After a heroic come-from-behind victory over the Cincinnati Reds on Monday, the Cubs could not repeat the same miracle again Tuesday night at Wrigley Field. The Reds won 5-2.
Meanwhile, the Milwaukee Brewers defeated the Houston Astros, thereby pulling into a first-place tie with the Cubs in the Central Division of the National League.
Carlos Zambrano had a rough night, giving up four runs, seven hits, and three walks over 5 1/3 innings. As always when things don't go right, Big Z was visibly upset with himself.
The whole race for the playoffs now comes down to the last ten games of the season. The Cubbies have won 73 games, and the Brewers have won 72. The Cubs must win as many games as the Brewers in order to win the Central Division title outright.
Showing posts with label Milwaukee Brewers. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Milwaukee Brewers. Show all posts
Wednesday, September 19, 2007
Thursday, July 05, 2007
Cubs Stand Still
The Chicago Cubs lost to the Washington Nationals on Wednesday. Meanwhile, the Milwaukee Brewers lost to the Pittsburgh Pirates.
Since the Brewers are in first place in the Central Division and the Cubs are in second place, the Cubs are still only 5.5 games out of first place. The Brewers have the magic capacity to lose when the Cubs lose, which creates the illusion that the Cubs are always playing pretty good baseball.
This is a jolly state of affairs, or seems to be. The problem is that if both the Brewers and the Cubs continue to lose, at least one of the teams at the bottom will eventually pass both the Brewers and the Cubs.
You can't bet your entire stack of chips on a losing team and expect other teams to accomodate you. At some future date, you'll get burnt like a hotdog on the Fourth of July.
Enough of this. Let's win tonight.
Since the Brewers are in first place in the Central Division and the Cubs are in second place, the Cubs are still only 5.5 games out of first place. The Brewers have the magic capacity to lose when the Cubs lose, which creates the illusion that the Cubs are always playing pretty good baseball.
This is a jolly state of affairs, or seems to be. The problem is that if both the Brewers and the Cubs continue to lose, at least one of the teams at the bottom will eventually pass both the Brewers and the Cubs.
You can't bet your entire stack of chips on a losing team and expect other teams to accomodate you. At some future date, you'll get burnt like a hotdog on the Fourth of July.
Enough of this. Let's win tonight.
Friday, May 11, 2007
Superstition in the Dugout
Why do carp like worms? Why did it take four hours and thirty-nine minutes for the Cubs to lose to the Pirates? Why are baseball players, managers, and fans so superstitious?
I can’t pretend to make sure answers about any of these questions, but it’s now safe to talk about the real issue. The Cubs had a five-game winning streak going into its May 11 game with Pittsburg. By the end of the game, the Cubs had a no-game winning streak.
Why does no one talk about a winning streak until it’s over? Because it brings bad luck to talk about it. That’s why.
Consider a more dramatic example from baseball’s barrel of superstitions. The Cub pitcher is throwing a no-hitter against the drunken Brewers.
By the end of the fifth inning, everyone in the park who’s still alive knows what’s going on. What do the guys in the dugout discuss between innings? Baseball statistics? The standard 103-mile-per-hour fastball the pitcher is throwing?
Not a chance. They may talk about the price of corn, the trouble an incumbent president has caused, or the fact that their respective wives have left them.
But they don’t say a word about the no-hitter the stranger on the mound is throwing. They don’t say a thing about him or to him. Why not? Because that would jinx the whole thing. That’s why not.
Only an idiot fresh off the boat from Ellis Island would make such a blunder.
And they don’t make idiots like that anymore.
I can’t pretend to make sure answers about any of these questions, but it’s now safe to talk about the real issue. The Cubs had a five-game winning streak going into its May 11 game with Pittsburg. By the end of the game, the Cubs had a no-game winning streak.
Why does no one talk about a winning streak until it’s over? Because it brings bad luck to talk about it. That’s why.
Consider a more dramatic example from baseball’s barrel of superstitions. The Cub pitcher is throwing a no-hitter against the drunken Brewers.
By the end of the fifth inning, everyone in the park who’s still alive knows what’s going on. What do the guys in the dugout discuss between innings? Baseball statistics? The standard 103-mile-per-hour fastball the pitcher is throwing?
Not a chance. They may talk about the price of corn, the trouble an incumbent president has caused, or the fact that their respective wives have left them.
But they don’t say a word about the no-hitter the stranger on the mound is throwing. They don’t say a thing about him or to him. Why not? Because that would jinx the whole thing. That’s why not.
Only an idiot fresh off the boat from Ellis Island would make such a blunder.
And they don’t make idiots like that anymore.
Thursday, May 10, 2007
The Crucial Importance of May
At the end of hostilities on Wednesday, May 9, the Chicago Cubs sat insecurely in second place in the Central Division. The Brewers of Milwaukee had rolled out the barrel to leave our hapless tee drinkers 6.5 games out of first place, with a heroic Cubbie win-loss percentage of .516.
The Cubs’ hold on second place was tenuous at best, with Houston just a game behind our North Side bear brats. (Why is there a major-league baseball team in Houston? Who approved this departure from sane thinking?)
But if we apply clear reasoning to the entire National League, we find the Cubbies in deep manure decades after the stockyards slid into Lake Mich.
With its .516 record, the little bears trail, not just Milwaukee, but also Atlanta, New York, Los Angeles, San Diego, and Arizona. (I know these last three hick towns don’t deserve major league teams, but the fact is that they have better win-loss records at this crucial moment. Don’t ask what’s so crucial about it. I don’t know. May has some sort of Druidic importance to someone.)
To return to the essential fact mentioned in an earlier paragraph, the Cubbies appear to be in deep manure.
The Cubs’ hold on second place was tenuous at best, with Houston just a game behind our North Side bear brats. (Why is there a major-league baseball team in Houston? Who approved this departure from sane thinking?)
But if we apply clear reasoning to the entire National League, we find the Cubbies in deep manure decades after the stockyards slid into Lake Mich.
With its .516 record, the little bears trail, not just Milwaukee, but also Atlanta, New York, Los Angeles, San Diego, and Arizona. (I know these last three hick towns don’t deserve major league teams, but the fact is that they have better win-loss records at this crucial moment. Don’t ask what’s so crucial about it. I don’t know. May has some sort of Druidic importance to someone.)
To return to the essential fact mentioned in an earlier paragraph, the Cubbies appear to be in deep manure.
Wednesday, May 09, 2007
The Chicago Cubs 1
Spring comes to the Middle West, and all thoughts turn to life’s great unanswerable questions. Will the Chicago Cubs finish above .500? Will they catch the Milwaukee Brewers? Will they start well and then, like the daylilies, fade in the autumn? And most mysterious of all, why will Cub fans continue to fill Wrigley Field every game, regardless of how well the team plays?
I hesitate to predict the future, and I would never try to answer most of these questions. But I know a sure thing when I see it. Here goes. (TBC)
I hesitate to predict the future, and I would never try to answer most of these questions. But I know a sure thing when I see it. Here goes. (TBC)
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