? “And now batting is Kouse-kouse F**k-a-dom-me. Hey Steve, can you believe the FCC is letting me say F**k-a-dom-me?”

Where is DLee, Ramirez, The-Riot, and Big Z?

I know it’s the first weekend game of Spring Training and none of this means anything come October, but c’mon Lou! We’ve had a dismal winter and are chomping at the bit to see our Men in Blue. At least for two or three innings, give us the good stuff. Let Zambrano air it out for an inning and then bring in the scrub pitchers. We need something to cling to when we watch the next weather forecast that truly makes us believe the Home Opener on March 31st will be snowed out.