No Love For These Losers
Well, it’s happened. In the end it wasn’t even all that shocking. To call it an embarrassment doesn’t seem to do it justice either. In hindsight, it was over before it began. In the end, the 97 wins were an aberration. The Central Division title was merely a mirage. The Chicago Cubs, as has been the case for over a hundred years now, were relegated to loser status once more. Unfortunately for fans of the North Siders, this time is there no loveable in front of that moniker. This time, the Cubs were nothing more than passionless losers who showed more fire in trying to explain their demise than in preventing it.
Two days after the Cubs second straight season ending playoff sweep, this time handed down by the Los Angeles Dodgers (the Arizona Diamondbacks did the honors to conclude the 2007 campaign), which also happened to be the 9th straight loss in the playoffs by the Cubs (dating back to Oct. 11, 2003), members of the Cubs & the media were looking for answers. Answers that certainly wont come, possibly forever. But the excuses were handy & readily accessible.
In this article by Chicago Tribune baseball reporter Paul Sullivan, he catches Alphonso Soriano’s theory on why the Cubs were manhandled.
http://www.chicagotribune.com/sports/chi-06-cubs-chicagooct06,0,5818961.story
In a nutshell, Soriano, he of the $137 million paycheck while turning in a 1-for-14 performance in the National League Division Series against the Dodgers, stated that the Cubs are built for the long haul, but the team as currently constructed will continue to falter in a sprint. Really? So you’re trying to sell the media & more importantly the fans, that in a playoff series Carlos Zambrano, Ryan Demspter, Rich Harden & even Ted Lilly have no shot to compete because it’s too short of a series? As pointed out, perhaps Mr. Soriano should up his offensive production to a point in which he gets more hits than a starting pitcher (Dempster also had a hit in the series, but only needed 2 at-bats to accomplish the feat).
In watching the baseball playoffs progress Chicago-less (with the White Sox shown the door by the upstart Tampa Bay Devil Rays) it’s amazing to think that baseball may crown a World Series champion in those aforementioned Rays before the Cubs end their now century long title funk.
The former Devil Rays (I’ve just been fined a dollar for invoking the term Devil) play in perhaps SPORTS worst stadium in Tropicana Field. Yet that terrible dome may host a World Series champion before Wrigley Field. And yes I’m aware that there are 1907 & 1908 Championship banners at Wrigley thanks to the vaunted Tinker-to-Evers-to-Chance combination, but with multiple Sox titles (two for the Red in 2004 & 2007 and one for the White in 2005), but those titles were won at what was called West Side Park (located on Chicago’s West Side on property now identified as part of the University of Illinois-Chicago campus).
Even though the Cubs have won championships in their history, Wrigley Field has never seen a home team win a title on its grounds. When you think about things like that, combined with the fact that Wrigley Field, for all it’s nostalgia, is a ballpark that’s crumbling & in need of a major facelift to compete in modern times. I’m not suggesting the Cubs vacate the property & bolt for greener pastures in the suburbs of the city where it can build a new facility. But it needs to have some thought & consideration put into it to achieve success in the long run.
Hmm, kind of like what needs to be done with the product on the field...
Two days after the Cubs second straight season ending playoff sweep, this time handed down by the Los Angeles Dodgers (the Arizona Diamondbacks did the honors to conclude the 2007 campaign), which also happened to be the 9th straight loss in the playoffs by the Cubs (dating back to Oct. 11, 2003), members of the Cubs & the media were looking for answers. Answers that certainly wont come, possibly forever. But the excuses were handy & readily accessible.
In this article by Chicago Tribune baseball reporter Paul Sullivan, he catches Alphonso Soriano’s theory on why the Cubs were manhandled.
http://www.chicagotribune.com/sports/chi-06-cubs-chicagooct06,0,5818961.story
In a nutshell, Soriano, he of the $137 million paycheck while turning in a 1-for-14 performance in the National League Division Series against the Dodgers, stated that the Cubs are built for the long haul, but the team as currently constructed will continue to falter in a sprint. Really? So you’re trying to sell the media & more importantly the fans, that in a playoff series Carlos Zambrano, Ryan Demspter, Rich Harden & even Ted Lilly have no shot to compete because it’s too short of a series? As pointed out, perhaps Mr. Soriano should up his offensive production to a point in which he gets more hits than a starting pitcher (Dempster also had a hit in the series, but only needed 2 at-bats to accomplish the feat).
In watching the baseball playoffs progress Chicago-less (with the White Sox shown the door by the upstart Tampa Bay Devil Rays) it’s amazing to think that baseball may crown a World Series champion in those aforementioned Rays before the Cubs end their now century long title funk.
The former Devil Rays (I’ve just been fined a dollar for invoking the term Devil) play in perhaps SPORTS worst stadium in Tropicana Field. Yet that terrible dome may host a World Series champion before Wrigley Field. And yes I’m aware that there are 1907 & 1908 Championship banners at Wrigley thanks to the vaunted Tinker-to-Evers-to-Chance combination, but with multiple Sox titles (two for the Red in 2004 & 2007 and one for the White in 2005), but those titles were won at what was called West Side Park (located on Chicago’s West Side on property now identified as part of the University of Illinois-Chicago campus).
Even though the Cubs have won championships in their history, Wrigley Field has never seen a home team win a title on its grounds. When you think about things like that, combined with the fact that Wrigley Field, for all it’s nostalgia, is a ballpark that’s crumbling & in need of a major facelift to compete in modern times. I’m not suggesting the Cubs vacate the property & bolt for greener pastures in the suburbs of the city where it can build a new facility. But it needs to have some thought & consideration put into it to achieve success in the long run.
Hmm, kind of like what needs to be done with the product on the field...
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