There is only one person more dangerous, to himself or herself, than a Cub fan who is worried about the upcoming season. That would be a Cub fan who isn’t worried.
Last October, after our heroes ran their playoff string to 0-9, it was as though someone yelled “Fire!” within the team’s bandwagon. People who had invested time and money believing that the immodest 100-year slump would end bailed out by the thousands.
Never again, they promised. They still might go to Wrigley Field, they might continue buying T-shirts and hats, but as for attaching one’s emotions to a World Series title or else, most everybody voted for else. The Olympics or Jay Cutler, maybe. But not the Cubs winning the Fall Classic, fans said.
And they lied. Now, after a brutal winter of snow, potholes and indictments, fans have that fever again. What’s worse, they have too much company. The next national publication that does not select the Cubs to make porridge of the National League Central will be the first. It’s so one-sided, experts can’t even reach on consensus on a runner-up.
Maybe the dark horse Cardinals. Perhaps the pitching-poor Brewers. Possibly Dusty Baker’s raw Reds. And you never know about those Astros. In a city with the vibrant Steelers and Penguins, the Pirates retain a Triple-A mind-set that fools nobody except organizers of a failed protest not long ago. They threatened to walk out of the ballpark in midgame until realizing, for the boycott to have traction, they would have to walk in.
Do the Cubs stack up as their division’s best? Absolutely. But that’s the fear factor. A third consecutive first place finish will equal a franchise mark last achieved in 1908, a year we don’t remember yet can’t forget. The prohibitively favored Cubs were to be destiny’s darlings in 1970, 1985 and 2004, just to name a few years that will live in infamy.
We’re not here to frighten, only warn. Take 1985, please. After a 96-victory regular season, followed by an 0-for-San Diego playoff, the Cubs were poised to take that next step. Alas, it was into the whirlpool. All four rotation pitchers were on the disabled list in August and wound up missing 52 starts. Ace Rick Sutcliffe made three trips to the DL. In sympathy, Dick Ruthven, the fifth starter, went down the same month and was gone for the rest of a lost season.
Can the bandwagon crash again? Not likely. On the contrary, we like the fact manager Lou Piniella, in his dotage, visited the library this winter to read up on how to get his Cubs from where they are to where they want to go. He did not list among his books of choice “The Big Z” about Carlos Zambrano, who admitted only after its publication he is a closet White Sox fan.
At least Zambrano gives the South Siders a little respect. Few others are. After prevailing in a division ceded to Detroit or Cleveland last April, the Sox will be lucky to repeat according to savants who don’t take seriously this city’s most unheralded twin alchemists, general manager Kenny Williams and manager Ozzie Guillen.
If any tandem can win with Bartolo Colon anchoring the soft underbelly of the Sox rotation, they can, and it is a soft underbelly. You wish Colon would look more like a semi-Colon, but he’s worth the inexpensive gamble.
October might be huge around here. The Cubs and Sox make the playoffs again. Cutler does everything for the Bears except introduce grass at Soldier Field. Also, Chicago gets the 2016 Olympics. Would you settle for three out of four?