It Didn't Happen: D'Backs 5-1 win ends Cubs season

NOTE: This is the first of a four part series which will take a look back at the 2007 Chicago Cubs.

PART ONE: Reviewing the NLDS.
PART TWO: Reviewing the 2007 season.
PART THREE: Looking forward to 2008.
PART FOUR: What the 2007 Cubs meant to me.

To me, there is nothing more eerie than a victory celebration in front of a silent capacity crowd.

That's what Cubs fans had to see as Jose Valverde recorded the final out of the Diamondbacks 5-1 victory.

In recapping this game and this series as a whole, I'm not sure where to begin because so much went wrong.

First, you have to give the D'Backs all of the credit in the world. I guess there was some weight behind those NL leading 90 wins. They beat the Cubs at all phases of the game.

Next, you have to acknowledge the tale of two advanced scouting departments. The D'Backs obviously took notice of every scouting report and used it to their advantage.

For example in game one, Brandon Webb threw a week's worth of slow breaking balls to a team that is a notorious fastball hitting team. Throughout the series, the D'Backs jumped on fastballs early in the count--notably Chris Young's lead-off, first pitch home run off Rich Hill.

On the other hand, that is where the Cubs failed. They failed to capitalize on the wildness of Doug Davis and Livan Hernandez, in two must-win games for the Cubs.

But that's only part of the reason they got swept.

Alfonso Soriano, Derrek Lee and Aramis Ramirez, the heavy hitters that carried the Cubs in September didn't hit one home run. They were out homered by Stephen Drew for crying out loud!

Drew, along with teammate Augie Ojeda will soon find themselves on the official list of Cub killers. Ojeda is deserving of the Steve Garvey Award (Post Season Cub Killing) with his .444 average, which is .212 points higher than his career average.

The only Cubs home run came off the bat of Geovany Soto--and it was the only time the Cubs scored more than one run in an inning.

Yet, another reason behind the Cubs failure.

Upon further review of this series, the only Cub to step up and do something worth a darn was Carlos Zambrano--the guy that everyone was most worried about. Think about it, Big Z was composed and dominant in the best 85 pitches I've ever seen him throw.

And now, two former expansion teams (one of which I called a sabermetrical aberration) will be competing for the NLCS, beginning on Thursday.

While the best 85-win, division championship team that $300 million could buy is sitting at home.

Waiting 'til next year, again.