Will "coast" factor cost the Cubs?
Posted: Friday, September 26, 2008 2:19 PM
The hype has started. Sports Illustrated came in the mail earlier this week and Wrigley Field was on the cover with a wonderful quote on what would be the Windy City reaction if the Cubs were to win the World Series.
Baseball could be headed into a big-market October. In addition to the Cubs, both Los Angeles teams are in the playoffs as are the Red Sox. And it could end up that the postseason would also include the other Chicago team – the White Sox – as well as the Phillies and Mets.
But no story will equal that of the Cubs. Starting next week they will replace Michael Phelps as America’s prime-time mini-series. Be it on TBS or Fox, the Cubs’ quest for their Grail (to win their first World Series in 100 years) will play out not only on baseball diamonds but in America’s living rooms.
They are the National League’s best team, assured of home-field advantage throughout the NL playoffs. Their opening foe, still to be determined (the Phillies, Mets or Dodgers) will be a flawed team.
The Cubs will be favorites, never a comfortable feeling in Wrigleyville.
But then I read SI and John McDonough, one of sports’ most respected executives, talks about Cub fans with swagger. SWAGGER! Wrigley Field as a theme park is gone. Now it is Wrigley Field, home of Champions. Except the Cubs still have to win in October.
Manager Lou Piniella’s decision to open the NLDS with Ryan Dempster was intriguing. The ace of the staff, Carlos Zambrano, has self-destructed in his two starts since throwing a no-hitter and he’s lost his spot at the top of the rotation. It is Dempster’s consistency that convinced Piniella to give him the ball in Game 1.
Power pitching wins in October and the Cubs have the arms, both starters and relievers, to counteract the best bats they could face in the playoffs, including the likes of Manny Ramirez and/or Ryan Howard.
Power bats also win in October. The best bats need to emerge against the best pitchers. Again, the Cubs are the NL’s best at swinging the stick. Their hitters should be rested and healthy -- a calf strain suffered Wednesday by Mark DeRosa the only issue.
Their biggest concern is the “coast” factor. Does a team that can ease through the final weeks of the regular season lose its edge as opposed to a team streaking to the finish line (see Colorado last season)?
And we see most years that the best team over 162 games is not necessarily the best team in a best-of-five series (see Atlanta in most of the last 15 years). If the Cubs lose one of the first two games of the NLDS at Wrigley Field it will cast pressure upon them that is unexpected in this season of their swagger.
FIVE MORE SWINGS:
1. A LOSS THURSDAY WOULD HAVE BEEN CRIPPLING TO THE METS…not that the Amazin’s haven’t already endured their share of painful, shocking defeats. But falling to a team – the Cubs -- that played only one regular (Ryan Theriot), one platoon player (Jim Edmonds) and one ex-starter (Kosuke Fukudome) would have been a finisher. Instead, the Mets relive 2007, a final weekend at home against Florida, with the inclusion of the Shea Stadium finale Sunday. Meanwhile, the Cubs will continue to play a pivotal role in rounding out the playoff picture as they finish in Milwaukee.
SIDE NOTES: Thursday was likely Pedro Martinez’s last start as a Met. No player was more responsible for making the Mets relevant again than Martinez. It’s sad to see him end his contract as something of an afterthought.
And speaking of Fukudome, his total collapse raises an interesting thought. Who’s the best rookie in Chicago? Alexei Ramirez -- by A MILE. The White Sox infielder has slowly built a fine first season. And no one knows it because of the lopsided coverage triggered by Cubs mania.
2. SORRY TAMPA BAY BUT BASEBALL’S BEST 2008 STORY IS MINNESOTA…the first-place Twins. They just completed a three-game sweep of the White Sox, another dose of Metrodome magic heaped upon a visitor. Again, this is a team with a modest payroll that watched a Gold Glove center fielder walk last winter and then traded the AL’s best starter. And they are in first place in their division entering the final weekend. Note that a key to the sweep of the White Sox was Carlos Gomez, the key player acquired from the Mets for Johan Santana.
3. MILWAUKEE BREATHES: Like the Twins, the Brewers’ bullpen had a good week. Tough news in that Ben Sheets appears unlikely to pitch Saturday, but CC Sabathia is ready for Sunday (as is Santana for the Mets, who may be affected by bad weather on the front end of the weekend). The Cubs and Dodgers will be huge winners if the NL races go to Sunday, thereby removing from the early NLDS games the best pitchers of their opponents.
4. MORE SANTANA: As mentioned here Wednesday Santana in my view has been the best NL pitcher in the second half of the season. Remember the pressure under which he has pitched, including the massive contract he signed after coming to the Mets.
Contrast Santana’s response to pressure to that of Barry Zito, who in last Sunday’s New York Times, offered shocking quotes about his lack of comfort in dealing with his huge contract. Zito beat Santana one day, Game 1 of the playoffs. That win earned Zito his contract. But Santana has won every day since.
5. STORY ABOUT TAMPA BAY NEEDING SOMEONE TO THROW OUT THE FIRST PITCH…of its playoff opener is interesting. Credit to Mike Tirico, a voice of sanity and reason amidst a blizzard of screaming and self-promoting, for the concept of having Tampa Bay’s first season-ticket holder do the honors. It’s so sensible that it is unlikely to happen -- celebrate the fans that supported a team through a truly horrid decade.
