Despite what Madisoncubaholic said in the shout box, I haven't found this year's playoffs to be too terribly exciting.  We had what, sweeps in every series but one?  The Yankees and the Angels -- two of the heavy hitters of the AL -- are playing for the Series.  In the NL we have the Dodgers and the Phillies, neither of whom surprised anybody by reaching the playoffs. 

In other words, yawn. 

Meanwhile, the Cubs have entered bankruptcy court in order to expedite their sale to the Ricketts clan.  I'm just happy that the light is visible at the end of this ridiculously long tunnel. 

That's all I've got for now.  Call it blogger burn-out if you will.  I'll just call it temporary indifference.  The Season Recaps will start soon, though.

Dear Cardinals fans:

You know that feeling of smug satisfaction that you've had the last two Octobers?  You know, the one stemming from how you saw the Cubs swept out of the playoffs?  I'm talking, of course, about that superior feeling that comes from watching teams like Arizona and, yes, Los Angeles crushing the playoff hopes of Cub fans?

It turns out you were right.  That feeling is a good one.  It's not as great a feeling as a championship would be, but I have to admit I smiled when the Cardinals were helplessly swept away by the Dodgers.

Sorry about your luck, Cardinals fans.  The winter is long.  Go Rams?

(Channeling my inner Jim Mora) PLAYOFFS?  PLAYOFFS?  Who said anything about PLAYOFFS?  We haven't done diddly....POO!

Indeed, we have not.  This IS the worst time of year for us, especially now in 2009, having to endure a NLDS without the Cubs in it, when everyone associated with baseball simply assumed we would have a place just by showing up.  Many, many lessons to be learned, first about taking success for granted.  Also for making snap decisions based solely on stats and not taking human factors into account.  Someday someone will write a egg-heady book about the human cost of trading away a decent, modestly talented human being like Mark DeRosa so that we could afford to bring in an marginally more talented yet profoundly flawed person like Milton Bradley.  On paper, it was a slam-dunk - Bradley led the entire AL in OPS in 2008.  If you believe in personal growth and redemption, you might talk yourself into believing that Bradley had matured enough to deserve, cherish, and professionally uphold a lucrative three-year contract.

But, if you're like me, convinced that a cat can never change its stripes, then you knew from the moment he was signed that it had no chance of working.

So here we are, fans of the club with the best pitching possibly in the entire league, wondering what to do here in October.  Most years prior to this one, it was easier.  We knew we sucked, so real baseball fans would cherish the opportunity to spend their time watching quality ball, and provincial fans like myself would just bury themselves in pro football, college football, high school football or whatever items on the 'honey-do' list we've been putting off all summer.

This year is different.  I feel cheated.  I truly feel like I went to a live show, perhaps a stand-up comedy performance by, say, Chris Rock, but instead they rolled out some guy they caught pissing in the alley out back.  We should be there, we aren't, and I can't help thinking that this is going to cut into the already meager level of enjoyment any of us would normally feel watching October baseball that doesn't include the Cubs.

To make things even more distasteful, most of the Usual Suspects ARE still at it.  The Evil Satanic Fowl.  The Massholes.  The Steinbrenners.  Manny and his bitch-titts. Vlad the Impaler and his Halos, who actually I have very little gripe with, outside of the fact that they ALWAYS make the playoffs, then ALWAYS choke their spot away to the Massholes.  Not to mention the incumbents, Hole Camels, his vacuous blonde succubus wife, their new baby, and the rest of the Phillies, a franchise that, until recently, was even more associated with failure than our own.

There aren't any Tampa Bay Rays this year, the former weaklings at the beach kicking sand in everyone's faces.  The only two teams that don't make me want to hurl my lunch are the Twinkies and the Rox.  It is Rocktober again, apparently.  And even the Twins kind of chafe me, when I consider that it is WE that deserved Joe Mauer and THEY what deserved Mark Prior.  If we had the first pick that year, that would be the ultimate insult.  But the Twins actually picked first, and they were smart, thrifty and lucky to pick Mauer, and leave the so-called Best College Pitcher Ever for us.

I work with a whole poopload of Cardinal fans, who advance the theory that if they win, then they will buy themselves another five years of grace with their fanbase, and thus won't have to re-sign Matt Holliday or even, dare I speak it, the Great PooHoles.  Therefore, says they, I should root for them this year, with the long-term success of the Cubs in mind.

When I start trusting Cardinal fans is when I start living my life according to the principles of Rush Limbaugh, driving a gigantic 4-wheel-drive tank deep into virgin woods to better facilitate shooting animals dead for my personal pleasure, and secretly booking hotel rooms at hourly rates on the other side of the tracks so I can have my bare ass beat by swarthy young men with lesions on their necks.

In other words, nah.  Go Twins! 

