Cubs Wrap Up Season Early w/ Bad Case of “Baby Arm”

Like last year it’s the Bob’s Mets again that have sealed the Cub’s fate. Unlike last year, the Cubs were never leading the Wild Card, and it’s only August, so I don’t have to torment myself for the rest of the year. The Cubs followed up their awful series with the Phills with an even worse series against the Mets. With absolutely nobody hitting, and Dusty Baker making sure to put the worst team on the field that he can the Cubs were swept. The highlight of Dusty’s managerial style being Sunday night’s game in which he had a whole outfield with “baby arms.” The Mets seemed to take extra bases on everything hit to the outfield. Why? It took five relay throws to get the ball into the infield. I’m sorry Corey Patterson. We as the Cubs Family are sorry. We don’t miss your bat, but we really miss your arm.

This brings up my first side note. I hate that we are called the “Cubs Nation.” We are not the Red Sox. We might have been linked to the Red Sox, but we are not the Red Sox. There seems to be this effort to fashion the Cubs after the Red Sox in hopes of accomplishing what they did. It’s not going to happen. I offer up the new slogan “Cubs Family.” I think it fits. Now back to this weekend.

To compound the ineffective outfield, the Cubs played like a bunch of minor leaguers. Errors, and bad base running has been a staple of the Cubs since Dusty Baker showed up, and I don’t think it’s a coincidence. The Mets got numerous extra outs that lead to higher pitch counts which then lead to a burnt out bullpen. The Cubs also couldn’t hit a lick. The three Mets starting pitchers faced were Glavine (old), Seo (rookie), and V. Zambrano (walk machine). The Cubs hitters apparently forgot how old Glavine was and didn’t take any pitches to get his pitch count up. Ever since the beginning of time, the Cubs have always sucked when facing rookies. They never seem able to adjust in game. The worst was that they only coaxed two walks out of historically wild Zambrano. He rarely threw first strikes the whole game, but the Cubs never capitalized. Like nearly two-thirds of the league, the Mets have a suspect bullpen. I don’t know why the Cubs didn’t work the pitch count out the starters to get to that bullpen. You may not get hits, but at least make the pitchers work!

So, the Cubs are now six games out of the Wild Card and have six teams to over come. One of those teams is the Brewers. The Brewers! Can you say “Maybe Next Season?” What would I like to see next season? Clear out the outfield for the young players. I want Matt “The Big Murt” Murton in left, Patterson in center, and Felix Pie in right. Nomar is gone. I’m sorry, but he will never play a whole season again. Keep the rest of the season, unless we can get someone who can hit as well as Walker but with better range. I have nothing against Dusty except he has proven he can’t handle a pitching staff, and never seems to put it to the players when they need it. So, I’m sorry Dusty but you’re gone. To replace Dusty, I suggest Terry Pendleton. He’s done so well with the young players in Atlanta. I’d like to see him take a crack with our young players. I think he deserves a chance to manage in the big leagues if it’s with the Cubs or not. I could go further into the Cubs problems in developing our young players, but then you’d really be bored.

On a final note, I Tivoed Steven A. Smith’s new talk show “Quite Frankly” on ESPN 2, because he was doing a whole segment on the Cubs and their fans. It was incredibly frustrating. If you want to get to the bottom of the Cubs Family woes, you do not bring in Mr. Cub, Ron Santo, and Billy Williams. They are going to give you soft answers and rightfully so. Why should they talk ill of the people giving them a paycheck? The problem with the Cubs for years has been The Tribune. Up until about 6 years ago, the Tribune was happy to put a serviceable team on the field and rake in the cash from all the people who came just for the ballpark. If the Cubs were close in the race, they would allow some free agent spending, (i.e. 1984), but usually it meant never paying a player no matter how good they were (i.e. Maddux). They really couldn’t even draft well, even though they were consistently at the bottom. Now they are drafting well, but development turns them all to bums when they reach the majors. How the Tribune doesn’t have the same financial resources as the Red Sox or Yankees is beyond me. But, I will go on cheering for my Cubs even though they constantly frustrate me and break my heart. I will go on, because it wouldn’t be right to stop. Steven A. Smith kept asking why do Cubs fans still root for a team that hasn’t won the World Series in almost 100 years. It’s because we are fans. Is it that difficult to comprehend? Does Steven A. Smith think Cubs fans should just give up? Should there be no Cubs fans? What if Red Sox fans had given up? Or the NY Rangers? We love our Cubs, always have, and always will. That’s what a fan does, right?