With seven games to go in this dramatic, herky-jerky season, the 2004 Cubs certainly have my attention.
But, sadly, not my affection.
When Dusty Baker came to town a couple of years ago, he said he wanted the Cubs to shed their image as lovable losers.
Congratulations, Dusty.
The Cubs are no longer losers, and they’re about as lovable as the Taliban.
This year’s Cubs team has been a defiantly fan-unfriendly bunch. When they’re not on the disabled list or being suspended by the league for misbehavior, Cubs players circa 2004 are calling the TV announcers to complain about the play-by-play commentary or getting doubled off second base for the third time in a week.
So, tell me … what’s to like?
Sure, there are a few things, such as the emergence of third baseman Aramis Ramirez as a star, Corey Patterson’s epiphany as a leadoff hitter and the methodical mastery of Greg Maddux Version 2.0. That’s all good, but it won’t keep the 2004 Cubs from leaving a bad taste in my mouth, even if we wash down the season with World Series champagne.
This season is somehow so different than 2003, when few people expected the Cubs to be winners.
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This year, they were Sports Illustrated’s preseason pick to go all the way. Pressure changes everything, but handling pressure is what winners do, right? How they handle it is a sign of character, and this team’s character just rubs me the wrong way.
Sammy Sosa’s home-run hop has quickly gone from endearing to annoying, especially when he does it prematurely and turns a sure double into an embarrassing 9-4-6 putout at second. It may have been cute when he was hitting 60 homers for a non-contending team, but when he’s batting .260 in a pennant race … it’s time to put a cork in it, Sammy.
Fundamentals don’t seem to matter to Baker and his players. Moises Alou has committed a career’s worth of base-running blunders this season, most of which Baker has shrugged off as “aggressive” mistakes. No, Dusty. “Aggressive” base running is going from first to third on a single. Getting doubled off base on a routine fly ball–even in a hit-and-run situation–is not aggressive. It’s just plain stupid.
Speaking of stupid, have you ever seen a team create more animosity with umpires than this year’s Cubs? Baker and four of his pitchers–Kerry Wood, Carlos Zambrano, LaTroy Hawkins and Kent Mercker–all served time on the suspended list this season for various altercations with authority. These days, no game seems complete until a frothing-at-the-mouth Cub is forcibly removed from the field.
And please, no more bitchy calls to the broadcast booth. If the players were doing their jobs as well as Chip and Steve are doing theirs, the Cubs wouldn’t be 16 games behind the Cardinals now and fighting for their postseason survival. Turn off the TV and get your head in the game.
It’s a shame, because these character-flawed 2004 Cubs could just be good enough to make history. If they squeak into the playoffs, they’ll be the first Cubs team to make back-to-back postseason appearances since 1908, which also happens to be the last year a Cubs team won the World Series.
I want to like these Cubs, I really do. They could be the team that saves me and countless other fans from going to our graves without seeing a Chicago baseball team win a championship.
But perhaps this is our destiny (Dustiny?), the way fate meant it to be. We’ll get our World Series title, but we’ll get it from this whiny, unlovable collection of complainers.
After all, fate has been as cruel to us before.
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Joe Knowles, RedEye’s co-editor, can be reached at [email protected].