By Arielle
There's still a mess of ice and snow outside, but I can finally say that spring has arrived.
How do I know that? Because the Cubs' two "star" pitchers are injured again.
Meh.
With all due respect to the Jets fans among us, y'all have nothing on us Cubs fans. You had your championship, and if you missed it, you've got time left in your life to see one. Chicagoans who have seen the Cubs win the World Series are becoming about as common as Civil War widows. A whole generation (or three) are going to die without ever seeing it happen.
Last year, with a Cy Young-caliber pitcher, the Cubbies just barely missed losing 100 games. The most memorable moment of the season was the catcher punching a White Sock at home plate. And Cubs fans throwing trash onto the field in disgust midway through the season.
But this year, you see, this year was going to be different. We've got Lou Piniella, Alfonso Soriano (albeit playing a position even he's not confident about), and only one year to go before the losing streak hits 100. Not to mention the need to avenge those evil Cardinals and their World Series. Surely there is some mercy in the universe, right? Hell, after the team spent $297 million in the off-season, we'd BETTER get something out of it.
Once again, I'm stuck between the cynical reality and my naive hopes, fed this year by a team that, were it not the Cubs, would probably be a lock.
A couple weeks ago, midway through hour three of my Friday night schlep to New Jersey, I started imagining what a Cubs World Series victory would look like. The players would all be jumping on each other in that typical celebratory scrum. And, I imagined, someone would pump through the speakers a recording of Harry Caray's voice yelling, "Cubs win! Cubs win! Cubs win!"
Perhaps it was just the traffic on the Cross Bronx getting to my head, but the thought actually brought me to tears. Something about this dream of millions of people coming true, finally. This whole culture getting some vindication. Having the dashed hopes of my naive, 7-year-old self validated, finally.
It's probably a sickness, to have been through years of dashed hopes and near-misses and still thinking there's a chance the next year. We are world-class suckers. I don't know why someone doesn't start trying to pitch Glengarry leads to every season ticket holder.
I know that's not unique to Cubs fans, but it seems that every other longtime-loser has been having its day in the sun lately. The White Sox got it. The Red Sox. The Patriots. Peyton Manning.
Maybe all isn't lost. We've still got Carlos Zambrano. And Wood and Prior (dubbed "the Drysdale and Koufax of the disabled list" by one columnist) can't stay injured forever, even if Wood did begin his DL stint from a hot tub-related injury. There's a chance he'll be back in the bullpen this week.
I don't believe in god or fate or anything like that, but I do believe in too-good-to-be-true sports storylines. And that means I believe that next year, when the clock turns 100, the Cubs will win it all.
So I'm gonna say it a little early this year: Wait till next year.
And then go back to secretly hoping it will happen this year too.
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5 comments:
You must really be trying hard to endear yourself to the Perl. A baseball post, and one that neglects to take any swipes at the Yanks while injecting a Glengarry/Glenross reference.
Though I must dutifully point out that one does not pitch a lead. The leads are the list of suckers to whom you pitch (in this case, those lovely, rolling Glengarry highlands).
Fuck the Machine? Fuck the Machine!
Then I must clarify for the Perl: I hate the Yankees. My dad grew up across the street from Yankee Stadium, and he hated the Yankees. So I come by it legitimately.
Bones - you read my mind on the baseball/Glengarry thing. And I didn't even notice the misuse of "leads".
In fact, I was starting to think of ways for Arielle and I to leave our respective better-halves and run away to Wrigleyville together...until I read her follow-up comment about the Yanks.
Arielle - you make it sound as if the reason you and your Dad hate the Yankees is because her Dad lived across the street from the Stadium? How is that a legitimate reason? Growing up in the Bronx, you're expected to be a Yankee fan - I remember in Junior High we used to relentlessly make fun of all the Mets fans, and this was when the Mets were winning the Series and the Yanks were pathetic. The Mets fans were simply second-class citizens, and gay.
I think that all Yankees fans actually root for the Cubbies, though - great fans, great ballpark, rooftop bleachers, all those day games, and of course the curse.
And I bet anyone living across the street from Wrigley field doesn't hate the Cubs.
"The leads are weak? You're weak! You can't close the leads you're given, you can't close shit! You ARE shit! Hit the bricks and beat it pal 'cause you are going out!"
Ah, more bad phrasing on my part. He didn't hate the Yankees because he lived across the street. It was because he was a Giants fan (yes, it was back in the day), and hated the Yankees for always winning. See, I come from a family with an affinity for losers.
And perhaps for being traitors in general (for sports, not national security, in case any of you government goons are watching). I grew up on the South side so should have been a Sox fan, but I developed a crush on Cubs first baseman Mark Grace (swoooooon), and became devoted to the North siders.
My better half brings his own lime juice to Thai restaurants, loves SuperNanny, and yells jibberish (or maybe in tongues) when he wakes up in the morning. Can you top that?
I hate the Yankees too. Why? Because in the 110 years of the league, they've won maybe 26 championships. That's about 1 ever 4 years. How does that happen? 1. They spend money. Right now, they have a salary of 200+ million dollars. I know there is NO cap but when you have salary like that, it creates an unfair advantage. Plus, every free agent and defector or foreign player wants to be on the Yankees instead of teams that could use a player of that caliber. The hole thing is a joke. It's not the yankees fault. IT's MLB for not changing the rules of the sport. But, still...SCREW THE YANKEES !
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