Nearly Next Year

With today's trade for relatively unknown potential closer Kevin Gregg, Jim Hendry announced that the Cubs will not seek to re-sign our veteran free agent closer, Kerry Wood. This is truly the end of an era.

For 10 seasons, Kerry Wood was the human embodiment of the Chicago Cubs--so much promise, yet so much disappointment. He was the only Cubs player who was present for every single one of the past decade's spate of futile playoff appearances and had the type of up-and-down career that every Cubs fan can relate to.

Sure, it was annoying to watch him re-injure himself year after year after year, but hope always sprang eternal--usually in the first week of Spring Training--until he aggravated some tendon or threw out his shoulder and spent the next three months on the bench.

Nevertheless, I have a special place in my heart for Kid K. His strikeout prowess was undeniable and when he was on, you were in for a treat. The guy had four seasons where he coaxed 200+ strikeouts. And let's not forget that little 20-strikeout performance on a rainy day in May of '98. We got Wood! But then he would slip on a banana peel and land on his wrist, throwing fans into fits of scouring the market for free agent pitchers.

The best part about Wood was that his Cubs career ultimately had a fairy tale-ish ending. He beat the tremendous odds and came back last season to get 34 saves as a rather effective closer. Coming from the Mark Grace School of Baseball, it was good to see a player be so commited to his team and vice versa. Wood and the Cubs were running a three-legged race together, and though they fell frequently, they always got back up and nearly reached the finish line this season. 

I would have liked to have seen Wood as a career Cubbie, but I trust that Hendry has a plan. He always does, right?

But now for the real burning question: Where does Jake Peavy fit into this puzzle?

It's been more than 24 hours since the biggest, quickest and most pathetic letdown of my sports fan life, but the anger, pain and confusion are still as fresh as they
were when Alfonso Soriano ended the Cubs' World Series chances with a half-hearted half swing. (Give him some credit, though. I'm pretty sure it was the first pitch of
the NLDS that he actually tried to take.)

Unfortunately for all of us, we now have a painfully long
offseason to nurse our wounds and decide what can be done to make a team that won 97 games more successful in October.

But let's not think about the future just yet. Let's wallow
in self-pity and linger over the questions a bit longer. It's our Cub-given right.

I have only been around for a quarter of the lifetimes of
losing that the Cubs have inflicted on their fan base, but I think it could be reasonably argued that the last 25 years have been particularly painful, given the bait and switch routine the team
has pulled in 1984, 2003, 2007 and now 2008.

This was The Year. More than any other season thus far, I
had completely convinced myself of that fact. To stomp on the competition all season long and then go out in a sleep-walking whimper is both inexplicable and inexcusable. I wanted the Cubs to keep it surreal, but I guess I should have been more specific about the type of surreal that I wanted.

The series we just witnessed is not lovable losing. This
isn't the sort of thing you can blame on an overeager foul ball-seeking fan, a black cat, a goat, a curse or any other random Cubbie Occurrence. This is good old-fashioned choking--a word that has haunted me from the mouths of Cubs haters for decades, but is undeniably applicable right now.

After asking "Are We There Yet?" for 100 years, Cubs fans now have new questions to ponder: How could they do this to us? Where were the energy and the fire that this team has shown on so many occasions this year?
Why couldn't the Cubs get more than two hits in a row? Why didn't Reed Johnson play? Can we trade Fukudome and Soriano for some magic beans?

I've always been a firm believer in the idea of the True Cubs Fan, and this concept becomes even more important at times like these--when the wheels have fallen off the
bandwagon and the sound of thousands of people rushing for the exits is nearly deafening. It's not cool to be a Cubs fan right now, so most of the newbies are abandoning ship. "Hey, those White Sox are still in it! Let's get back on the Red Line and keep going South! Anybody want a free Cubs hat?"

Nevertheless, after the most talented Cubs team of my life
(or my Dad's life) gives the worst playoff performance imaginable, even the True Cubs Fans are probably fingering their Cubs fan ID card right now and
wondering why they put themselves through it every year. I've been wrestling with that demon since the botched double play in Game 2 and I still don't have an answer.

