There is no North American pro sports franchise that has gagged more than the Chicago Cubs, who will now have gone 101 years without winning a World Series. The Cubs lost to the Los Angeles Dodgers, 3-1, and were swept in the first round of the National League (3-0). The Cubs were only the second N.L. team since 1969 to have the best regular-season record and be swept in the first round.
In the three games, Chicago was outscored 20-6 by a Dodgers team that finished only six games above .500 and made the playoffs only because they were in the N.L. West, baseball’s worst division. For Cub fans, this year’s collapse will rival 1969 (when they blew a 13-game division lead and missed the playoffs); 1984 (when they blew a 2-0 series lead to San Diego and lost the last three) and 2003 (when they blew a 3-1 series lead to Florida, which won three in a row). Whether this year’s sweep was the result of the Curse of the Billy Goat or the Curse of Steve Bartman or simply crappy baseball, it will be another long winter on the northside of Chicago.
on Oct 5th, 2008 at 2:14 AM
I have been a Cubs fan all of my life. This is revolting and disgusting. I know they extended Piniella’s contract. But I wish he would retire and go back to the Yankees and let Kosuke Fukodome become manager. No one would understand him and maybe that would be a good thing!
on Oct 5th, 2008 at 12:24 PM
Is it choking when you do what is expected of you???? Just wondering…..
on Oct 7th, 2008 at 3:40 PM
What a disappointment. Nothing new though for the Cubbies: all hope with no follow through…One can’t blame Pinella though – the players have to hit the ball and from the first game on, they looked defeated. Soriano should be kicked to the curb, what a joke he was…The two errors in game two nailed the coffin shut.
on Oct 8th, 2008 at 12:04 PM
You may want to give the Dodgers a little bit of credit for the three game sweep. They did outscore the Cubs 20-6 in the series, beating them in every possible way–be it defensive struggle (Game 3), out-slugging them (Game 1) or merely whooping their butts (Game 2). You can also throw the Dodger record out the window. This is a much better team than the one that started the season. Their second half record demonstrated how much they improved in the course of the season and their hitting has significantly improved since Don Mattingly joined the team as their batting coach. Oh, and is there any doubt that Joe Torre is a much better manager than Lou Piniella? I’m not saying that the Dodgers are the best team in the M.L., yet. But the nucleus is there in the coming years to make them a consistent winner.