Imagine, if you will, the following scenario:

• The Cubs sweep the Reds at home this weekend.
• The Cubs take 3 of 4 from the Brewers
• The Cubs take 2 of 3 from the Cardinals in St. Louis
• The Cubs take 2 of 3 from the Brewers in Milwaukee
• The Cubs take 3 of 4 from the Giants in San Francisco
• The Cubs take 3 of 4 from the Pirates in Chicago
• The Cubs sweep the Diamondbacks to finish the season.

I know, it's crazy.  I don't believe it could happen.  If it did happen, then the Cubs would be a 25-8 team from September 1st until the end of the season.  It would also give the Cubs a finishing record of 90-72.

Presently, the Wild Card team is the Rockies.  For them to finish with a 90-72 record or worse, they would need to go 10-12 from here on out against juggernauts of talent like the Reds, Padres (twice), Diamondbacks, and Brewers.  To even think they could manage that would mean ignoring their 7-1 record since September 1st.

So, to answer my own question, what would it take? It would take a sodding miracle.  An act of divine intervention.  And the baseball gods proved a long time ago that they are not interested in intervening in favor of the Cubs.

The Cubs have lately been playing extremely well as of late and find themselves in an unusual (for 2009 at least) predicament. With several key players soon to return from trips to the DL, Lou and Jim will have to decide who to demote and what the roster will look like going into September, when it can expand to 40.

The Cubs are in first! How lovely.

Considering the astounding number of talking heads and idiot columnists in the sports world these days, I'm kinda surprised no one wrote about this a few days back. The Cubs' sweep of the Reds was not an earth-shattering result, and did anyone really expect the Cardinals to beat the Phillies at home?

As a result, we get to have that, "If the season ended right now..." conversation as many times as we'd like today. Of course, we've still got more than one-third left of the season to play out before anything's decided. With that, I thought I'd take a look at both teams' upcoming schedules, to get a gauge on what's reasonable to expect going forward.

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The Cubs and Cards each close out the month of July with a four-gamer. Both teams are at home, but the quality of their opponents isn't quite equal.

The Cubs take on the Astros, a team that has somehow played its way into third place in the NL Central. It's true that the offense has some pretty huge holes in it throughout the line-up. However, as you'll see in the upcoming Series Preview, the Cubs have a couple of tough pitching match-ups ahead of them. Neither of the first two games (Z vs. Wandy, Demp vs. Oswalt) will be easy wins by any means. If the Cubs drop both, they'll need Randy Wells and Kevin Hart to pitch well against Mike Hampton and Russ Ortiz to salvage a series split.

At the same time, it doesn't look like the Cardinals will have much of an advantage in any of their match-ups, either. Their series probables are: Wolf vs. Carpenter, Billingsley vs. Wainwright, Kershaw vs. somebody (TBA), and Kuroda vs. Lohse. If Carp and Wainwright go nuts, the Cards might get lucky with Lohse and take three of four. More likely, they'll split, or worse.

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It'll be important for the Cubs to pick up a game on their way into August, because it'll be a tough month to try to stay in the lead.

Generally, there's the issue of opponents' winning percentage. The Cards take on teams with a collective .449 winning percentage, while the Cubs take on a schedule with a .490 percentage.

There are a few key series that explain the difference in strength of schedule. The Cardinals have arguably one tough series, a three-gamer at Los Angeles. In contrast, the Cubs have three difficult series in August: four games of their own at Dodger Stadium, playing host for three games to the Phillies, and four games in Colorado against a surprisingly spunky Rockies team.

Pitching match-ups and reinforcements from the disabled list will hopefully give the Cubs the extra oomph they need to carry the division lead into September. In the meantime, it'll be important to take advantage of this next series, to try to get some breathing room before heading into August.

Go Cubs.

In every successful season in sports, there are many "breaks" that help the successful team down the road.  It has been a great break for us to have played Pittsburgh, Cincy and Washington after the All-Star hiatus.  It has been a great break that the Cardinals lost two of three after trading for offensive missing link Matt Holliday.  We have endured many injuries, but so have nearly every other contender in the division.

I still think we suck.  I still don't think Fukudome and Bradley are earning their keep.  Soriano seems to be on the upswing; this particular swing better be quite long, drawn out, and bloody to make up for the two months of utter suckitude he just turned in.  We still don't have a second baseman, particularly against lefties, and wasn't that the key area we were supposed to be addressing this past off-season? 

Oh, yeah.  That's what Aaron Miles was brought here for.  GUH!

I'm the 'glass half-empty' guy.  While the rest of you are hootin' and hollerin' about sweeping the Reds, I'm still worried about how we laid down like panting dogs in Philly, and how we are going to do this week with the AssTrolls.  This is a big series, coming up, because we have a road trip after this.  And God bless those of you with enough wherewithall and foresight to make the road trips and negate the home crowds in most NL parks.  (I have done my part so far in Milwaukee and the Cell this year, and I'll make an appearence in Pissburgh on Labor Day.  But I myself consider my contributions to be meager, at best). 

