Song Remains The Same In Wrigleyville
With opening day less than a week away, the minds of all right-thinking Americans are turning to thoughts of baseball.
The last two World Series have turned entrenched baseball mythology on its head as the long-suffering Boston Red Sox and perennial also-rans the Chicago White Sox both overcame decade upon decade of frustration to claim baseball's ultimate prize. Its enough to make a Cub fan think that perhaps the impossible might be possible, that perhaps our own years and years of frustration (that would be 98 years, just in case anyone's counting) might one day come to an end.
Sadly, I don't think there will be a three-peat for curse-busting this year. The mostly punchless-Cubbies--aside from Derrek Lee and Aramis Ramirez, who both deserve better--did very little to improve their lethargic hitting lineup during the off-season, and almost on cue today it was announced that both Mark Prior and Kerry Wood have been placed on the the 15-day DL, ensuring that both will miss the start of the season. Thus the starting pitching staff, which was thought (or more accurately 'hoped') to be the Cubs' bright spot going into Spring Training, is now something of a question mark.
The guess here is that the Cubs will probably again find themselves 10 or 15 games behind the hated St. Louis Cardinals and perhaps even the up-and-coming Milwaukee Brewers when September rolls around, and we will be one year closer to completing the Century of Futility (TM). And just to add insult to injury, last year I had to go and fall in love with a Cardinal fan, and now I'm now marrying into a Cardinal family. We Cub fans really are gluttons for punishment.
Still, hope springs eternal. It will happen someday. Probably not this year, probably not next year, but someday. Until then, well....Wrigley sure is a pretty ballpark, isn't it?
The last two World Series have turned entrenched baseball mythology on its head as the long-suffering Boston Red Sox and perennial also-rans the Chicago White Sox both overcame decade upon decade of frustration to claim baseball's ultimate prize. Its enough to make a Cub fan think that perhaps the impossible might be possible, that perhaps our own years and years of frustration (that would be 98 years, just in case anyone's counting) might one day come to an end.
Sadly, I don't think there will be a three-peat for curse-busting this year. The mostly punchless-Cubbies--aside from Derrek Lee and Aramis Ramirez, who both deserve better--did very little to improve their lethargic hitting lineup during the off-season, and almost on cue today it was announced that both Mark Prior and Kerry Wood have been placed on the the 15-day DL, ensuring that both will miss the start of the season. Thus the starting pitching staff, which was thought (or more accurately 'hoped') to be the Cubs' bright spot going into Spring Training, is now something of a question mark.
The guess here is that the Cubs will probably again find themselves 10 or 15 games behind the hated St. Louis Cardinals and perhaps even the up-and-coming Milwaukee Brewers when September rolls around, and we will be one year closer to completing the Century of Futility (TM). And just to add insult to injury, last year I had to go and fall in love with a Cardinal fan, and now I'm now marrying into a Cardinal family. We Cub fans really are gluttons for punishment.
Still, hope springs eternal. It will happen someday. Probably not this year, probably not next year, but someday. Until then, well....Wrigley sure is a pretty ballpark, isn't it?
posted by Yukon Sully | 10:27 AM
1 Comments:
Yukon, there is probably only one other person in the world who reads your blog who will care about the Cubs-- and that would be your brother. The Cubs seem to rarely acquire any decent hitters through trades. They paid a lot for Nomar once the guy was past his prime and then he spent most of the season recovering from surgery. They either have good pitching and no hitting or good hitting and pathetic pitching. Yes, Prior and Wood are on the DL AGAIN. Big surprise. You are right, though, Wrigley is a beautiful place to spend a sunny afternoon. The expanded bleacher seating area will hold more beer-drinkers who will spend the games shirtless until September, when attendance will dwindle.
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