Playoff Pulse: No excuses for the Cubs

[tazmocan]

CHICAGO – Alfonso Soriano admits he doesn’t understand the Chicago Cubs’ history because, as he put it, “I wasn’t even born.” And perhaps he doesn’t comprehend the power of words, either, because the ones that came out of his mouth late last week carry quite the implication.

“If we play in October like we play now,” Soriano said, “we’ll win everything.”

Surely the Cubs’ three-game losing streak since he tempted the baseball gods – only Chicago’s fourth such this season – had nothing to do with Soriano’s proclamation.

Right?

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Never mind that he’s correct in his assessment. The Cubs are the best team in baseball and, barring injury or some other kind of collapse – and never … baaaahhhhhh … count that out – they will be favorites to win their first World Series in 100 years.

It’s been more than 60 years since the Cubs entered the postseason as the team to beat. The last time was 1945. Phil Cavarretta hit .355 and won National League MVP. Andy Pafko drove in 110 runs. Four of their starters finished with ERAs of 2.68 or lower. And Hal Newhouser-led Detroit stifled them in Game 7 with a five-run first inning and prolonged what would become the greatest run of futility in American sports.

As much as it means to carry the top record in the game – as the Cubs did until Labor Day – it was as much for naught then, when two teams made the playoffs, as it is now, when the competition is among eight.

“You don’t get brownie points for having the best record,” first baseman Derrek Lee said. “You start over. And you’d better play well.

“The best record is nice, and it sounds good, but if we’re lucky enough to get into the postseason, it makes no difference at all. Look at the wild-card teams that have won. And the Rockies last season. You’ve got to play well at the right time.”

Which the Cubs did not do last season. Their bats turned to linguini. Their pitching imploded. Manager Lou Piniella made the bonehead decision of the year when he yanked ace Carlos Zambrano in Game 1 against the Arizona Diamondbacks after six innings with a 1-1 score.

Even though Arizona entered the NL Division Series with a better record, the Cubs had played so well in the latter two-thirds of the season, going 63-46, that they entered the postseason thinking World Series and exited reflecting on blown opportunities.

“We were surprised,” Soriano said. “We were supposed to win against Arizona. But they played better than us.”

Envisioning a similar meltdown is difficult. The Cubs’ balance of hitting, starting pitching, relief pitching and fielding is unparalleled. They added a full season of catcher Geovany Soto, the runaway NL Rookie of the Year, and Japanese right fielder Kosuke Fukudome, who is trying to kick a month-long slump. Early in the year, GM Jim Hendry picked center fielders Reed Johnson and Jim Edmonds off the free-agent compost pile, and both have been spectacular. And then, after Milwaukee kinged itself with CC Sabathia, Hendry double-jumped his way into starter Rich Harden, who has been every bit as dynamic.

So, yeah, the Cubs, losing streak notwithstanding, are good. Any team with Mark DeRosa, he of the .867 on-base-plus-slugging, hitting regularly in the bottom third of the order qualifies. As does one with Ryan Dempster, a legitimate Cy Young candidate, as its No. 3 starter. And one with a bullpen that can throw any of three relief pitchers in the ninth inning – Kerry Wood, Carlos Marmol or Jeff Samardzija – and know a lead will stay intact.

“If we don’t get past the first round, we’ll be one of the better teams ever to fail so badly,” Edmonds said. “We don’t want to be that.

“The only thing you worry about is if guys start getting caught reading their own press and lose the details. This is a pretty good team. The thing is, if you don’t perform, it means nothing.”

September will be a good test. Starting with a series at St. Louis, the Cubs play 13 of 19 on the road to finish the regular season, all against teams with records above .500. They’re almost locks for the playoffs, yes, but they don’t want to tempt fate and enter the postseason playing like they did last October.

They want to vanquish any curses and get rid of the whole 100-years nonsense and bring peace to generations of fans and, most of all, get fitted for rings. Over the weekend, someone asked Piniella whether he believed the Cubs were a team of destiny.

“I believe in good pitching and good defense and timely hitting,” he said. “That’s destiny.”

Crash Davis he ain’t. Though Piniella’s point does resonate. Nothing’s going to win the Cubs a World Series except the Cubs themselves. However good they look right now, it matters little.

Brownie points aren’t redeemable anywhere in October.

[Pfinder]

Go Cubs!! Did you write that yourself?

[oriolesfan]

theyll make the playoffs and lose to arizona