If you are a Cub fan "abroad", and the boys are coming to your town, show up!  This particular Cub team is operating with the thinnest of error margins.  They may hang tough the rest of the summer; they may fold like a wet taco shell, neither will surprise me.  They are going to have to function at nearly full capacity in order to make the NLDS for a third consecutive year.  That means that all of us can play a part in this.  I think it helps when the Cubs can count on some of their fans nearly everywhere they go.  That's what the Dempsters and Reed Johnsons and DLees always say when asked, and while it might sound like rah-rah hooey to the more cynical of us, what is important that THEY believe it.

So if you live in Ohio or Kentucky or Colorado or Florida, get your ass to the park next week.  Help the Cubs, and help the rest of us mortgage slaves who can't make it there.

And, if you can wear catcher's gear without looking silly, and make a decent throw to second base, pack it along with you.  We might need you...

In sports, the window closes.

Any team that decides to make a move for the championship will select a few key stars to lead their team for the foreseeable future. In Detroit, the Pistons had a solid starting five of Rip, Sheed, Chauncey, Ben and Prince for years. In Indianapolis, the Colts offense spent many years revolving around Peyton Manning, Marvin Harrison, Reggie Wayne and Eddgerin James.

The problem with the concept of the "core" is that, eventually, they get old. Just a couple years after winning it all, the Boston Celtics will have this problem, with KG, Ray Allen and Paul Pierce all aging quickly (and three good knees between them). The Phoenix Suns' core of Steve Nash, Amare Stoudamire, and Shawn Marion has already been dissolved, even without having won a championship.

In Chicago, the Cubs have their core. They've invested tens of millions of dollars in three position players that simply can't be moved. For the foreseeable future, third base belongs to Aramis Ramirez; Derrek Lee owns 1B; and Soriano gets left field. That's how it is.

The Cubs' offensive core has had their days. They tasted the postseason in 2007 and 2008. Unfortunately, those days were short. But more importantly, they happened--this team had its chance.

As our core ages, as Aramis' shoulder acts up, as Derrek's neck spasms continue to flare, as Soriano's quick hands start slowing down, we're beginning to notice a major flaw with the group. Fans are convinced, along with the team's manager, that this group needs a lefty power bat to win.

Unfortunately, there's no place to put that bat. We've decided on our core, and there really isn't a lot of wiggle room one way or the other.

Jim Hendry tried to fill the lefty power gap by signing players like Fukudome and Bradley. In doing so, I think Hendry was wise not to ignore one crucial element of the game--defense. The guys we've got are not oafs. Bradley's brain hasn't quite caught up to his legs yet, but the guy can still move around.

As an example, look at the top five lefty outfielders in slugging this season: Raul Ibanez, Brad Hawpe, Adam Dunn, Jason Bay, and Jonny Damon. Those guys will all most assuredly see a rapid decline in their defensive skills over the next one to three years, assuming of course that it hasn't happened already.

Basically what I'm saying is--if you're convinced that the Cubs need a left-handed power bat to win it all (and I'm almost convinced of the fact at this point), then you're going to have to wait until 2011, when Lee vacates his spot at first base, for a championship team on the North Side of Chicago.

Until then, perhaps you should advocate having the Cubs act as sellers in the trade market, to prepare them for their next run. At this point, I think that's the side I'm on.

I’ve actually been thinking about this topic for about two weeks, and to be honest it would have probably been slightly more appropriate before the recent stretch of divine intervention, but I digress…

The 2008 Cubs were the best Cubs team I’ve ever seen. (Considering the amount of bickering that has been going on recently I’m sure this will be debated, but statistically speaking and seemingly intangibly speaking, they were one of the best.) They could beat any team and no matter the defecit, they were in every game. Almost straight through from April to September, the 2008 Cubs ran in to few glaring issues that ever threatened their chances of winning the division and they ended up clinching a week before the end of the season. That’s when the fun ended.

From one of the greatest offenses in club history to one of the biggest eggs laid in playoff history, that team took a nose dive. But that didn’t even seem to be the worst part. Nor was the worst part that they were so dominant all year and were being discussed as the easy National League representative in the World Series. The worst part wasn’t that pretty much the entire team, with a few notable exceptions, was expected to come back in 2009. The worst part wasn’t even the fact that I had accepted that we sh*t our pants in the playoffs, not even that mattered.

No, the worst part was that I was convinced that no matter how good the 2009 Cubs were, the entire season would just be one giant pressure cooker set to implode in October. I was sure that from April through September it wouldn’t matter how big our lead was, or how dominant our run differential was. The only thing that would matter would be 3 games in October.