Being a Cubs fan is an addiction to an insidious drug that
offers its users the highest of highs and the lowest of lows. The lows always come at the end of the season though, so your Cubs withdrawal is so strong by the time spring training rolls around that you've forgiven Aramis Ramirez for
going 2 for 23 with zero RBIs in the '07 and '08 playoffs. Ryan Dempster gave up a grand slam to James Loney? That won't hurt so much in March. It'll just feel good to have the Cubs back in your life again. I promise.

Rest assured we will be singing "Go Cubs Go" when the sun is shining and 2009 is The Year, but forgiveness is much more difficult to muster right now. That's why--in good times and bad--I've always preferred a different Steve
Goodman ditty as my favorite musical homage to the Cubs.

This one goes out to all the True Cubs Fans who will never
understand why it has to be this way, but will continue to stick it out. Better luck next century. Go Cubs.

Do they still play the blues in Chicago
When baseball season rolls around?
When the snow melts away,
Do the Cubbies still play
In their ivy-covered burial ground?
When I was a boy they were my pride and joy
But now they only bring fatigue
To the home of the brave
The land of the free
And the doormat of the National League

You can't have a legitimate sports blog during the playoffs without making a few predictions. It's just not allowed.

Unfortunately, I--like many Cubs fans--wear my predictions on my sleeve every season, so there's no point in wasting your time with a lengthy explanation about why I believe the Cubs are going all the way this year. They just will. "It's gonna happen" and all that jazz.

The series against the Dodgers? I'm thinking Cubbies in four.

So with a few minutes remaining before the first pitch gets things underway, I'm going to make a few more predictions that go beyond winning and losing. We'll see how effective my soothsaying skills as the next month plays itself out, but for now:

I predict that Jim Belushi will be burned at the stake in Daley Plaza if he ever again dares to "rewrite" and cover a classic Cubs anthem.

I predict that Mike Fontenot will retire at the end of the season to concentrate on starring in more funnyordie.com videos.

I predict that Kosuke Fukudome will draw a walk.

I predict that Mark Prior will be sitting in the stands at Game 3 in Los Angeles, massaging his elbow with tears streaming down his cheeks.

I predict that Aramis Ramirez will get more hits in the playoffs than he did last year. When you're trying to top zero, it isn't that hard.

I predict that Steve Bartman will ride on a "We Forgive You" float in the Cubs World Series Championship parade.

I predict that Felix Pie over Micah Hoffpauir was not a wise roster move, but it won't matter.

I predict that a Cubs World Series appearance will ensure Ron Santo's selection to the Hall of Fame this year.

I predict that your car will get sideswiped in that "Easy Out" parking space near Wrigley tonight. Serves you right for actually scoring tickets!

I predict that numerous celebrities will fill the best seats in Wrigley wearing Cubs hats that still have the tags on them.

I predict that there will be a live goat at Wrigley at some point in the next month, and it will be less gross than that dead one was last year.

I predict that Dusty Baker will be rooting for the Dodgers, dude.

I predict that the slogans on fan-created Cubs t-shirts will only get stupider as the playoffs progress.

I predict that Carlos Zambrano will hit for the cycle in Game 2, becoming the first Cub to do so since Mark Grace in '93.

I predict that a Cubs-Sox World Series will help Chicago's chances of hosting the 2016 Olympics.

I predict that there is simply no predicting some of the crazy things that will happen to the Cubs in the next month.

Got more predictions? Sure you do! Leave 'em in the comments!

It was a throw-away line in a pre-game interview on WGN radio a few weeks ago, but it sums up the feeling Cubs players and fans have had all season long.

“It’s been surreal,” said Cubs rookie catcher Geovany Soto, responding to a question about his unprecedented success and the team’s drive to the playoffs. “Let’s keep it surreal.”

Let’s keep it surreal.

That’s a pretty good slogan for a team that has won the division title in back-to-back seasons for the first time in 100 years. And that’s a pretty good mantra for a team that needs just 11 more wins to stop an even more significant 100-year drought.

Yes, the Cubs’ early clinching gave Cubs fans something they have rarely been accustomed to—breathing room. While we were sitting pretty in our Central Division Champs t-shirts and hats, the Cubs’ biggest rivals were struggling mightily for their own sip of the playoff champagne. I’ve got to admit that I took some pleasure in watching other teams play under the gun for once.

