My Brief Brush With Cubs Fandom

As anyone who knows me or reads this blog regularly knows, i grew up in iowa. Northwest iowa to be specific. Growing up there, you had three choices of baseball teams to root for: The Royals, the Twins, or the Cubs. 

Back when i was young and growing up, the Royals were actually good and had George Brett, who was a great player. In fact, my first professional baseball game was at Kaufman Stadium to see the Royals. 

The Twins were also good back then, winning the World Series in 1987 and 1991, when i was 6 and 10 respectively. In fact, my first memory of any World Series was listening to Jack Morris pitch Game 7 of the '91 series for a 1-0 win over the Braves. 

Then there were the Cubs. As usual for most of the last 50 years, the Cubs were terrible. Though they had some great players, with Mark Grace, Shawn Dunston, and Ryne Sandberg. To be honest, i don't really have any memories about the Cubs as a kid except for a poster of Sandberg my friend had in his room. 

When you're young, allegiances to teams are formed mostly arbitrarily, born out of things like 'this is my favorite player!' and 'this is the first team i saw live!'. It can also be passed down from family, from a mother or a father or an older brother. 

So which team was i a fan of growing up? None of them. In fact, to be honest, i didn't really like baseball all that much growing up. I thought the game was boring. I never played Little League. Hell, i never played tee-ball. I played hot-box occasionally with my friends, but that was the extent of my baseball interest as a kid. I was more interested in watching and playing soccer and football and basketball. 

Fast forward 15 years, to when i'm in college. By this point my interest in baseball had increased only to the point that i would watch the World Series every year. I remember Game 7 of the Indians-Marlins in '97, The Blue Jays repeating in '93, The great Braves winning their one Series in '95, and of course watching the Yankees dynasty in the late '90s. 

It came to a head in 2001. I was amazed by what the Yankees had been able to do the previous 6 years, and with them in the World Series again shortly after 9/11, i was captivated. Of course, i also happened to be in Phoenix for my brother's wedding at the same time, who was a huge Diamondbacks fan. We watched Game 1 during his rehearsal, Game 2 during his wedding reception. That Series turned out to be one of the best Series ever played, and to be honest transformed me into a baseball fan for the first time. 

Then came the 2003 season. In July of that year, halfway through the baseball season, i moved into a house with 10 other people (Yes, you read that correctly). A majority of those people were from the greater Chicagoland area; As such they were all huge Cubs fan. Cubs games became appointment viewing, playing every night on every tv in the house. Because i watched them every day, and because everyone around were big fans, and because they were actually good that season, i got swept up in Cubs fever. 

I became a fan of the Cubs. I even went to a couple games that summer in Wrigley. I can't say i completely immersed myself in them like some of my housemates, but i definitely cheered for them and followed them closely. When the playoffs rolled around and the Cubs were rolling, it was an exciting time. 

We all know what happened from there. In ways that can only happen to the Cubs, they collapsed and did not make the World Series. The rest of the house was heartbroken but not surprised. They seemed to sense something like that might happen. I was more dumbfounded than anything. How could that happen?

The following year i moved to Kansas City as baseball season was getting in swing. Royals games were cheap, therefore i went to quite a few that first summer. I started following the Royals. not because they were good (they were terrible), but because they were the local team. As i said, i was a baseball fan but never a fan of any certain team. I followed whatever team i had the most access to. 

Two years after that i moved to Phoenix. I moved in with my brother, who was still a huge Diamondbacks fan. As a result i became a Diamondbacks fan. Only this time was different. I became a fan not of the local team, as i had with the Cubs and Royals, but i became a fan of the Diamondbacks. I started following the team, looking at statistics, paying attention to the farm system. Things i had never done with any other team. The Diamondbacks became my team. And they were terrible that year. 

Since then they've remained my team, and to be honest will always be my team wherever i go from here. I've had season tickets each of the last two years, and was at each of their playoff Series' last year. 

All that said, the Cubs still have a special little piece of my heart due to that 2003 season. I keep my eye on them, to see how they are doing, and to be able to talk to all my friends from back home who are big Cubs fans. I will always root for the Dbacks first, but i pull for the Cubs. 

This long rant was to focus on one thing, as i sit here and watch Game 2 of the NLDS between the Cubs and Dodgers: The Cubs fans suffer. A lot. That is one tortured fanbase. Game 1 starter Ryan Dempster gives up more walks in 4 1/3 innings than he has in any start this season. In the 2nd inning of Game 2 the Cubs commit 2 errors and the Dodgers score 5 runs. This is a cursed franchise indeed. 