Think about it this way: on June 22, 2008 the Cubs were 20 games over .500, had a 4.5 game lead and a +112 run differential! That team was unstoppable. I truly felt in my heart that last year was going to be the year. As we all know, it wasn’t.

Exactly 1 year later we are 3 games over .500 and only 2.5 out of first place. Oh, and our run differential? +12. Exactly 100 runs less than where we were last year at this time. That’s not going to last. This team is virtually the same lineup. They will hit. And the playoffs? No one’s talking about the playoffs; no one is saying this is a lost season unless we get out of the first round. All of the pressure right now is on having a successful season and making the first round. You could even almost make the argument that stumbling and sputtering through the first 2/5ths of the season could be the best thing to happen to this year's team. Now the pressure isn't about “Yeah, you’re winning, but what about in October? What you’re doing now doesn’t matter until you win a game in October.” The pressure is about now. It’s about a division race in the middle of the summer. Something the 0-for-October team from last year didn’t have to deal with.

I'm not being naive, either. This team is by no means perfect and currently has plenty of holes. They’ve frustrated and infuriated me all season, but this division is still there for the taking. They are the best team in the division, and I don’t think many would disagree that even in third place it is still theirs to lose. The two teams ahead of us whom we beat by 7.5 and 11 games last year? They got worse.

Look, (imagine Uncle Lou here) the point is there’s nothing wrong with a little adversity as long as you learn something from it. At this exact point last year The World Champion Phillies were coming off a 5 game losing streak (in the midst of a 1-7 stretch), only 7 games over .500 and a 1 game lead in the division. I bet anything they’d say the adversity and challenges they fought through the entire season are what propelled them to be the last team standing at the finish line. Let’s keep this in perspective.  It couldn’t hurt. Go Cubs.

The Cubs are going to win the NL Central this year, right? Who is going to get in their way?

The Cardinals? Please. Outside of Pujols, their infield sounds like a law firm. Barden, Greene and Thurston - Attorneys at Law.

The Astros? Give me a break. Half their team is having his ass hauled in front of Congress.

The Reds? Two words: Dusty Baker.

The Brewers? They resigned Eric Gagne. Nuff said about their pitching situation.

The Pirates? LOLz.

Yep, seems like clear sailing for the Cubs in Aught Nine...but that’s exactly why I’m worried.

I know we like to showcase our optimism around here, and to tell you the truth, I feel better about this year’s Cubs than the team on the field last season. But the potential lack of competition within the division worries me.

I wrote a little bit about this near the end of last season, but I’m a fairly firm believer that a team needs to be competitive all season (especially after the ASG) in order to have the right mindset for the playoffs - That mindset being that every game counts.

Sure it’s nice to coast to the playoffs. It’s nice to be able to rest your stars or to know that your spot at the October table is reserved. But recent history suggests this isn’t the best way to win a championship.

Take a (very un-Colin and unscientific) look at the last 10 World Series champions...

2008: Phillies won division by 3.0 games
2007: Red Sox won division by 2.0 games
2006: Cardinals won division by 1.5 games
2005: White Sox won division by 6.0 games
2004: Red Sox won Wildcard (3.0 games behind Yankees)
2003: Marlins won Wildcard (10.0 games behind Braves)
2002: Angels won Wildcard (4.0 games behind A’s)
2001: Diamondbacks won division by 2.0 games
2000: Yankees won division by 13.5 games
1999: Yankees won division by 2.5 games

Outside of the 2004 Red Sox (who coasted to the Wildcard) and the 2000 Yankees, the most recent champs had to compete to make it to the playoffs. I feel that one could argue this competition only helped when it came down to business time in the postseason. I find this especially true for the '05 White Sox who nearly blew a HUGE division lead in September but caught fire in the last week, which helped them roll to the ring.

Now, there is nothing the Cubs can do about their division sucking. They can’t make their opponents better (Well they can, but let’s not get into that). The only thing they can do is motivate themselves.

Maybe the embarrassment known as the 2007 and 2008 NLDS will be enough, but over 162 games I think the team will need more than that.

A lot of the responsibility is going to fall on Lou. He’s got to keep the team motivated and the players need to respond. This is where I’m hoping Mount Milton Bradley will play his biggest role by erupting gallons of liquid hot motivational and competitive lava all over Wrigleyville (OK, that visual was a little weird). I want him to give the team a killer attitude. I want the Cubs not only to win the division, but to win 120 games an put the fear of God in every team they face while doing it.

Maybe another club in the division will step up and prove to be a formidable opponent. Who knows. I have a feeling there will be at least one surprise team in the NLC this season, but everyone knows the 2009 Cubs are built for one thing and one thing only: the playoffs.

So if they play every game like the way they were built to then things should be fine...but is that possible over a lengthy season?

Is anyone else worried? Am I just making a big deal out of nothing? Are things too good to be true and I'm just looking for a reason to justify my eye twitch? Talk me down people.