By closing the season against the Mets and the Brewers, an extremely relaxed Cubs team held the destiny of the Wild Card race in the palm of its hand. Kudos to Lou Piniella for fielding a decent team each night to keep things interesting (even though the Iowa Cubs and their expensive star, Kosuke Fukudome, filled most positions).

Nevertheless, we got to watch firsthand as the Brewers begged, borrowed and stole their way to the NL Wild Card. It would have been nice to prevent them from reaching the playoffs completely, but I see it as just one more beatable team standing between the Cubs and their World Series ring. I’d play the Brewers over the Mets any day of the week.

As an added bonus, we saw the White Sox collapse in an epic fashion usually reserved for teams like the 2004 Cubs. There is something sweet about the City of Chicago hosting a rally for the playoff-bound Cubbies on the same day that the White Sox will be grasping at straws in a winner-take-all match with the Twins. Again, a part of me is pulling for the Sox, since I would love to beat them senseless in a Red Line World Series. (Not that they’ll ever get that far. Don’t hate me, Sox fans. The facts are undeniable.)

Finally, Cubs fans—and indeed general baseball fans—should delight in the fact that neither the Cardinals nor the Yankees reached the playoffs this year. Indeed, the Cardinals were pretty much awful for the entire stretch run and clinching the division against the Redbirds was especially sweet.

Tomorrow the Cubs will begin the NLDS series against the Dodgers. Hopes are high, curses are lifting, Bartman is pardoned and victory seems imminent. Is this a dream?

Let’s keep it surreal.

THIS JUST IN:

Now that we're on the verge of a Cubbie Clinching as early as Thursday, Pearl Jam frontman and lifelong Cubs fan Eddie Vedder has written, recorded and released his tribute song, "Someday We'll Go All the Way." (Apparently it's a live version. I don't think there is a studio version yet.)

I haven't actually heard the song yet, but two Chicago radio stations made reference to having played it this afternoon.

UPDATE:

Based on the discussion at Bleed Cubbie Blue, it looks like 93.1 WXRT recorded a live version of the song at the Auditorium Theater at Roosevelt University and that is what they are playing.

Here is a link to a large MP3 of a live version of the song, but you'll definitely want to have the lyrics handy when you listen to it. (via Jeff Vrabel) If you have a better link, pass it on!

Here are the lyrics:

Someday We'll Go All the Way
by Eddie Vedder
via Carter's Baby Blog

Yeah, don't let anyone say that it's just a game.
For I've seen other teams and it's never the same.
When you're born in Chicago, you're blessed and you're healed,
The first time you walk into Wrigley Field.
Our heroes wear pinstripes and heroes in blue, Give us the chance to feel like heroes too.
Whether we'll win and if we should lose, we know
Someday we'll go all the way.
Yeah, someday we'll go all the way.

We are one with the Cubs, with the Cubs we're in love.
Yeah, hold our heads high as the underdogs.
We are not fair-weather, but foul-weather fans.
Like brothers in arms, in the streets and the stands.
There's magic in the Ivy and the old scoreboard.
The same one I stared at as a kid keeping score.
In a world full of greed, I could never want more.
Someday we'll go all the way.
Yeah, someday we'll go all the way. (repeat)

And here's to the men and the legends we've known.
Teaching us faith and giving us hope.
United we stand and united we'll fall
Down to our knees the day we win it all.
Yeah, Ernie Banks said, "Oh, let's play two".
Or did he mean two hundred years?
In this same ballpark, our diamond, our jewel.
The home of our joy and our tears.
Keeping traditions, and wishes made new,
The place where our grandfathers' fathers, they grew.
The spiritual feeling if I ever knew.
And if you ain't been, I am sorry for you.
And when the day comes for that last winning run, and I'm crying and covered in beer.
I look to the sky and know I was right today.
Someday we'll go all the way.
Yeah, someday we'll go all the way.

(Note: This is what I heard in the radio version. I've seen variations online from other performances.)

Apparently Vedder debuted the song at his live performances at the Auditorium Theater in August as a birthday present to Ernie Banks. Now that local radio stations have picked it up, I'm sure it will be played ad nauseum when Cubs fever reaches its blistering crescendo tomorrow (or later this week).

