Cubs had no chance: Time wasn't on their side
We tried to soften the (latest) blow for Cubs fans in today's column (linked here). Just think of all those people in countries like El Salvador and the Congo who'll be wearing "Chicago Cubs: World Series Champion!" T-shirts and caps in the next couple of months.
Misery needs company.
And someone had a Top 5 list of what the Cubs needed to do to stay in the series against the Dodgers (linked here).
But the real culprit had to be another Top 5 list published in Time magazine -- the one that made Hitler its Man of the Year in 1938 -- when it ran this story in the middle of last week, prior to Game 1 of the NLDS between the Dodgers and Cubs:
Five Reasons the Cubs Will Win the Series (linked here)
In 1,639 words, Time magazine writer Sean Gregory had it all mapped out.
Let's review what's in his five with what actually happened:
1. Zambrano in the Zone: When Chicago's ace, Carlos Zambrano, "is on his game, few pitchers in the majors are more lethal."
Zambrano's line score from Game 2: 6 1/3 innings, 7 runs (3 earned), 2 walks, 7 Ks.
2. Super Soto: Rookie catcher Geovany Soto, with 23 homers, 86 RBI and a .285 average, and a clutch three-run shot against Milwaukee on Sept. 18, "is probably the best player you've never heard of."
He did start for the NL in the All-Star Game, right? Someone's heard of him. Soto finished hitting .182 in the three-game series.
3. Cashing in on Moneyball: A model set forth by the Red Sox and preached by Oakland's Billy Beane has worked for the Cubs, who "led the National League in both walks and that sacrosanct benchmark for the stat heads, on-base percentage plus slugging, or OPS. ... Bottom line: if the Cubs can stay patient and pound like they've done all summer, it'll be a fun fall on the North Side."
We got no time to figure all that stuff out on the calculator. But as a team, the Cubs had only two walks each in Games 1, 2 and 3. Meanwhile, Cubs pitcher Ryan Dempster gave up seven walks in 4 2/3 innings of Game 1.
4. Lou Is Due: "This will be Cubs manager Lou Piniella's sixth trip to the playoffs since 1990, the year he led the Cincinnati Reds to the title. ... Here's a guy who has won everywhere he's been (can we just exclude that stint in Tampa, where God would have lost with those Devil Rays?), reversing the fortunes of the Reds, the Seattle Mariners and now the Cubs. He's long been one of the best in the game, and it's about time he ended that drought. ... Piniella, 65, is more balanced and composed now than in his younger days. He no longer tosses bases or crushes watercoolers -- except on the TV ads that play on his feisty image."
Problem is, Lou didn't get mad enough.
5. It's Just Karma, Man: "A Cubs title just feels right in '08. ... On the eve of the most anticipated presidential election in history, with a candidate who just happens to be from Chicago (though Obama is a White Sox fan) -- it's the perfect story line."
Karma, and $2.10, will get any Cubs fan a couple White Castle burgers to gag on.
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