Apologies for the very belated recap.  Five years ago, the Chicago Cubs had a handful of young and exciting pitchers.  These guys had not only a tremendous amount of talent, but specifically they had the ability to completely own a team for 9 innings.  I used to fantasize about how cool it would be to see one step in, pitch 8 innings, strike out 11, and get the win ... followed by the other who'd come in, pitch 8 innings, strike out 12, and get the win.

Funny thing is, it never really happened.  One guy proved to be a fragile piece of crap, while the other proved to be a fragile local hero.  However, recent history has taught me that those kinds of dominating performances remain possible.  Two days ago, Theodore Roosevelt Lilly stepped in and struck out 11 in just 6 innings of work, while walking only one.  Then, yesterday, Ryan Clownsevelt Dempster followed up Lilly's strong outing by almost going the distance - 8.1 innings of work, 12 strikeouts, 1 walk.  And then - then! - as Dempster faltered in the 9th inning, allowing a runner onto 1st and 3rd with just 1 out, Lou Piniella turned to his closer with the fragile arm who swooped in and struck out both batters he faced for the save.

Now that is what I'm talking about.  It's nice to feel good about the Cubs.  Offensively, the Cubs scored only four runs, all in the 5th inning off of Grandpa Greg Maddux.  Dempster, Theriot, and Lee all knocked in runs, and that was all they needed.  Let's talk a little more about it in the series recap.

Series Recap: It's almost a cliche at this point, but all good baseball teams have to consistently beat every bad team they play.  The Cubs have mostly been pretty good at that this year, not counting their Lost Weekend in which they went 4-9 against legendary teams like the Reds, Nationals, and Cardinals.  

Now, I honestly believe that, in theory, the Padres should be a good team.  However, their win-loss record begs to differ.  Having lost 3 of 4 against Chicago, San Diego now has the worst record in all of baseball.  Their closer is old, they are offensively mediocre, and they haven't learned how to win on the road.  In other words, at 15-27, it's pretty much all over but the crying.  

In other words, at some point in the next 60-or-so days, the veterans of the team will likely be shipped off to contenders.

In other words, Greg Maddux just might not finish his career in San Diego.  

In other words (sorry, couldn't resist), Jim Hendry needs to keep the Padres on his speed dial.  I realize that Maddux is hardly the #2 pitcher the Cubs will need should they reach the post season, but at 42, the man whose fastball reaches perhaps less than double his age is still better than two or three guys currently in the Cubs rotation.  Besides, it's the fairy tale ending that every Cubs fan wants, and who can really argue with that?   Anyway ...

Current Record: 25-16
Standing in the central: 1st place, 1.5 games ahead of St. Louis
Best possible record: 146-16
On pace for: 99-63
Record necessary for 120 wins: 95-26