After watching the Red Sox end their 86-year championship drought in 2004 and watching their cross-town rival White Sox celebrate the end of their own championship drought with a ticker-tape parade downtown, the Chicago Cubs will take their first step towards their first World Series since 1908 tonight at Chase Field when they visit the NL West champion Arizona Diamondbacks.
The D'Backs will go into this series with the Cubs owning the NL's best record with 90 wins, despite being outscored. Seems like a sabermetrical aberration to me--but that's another discussion for another day.
This will be the Cubs first playoff appearance since 2003, and already "Curse Talk" has begun.
This morning's edition of SportsCenter dedicated 10 minutes revisiting billy goats, black cats and Bartmans. Several mlb.com reports lead with talk about "reversing the curse." And to be honest, there are a lot of Cubs fans who are waiting for the other shoe to drop.
I, myself did not believe in curses until after the 2003 season. And I didn't even fall for it after the Bartman game.
I truly began to believe in what some would call "nonsense" after a completely healthy Kerry Wood collapsed in front of my eyes.
When Mark Prior a.k.a "Mr. Perfect Mechanics" and Wood spent major chunks of the 2004 season on the disabled list. And Sammy Sosa found himself on the DL with "the sneeze heard 'round 'The Chi'."
There was just too much evidence in front of my eyes at that point to not credit supernatural forces for what was happening to the three most popular Cubs, and what would eventually happen to the Cubs.
NOW FOR THE PLAYOFFS
Moving on from that, the Cubs have their work cut out for them.
WHAT THE CUBS HAVE GOING FOR THEM: Manager Lou Piniella has been here before, and his managerial experience should count for something. The Cubs also have the possibility of sending their two best starters, Carlos Zambrano and Ted Lilly, for four of this series. Also the Cubs possess a dangerous lead-off man (Alfonso Soriano) and middle-of-the line-up thunder (Derrek Lee and Aramis Ramirez.)
WHAT THE D'BACKS HAVE GOING FOR THEM: They had the most wins in the NL this year, but once the playoffs start every team starts at 0-0. The biggest thing the D'Backs have going for them is that they have the best starting pitcher (Brandon Webb, 18 wins) and the best closer (Jose Valverde, 47 saves) of the teams remaining the National League.
WHAT THE CUBS HAVE GOING AGAINST THEM: I'll come out and say it because out there some idiot already has said it. That stupid curse. As the playoffs come, so do the stupid national media types that allow this curse talk to continue. Also the Cubs possess the ultimate Wild Card in this series, the performance of Ryan Dempster. The Cubs closer has a three-something ERA in save situations, but in non-save situations his ERA is around five.
WHAT THE D'BACKS HAVE GOING AGAINST THEM: The D'Backs have loads of playoff inexperience up-and-down the line-up. They're manager will also be making his first playoff managing experience too. Also, after Webb, the D'Backs rotation doesn't look intimidating even though they do have Cub killer Doug Davis and one of the best hitting pitchers in Micah Owings.
NEWS AND NOTES:
- I've got tonight's tentative starting line-up (courtesy of BCB) and I'll post it below.
- ESPN doesn't want the Cubs to win the World Series, go figure. ESPN doesn't care about sports if it doesn't involve the Yankees, Red Sox or Duke Basketball.
- Hire Jim Essian! gives ESPN the finger in this piece.
- Not so fast, my friend. The respectable Jayson Stark plays the "Why Not Us?" card. He thinks the Cubs can win this thing!
- For those of you who can't make it out to your local watering hole to watch the game, there is a Cubs drinking game. Play at your own risk!
| Game 1 Starting Lineups | |
| Cubs | D'backs |
| Soriano, lf | Young, cf |
| Theriot, ss | Drew, ss |
| Lee, 1b | Byrnes, lf |
| Floyd, rf | Clark, 1b |
| Ramirez, 3b | Reynolds, 3b |
| DeRosa, 2b | Salazar, rf |
| Jones, cf | Snyder, c |
| Soto, c | Ojeda, 2b |
| Zambrano, p | Webb, p |
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