Anyone have a quality link to the song? I haven't found much on the Google and all the Youtube videos of the concert have been removed.

Post a comment if you find it!

You can also enjoy Eddie's previous Cubbie hit.

The Cubs didn't install lights at Wrigley Field until 1988, but they were on the cutting edge of baseball technology tonight, as the instant replay made its Major League debut at the Friendly Confines.

And baseball may never be the same.

The instant replay system aims to correct a simple problem: Sometimes the ump can't make the right call, especially in ballparks where it's difficult to tell if a home run actually left the yard or if a fan helped his team's cause.

Here's how the new system works:

Instant replay will only be used to determine home run calls in case there is a disputed boundary call, or fan interference, or a question as to whether a ball is fair or foul. If umpires have a doubt, they will huddle and it will be up to the crew chief to decide whether to go with the umpires' decision, or check a replay.

If a play is to be reviewed, the crew chief and at least one other umpire, possibly two, will go into the room and pick up a phone, which is a direct line to a video room in New York run by MLB Advanced Media. Then, the umpires will be relayed feeds from both the home and away teams' television broadcasts, and possibly use the home team's in-house feed, if necessary.

That's it. Sounds reasonable enough, right? WRONG.

I suppose it's fitting that the instant replay system would debut at the scene of one of the most infamous potential fan interference plays in recent history. As a Cubs fan who is severely scarred by that moment (even if Bartman wasn't the reason the Cubs didn't make the World Series), you would think that I might wholeheartedly support a system that could presumably rectify the situation.

But I don't.

One of the best parts about the game of baseball is the human element and the fact that it is truly a game of inches. An inch to the right and that screaming liner down the third base line is a fair ball. An inch to the left and it's a long strike. And who is responsible for making that split-second call? The all-too-human and yet all-powerful umpire. Therein lies the drama of the sport.

Umpires have always been the impartial arbiters of the action on the field. Their say is final and the humanity of their decisions can cut either way on any given play. If you start second-guessing their judgment, you've changed the very nature of the game and begun the slippery ride down a road that removes much of the character and drama from America's national pastime.

Are we expected to believe that the MLB would install this fancy equipment and use it to decide an estimated 18 out of every 3,900 plays? I don't buy it. This is a test case. If no one cries foul, the instant replay review will be expanded and soon the umps will be second-guessing themselves on everything from close plays at first base to whether that crucial pitch was really ball four or actually strike three.

Baseball is a game of built-up pressure and sudden release. That may be boring to some, but to me it's part of the attraction. There's nothing better than a 14-pitch at-bat when the game is on the line. If that at-bat results in an Aramis Ramirez walk-off home run, the beautiful ebb and flow of the game is completely disrupted when the homer needs to be analyzed from multiple video angles for five minutes. It would also delay the victory chorus of "Go Cubs Go" and that's just not OK.

The ump's split-second call is final. It always has been and it always will be. If anyone disagrees, their only recourse is to kick some dirt. Let's keep the video room locked until the post-game show.

It's the age-old Cubs fan question that is too often rhetorical by this point in the baseball season: What if this year really is The Year?

We asked the question in 1998 when the Cubs won the Wild Card, but the boys in blue were dominated by the Atlanta Braves and didn't really have the makeup of a championship team.

With fire-throwing starting pitchers and potent mid-season acquisitions, we asked the question again in 2003 and watched our chances slip under Alex Gonzalez's mitt. (Blaming Bartman is so 2004...)

After a few more promising-yet-ultimately-faltering seasons, we asked the question once again last year. Surely on the eve of a century of failure, the Cubs were finally destined for World Series glory. It all seemed so poetic, until we were swiftly and embarrassingly swept out of the playoffs by the lowly Arizona Diamondbacks.

Now we have arrived at the centennial of futility, and I swear I'm not deluding myself when I say that this year feels different. When I pose the question this time--What if this year really is The Year?--I get the exhilarating sensation that I might soon get my answer.

You have to admit that it's coming a little bit easier than it has before. With only 31 games left to play, the Cubbies have the best record in baseball and the best record they've had since we tried the playoff thing in 1984.