I feel bad for the Cubs and their fans. It's been 100 years since their last World Series win, and it's looking like it's going to be at least one more. The Cubs and their fans deserve more than this. No other fanbase is as loyal to their team as the Cub fans, and no other franchise has waited as long as they have for a World Championship. Things happen to this franchise that happen to no other franchise in baseball, from curses to bad luck to collapses. 

As this game goes on, i keep getting texts from my die-hard Cubs fans friends, and they all have varying ways to same the same thing: Of course this is happening. This is the Cubs. Why would i think anything else would happen?

I used to laugh at the futility of the Red Sox until they broke through; I can't do the same to the Cubs. It's too painful. The Lovable Losers are becoming less parts lovable and more parts loser by the year. And it is a sad sight to behold indeed...

ManRam To The Dodgers

Well, that kinda came out of left field. Literally.

Manny Ramirez is now a Los Angeles Dodger. For peanuts no less. The Dodgers gave up nothing to get him.

ManRam's numbers this year are: .299 BA, 20 HR's (that's it?), 68 RBI's, .398 OBP, and .590 Slugging Percentage. Not too bad, though to be honest i was surprised at the HR total. Mark Reynolds has more HR's than Manny.

Anyway, what does this mean for the Dodgers, and how does this affect the Dbacks? Well, the obvious is that the Dodgers just got more pop in their lineup. I think the Dodgers will be better, but i'm sure how much better.

Think of it this way. No matter how you look at it, the Dodger's lineup is not the Red Sox lineup. They don't have the players around Manny to protect him the way someone like David Ortiz did in Boston. Manny as a Dodger will be fairly easy to pitch around or walk in big spots with a base open.

The clubhouse chemistry could be interesting as well, as Manny has been known to be, uh, quirky. That said, i think with Joe Torre as the manager and Manny now on a new team in a contract year (no chance LA has him next year), Manny will actually be a great clubhouse presence for them.

Whatever happens, it should tighten the race for the NL West even more. The Dbacks have the type of team built to counteract the Manny signing, namely a good rotation and a (mostly) good bullpen. Manny is a great hitter, no doubt, but in the postseason pitching always beats hitting. Always.

With the Dbacks in Chavez Ravine to open a four game set tonight, the NL West is now officially a sprint to the finish. Game On.

The NL West

Well, if nothing else, no one will be calling the NL West the NL Worst again anytime soon. The DBacks and Rockies play in the NLCS. The Padres have one of the best pitching staffs in all of baseball. And now the Dodgers... well, the Dodgers are making some noise.

Grady Little has resigned as manager of the Dodgers. His replacement? None other than ex-Yankees skipper Joe Torre, if you believe Tim Kurkjian of the Worldwide Leader. Kurkjian reported today that an announcement of Torre as Dodgers manager is imminent, and could come as soon as the next couple of days.

Oh, and just in case that isn't enough, there is another hot rumor about the Dodgers. LA is rumored to be one of only a few teams in the running to sign one Mr. Alex Rodriguez. A-Rod likes Torre, and the Dodgers are one of the teams that could afford to sign him. One of the weirder reasons i've heard for this signing is that Scott Boras, uber-agent, is based in Newport. A-Rod did not have a father figure growing up, and it's been speculated that Boras has become that for A-Rod.

It is strange, and a bit of a stretch, but is plausible if you think about it. A-Rod has made some strange career choices (Texas, and now opting out of the rest of his contract), and it could be due to Boras speaking in his ear. Boras is (naturally) looking out for himself, trying to make as much money as possible for his clients so he himself gets paid. This ploy of opting out of his contract, especially considering the timing of the announcement (during the 8th inning of Game 4 of the World Series), is a curious one, but figures to make A-Rod max money (somewhere in the 10 year, $30 million range supposedly). Understandably, Boras may want to be close to his best and highest paid client. Similarly, A-Rod may want to be close to someone he considers a confidant and somewhat of a father-figure.

Personally, i think the Torre rumor has legs. It was no secret they were after Joe Girardi, but he was signed as the new Yankees manager. So they went after the next best option, who is obviously Torre. As for the A-Rod thing... hard to say. The only teams i think could even afford to sign him are the Yankees, Mets, Red Sox, Cubs, possibly the White Sox, Dodgers, Angels, and maybe the Giants. The Yankees and Red Sox have both said they will not go after him, and i believe that. The Cubs are out because of their messy ownership situation (don't get me started on that either. MLB would be crazy not to allow Mark Cuban to buy this team, but they are too short-sighted and stupid to allow this to ever happen). White Sox won't do it because they can't really afford him, even though they think they can. A-Rod doesn't want to go to the Mets because he doesn't like the NY media.

