One last look back at the 2007 Cubs

Now that I've had some time to simmer down after the premature ending of what was supposed to be "the year" I can look back at 2007 with an even temper.

Looking at the '07 team, it was much improved over the '06 team. And there were two moves that directly impacted the change of this ballclub. The resignation of President Andy MacPhail and the signing of manager Lou Piniella.

MacPhail's resignation came as a surprise, a pleasant one at that. He had quite a long tenure in Chicago and had only two playoff appearances to show for it, and that wasn't going to cut it.

Replacing MacPhail on an interim basis was former vice president of marketing, John McDonough. And in his first press conference, McDonough made clear that his soul purpose as interim president was to win a World Series.

With McDonough in the fold, the Cubs opened up the vaults that MacPhail seemed to have locked and his first move was hiring Piniella.

A lot of people thought that Dusty Baker deserved another chance as Cubs manager. Granted, many were the types of Cardinals and White Sox fans who enjoy the suffering of Cubs fans almost as much (if not more) than their own teams success.

In the first year, the hiring of Piniella proved why he was a better choice than Baker.

Dusty said he liked young players, so did Lou. The difference is that Lou walked the walk. He turned the organization upside down in an effort to put the best 25 players on the field.

Youngsters (including, but not limited to) Ryan Theriot, Mike Fontenot, Rich Hill, Carlos Marmol and Sean Marshall made major contributions throughout the year.

Piniella also installed a sense of accountability. Michael Barrett (Padres), Cesar Izturis (Pirates) and Wade Miller (designated for assignment) were shipped out because they couldn't get the job done.

Ronny Cedeno, Matt Murton and Will Ohman were sent down until they got their stuff together.

Scott Eyre and Jacque Jones were benched for long periods of times because of their lack of production, essentially handcuffing Piniella with a 23-man roster.

Free-agency is another thing that helped the Cubs make an 18-win improvement.

Alfonso Soriano (.299 33 HR 70 RBI) brought stability to the lead-off spot, despite a less than moving .337 on-base percentage. Mark DeRosa was better than advertised. "DeRo" appeared in six different positions and managed to hit .293 with a .371 OBP.

The new Cub free agent starters were good too. Ted Lilly and Jason Marquis combined for 67 starts, almost 400 innings pitched and 27 wins.

This was a good team, unfortunately, not good enough to move past the first round.

The Brooklyn Dodgers coined it, the Chicago Cubs perfected it: "Wait 'til next year."

QUESTION OF THE NIGHT

With the NLCS underway tonight, I have one simple question: Who do you love when the Cubs break your heart? I've ranted on this site (and others) about how being a Cubs fan is like being in a relationship--and once in awhile, even in the best relationships--you get your heartbroken.

I've decided to take a stand and not watch the NLCS. I'm not sure how long that is going to last, knowing how much I love watching the game of baseball no matter which two teams are playing. And they've got the ace broadcasting crew which includes former Cubs announcer Chip Caray and current Cubs announcer Bob Brenly.

However, I'm still a little upset about the Cubs first round loss so I won't be going for the D'bags. I'm sorry, Arizona is not deserving of a baseball team--mostly because as of this morning you could buy 25 tickets together for an NLCS game. I'm sorry, if you can do that then YOU DO NOT DESERVE A F*CKING PLAYOFF TEAM!!!!

I'm siding with the Boston Red Sox. Cubs fans and Red Sox fans are a lot a like. They both have passionate fans, a heated regional rival, a classic American ballpark, and cute girls represented in their fandom. Though I'll never forget that one Boston girl I met that laughed like Peter Griffin from Family Guy. I'll admit that was kinda creepy.

Whatever---baseball season ends whenever the Cubs do.