The Cubs have contended with their fair share of injuries, but that hasn't cramped our style. Take the example of Alfonso "Mr. Glass" Soriano. The man missed almost two months of the season, but still managed to crank 22 home runs and drive in 62 RBIs.

Losing streaks have been kept to a minimum and come when other contenders have been in similar swoons. Meanwhile, the team has been on an offensive tear since Opening Day, frequently slaughtering opponents in an unrelenting barrage of runs. (See Fig. 1) Even Kosuke Fukudome is starting to hit again!

Amid all of this, Jim Hendry has demonstrated his typical prowess with the acquisition of the once-maligned Jim Edmonds, who always seems to homer at the right time. At the All-Star Break, Hendry worked his magic once again and acquired the batter-baffling Rich Harden.

And how about the rest of the pitching staff? It's so refreshing to hear the phrases "solid pitching" and "Chicago Cubs" in the same sentence. Pinch me. Or don't.

Which brings us to a more poignant question: Will success Spoil Chicago Cubs Fans?

The team is known as the Lovable Losers and that's a reputation that won't disappear with one World Series win. But could a championship change the culture of Cubs baseball? The Cubs Nation has a thick skin that has been developed over decades of disappointment and our anticipation of a World Series berth is reaching a fever pitch (not to be confused with the horrible Jimmy Fallon movie).

If the Cubs finally complete their 100-year quest, what do we do next? After you witness history, where do you go from there? Bask in the glory of the moment? Sure, that works for a while. Root for a repeat? Then, if you win, you're the new Red Sox.

I can't help thinking that the air will be let out of the tires, and it will be time for Cubs fans to process what has happened, and reinvent our mental image of the team that we've been supporting for so long. For the first time in our lives, we'll be winners.

I might be getting ahead of myself, but then again, the Cubs are ahead of themselves, too. They're 31 games over .500 with 31 left to play. Popping the big question this season only leads to deeper, more difficult questions.

With a little luck, we'll have all the answers in a little more than a month.

With the Cubbies pounding the competition on a regular basis at Wrigley Field, tickets are harder to come by than ever before.

Gone are the days when you could show up to the park at 1:19 and catch an afternoon ballgame in the shaded comfort of the upper deck. Even the worst seats in the house were sold out by April this year.

So what's a game-craving Cubs fan to do? Well, if you'd rather not shell out to StubHub or a Wrigleyville scalper, you should make like the Drifters and go up on the roof.

You still might have to break the bank to do this, but you'll get an unbelievable Cubs game experience, not to mention the fact that all of your food and drinks are included (and unlimited).

Honestly though, the view alone is worth the price of admission. Get 10 friends together, pool your resources and take the stairway to Heaven.

When one of my best Cubs fan friends was getting married earlier this summer, we wanted his bachelor party to be both unforgettable and Cubs-themed. Strippers wearing Cubs uniforms lost in the coin toss, so we ended up catching a Cubs game at the Skybox on Sheffield.

Click through the following pages for a photographic tour of the rooftop experience.

All photos by Matt Paolelli

Monday's post on my picks for who would play certain Cubs and Cardinals players in a movie about their rivalry bounced around the blogosphere quite a bit over the past few days, leading others to try their hand at the Cubs/Cards casting game.

Over at Bleed Cubbie Blue, commentors had plenty of ideas, but the best was probably Tom Selleck as Bob Brenly and Clay Aiken as Len Casper (even though that's somewhat unfair to Len). Now we just have to figure out who would play Pat Hughes and Ron Santo.

Len and Bob

Clay and Tom?

Readers at the ESPN Cubs message board aptly suggested Leonardo DiCaprio as Kerry Wood. There was also talk of raising celebrities from the dead. Dean Martin as Tony La Russa?

I don't see it.

The commentors at Pro Sports Daily disliked most of my ideas, but offered debate as to who would play Cubs reliever Bob Howry. You decide:

Barry Pepper or Beeker?

My post was also linked to by Yardbarker, the St. Louis Sports Forum, Cardinals Diaspora and The Big Lead. Thanks for all the links and casting suggestions! I'm sure a major studio will announce the project any day now.