That leaves the California teams, the Angels, Giants, and Dodgers. I just don't think the Angels will do it, it seems to go against their idea of building a 'team', as A-Rod is notorious for polarizing not just fan bases, but players as well. The Giants are a possibility, as no team in baseball understands the effect a superstar chasing a record can have on a fanbase. Make no mistake, A-Rod will be chasing records in the next 5-7 years, and will most likely break a lot of them.

And then there's the Dodgers. This team has the fanbase, tradition, now the manager, and the money to open the bank. The Dodgers have not spent mega-money on a player in many years, and with new manager Joe Torre, the Dodgers could be looking to make a splash.

If you are the Dodgers, you just sat through a season in which you were picked to finish first in the division, but in which the Padres showed off their amazing starting rotation and lost a one game playoff to win the Wildcard, the Rockie's showed off their great young talent and finished 14 of 15 in the regular season to win the Wildcard, and the Dbacks won 90 games and the division.

It will probably be a while before A-Rod makes a decision, but don't be surprised if A-Rod re-unites with Joe Torre and signs with LA. And when it happens, the NL West may be the most talked about division in baseball next year...

D Day, as in a disappointing day!

Well that was a massively crappy day! I will weigh in on both the Suns and Dback’s and several unnecessary topics.

First the Dback’s get drilled, for both the game and the series. The Dodgers were on fire and just simply demolished the home team 9 this week. Normally not a big deal, but considering that LA has beaten us all but 2 times in 9 tries it tends to get a bit alarming. The question remains: are the Dback’s a good team or just one that beats the bad teams and loses to the good teams. They have struggled against any good team since the end of May. The Red Sox, Yankees, and Dodgers all embarrassed Arizona. They have done a nice job of beating up on the bad teams, Baltimore twice and Tampa Bay. So who is this team and how good are they? That is the million dollar question and I will soon try to answer that in a baseball post, but that is for another day.

I might be one of the biggest draftniks in the world. I love the art of the draft, NFL or NBA. Hockey no longer exists and baseball is cool, but only the first several picks. 50 damn rounds in the MLB draft! Wow, how in the hell can I keep up with 1500 players? I am the one guy that looks forward to the NFL draft 364 days of the year. I believe it is one of the top 10 sporting events of the year. I am the one watching all 17 hours of ESPN and NFL Network coverage. I could continue on but why bore all 3 of you!

My thoughts today are with the Suns and what the hell they are doing. They are single handedly ruining the draft for me. I know, I know, they are keeping together a team that is the second best team in the NBA and only slightly behind the Spurs, if at all. You could argue that they were the better team and if not for several ill timed Steve Nash stitches in the nose and several steps away from the bench for Amare' and Diaw, we might be the Champions. But seriously did you have to trade two players (Rudy Fernandez and James Jones) for $3 million bucks? Why not just trade Jr and keep RF, who could go on to become the back up point guard that we need. In the past 4 years we have passed or traded on Luol Deng, Marcus Williams, Rajon Rondo, Sergio Rodriquez and now Rudy Fernandez, and spent $25 million on Marcus F’n Banks. Brilliant. I would have loved to have Luol Deng (or Andre Igoudala) and Tayshaun Prince on the Suns instead of Casey “I love playing for 2 mil in Germany instead of the NBA” Jacobsen. I am a Big Ten guy, so I like Tucker, a hell of a player in college and I wish him the best in the NBA. I understand the rational of keeping this team together and making one last run at the title. But the excitement of the past 3 years draft is equal to watching a Spurs/ Cavs Finals, in other words nonexistent.

Lastly, since I am out camping (TV, cell phone, internet, stove, microwave, gas grill, coolers full of beer and a foam mattress on top of the bed), I did not get to see the US Soccer team play vs. Argentina (only on Telemundo and I cant speak Spanish despite 6 semesters, Spanish Uno, four times). The 4 – 1 loss seems pretty standard. A young team playing against a world power on the road, what did you expect? I just figured it was a crappy way to finish D Day.

That’s all for right now, need to go tend to my beer…, uh I mean cooler, it seems to be getting lighter and I need to make sure everything is alright. Later from Mingus Mountain and highs in the low 80’s. Smitty