Ranting & rambling: Cubs 2015 Postseason

We are just an hour away from the most anticipated Cubs game in seven years. Yes, the Cubs are back in the postseason and will be playing the Pirates in the one and done Wild Card game.

This game has dug up and opened the bottle of emotions that I and many other Cubs fans have suppressed since 2008. It’s a whirlwind of happiness, excitement, nervousness, fear and anxiety. The worst part isn’t even the Cubs playing in this game, it’s the two days off between this game and the last regular season game. It gave us the fans two days to sit in anticipation and think about the drought and the bad luck this team has had in years past.

It’s a new era of baseball in Chicago. These Cubs are young and naïve. They’re not thinking about the drought and the bad omens that are linked with the franchise. They don’t care about the Durham error, the Bartman play, the Gonzalez bobble or the 2007 and 2008 playoff failures. Joe Maddon is keeping things light and having these guys play with no pressure. Maddon and Jon Lester sent messages to the young guys in the locker room. Firstly, Maddon dropped a golden quote during his introductory press conference when he told the team “don’t ever let the pressure exceed the pleasure”. It’s the mantra the team has been following all season. Lester provided an ingenious quote himself by giving advice to the team in August to “play stupid”. 

The Cubs will be an extremely dangerous team in the postseason and it will start with the Wild Card game. This team has nothing to lose. It’s their first time in the playoffs and they’re going to be playing with no pressure on them. The last thing any team wants to see is a young, talented, hungry Cubs team that has nothing to prove playing loose, no pressure baseball. This Cubs team has a big window that’s just opening and it’s not the last of any team in the NL sees of them.

In 2009, Tom Ricketts bought the Cubs. In 2011, he brought Theo Epstein, Jed Hoyer and Jason McCleod. They stripped this entire organization down and planted the seeds. They watered it; they gave it light and nurtured this team. We saw the budding of life and now it’s nearly grown into a beautiful flower. What makes this 2015 team so special and different from the 2003, 2007 and 2008 teams is that this is homegrown talent and players that have been in the Cubs’ system. Not just players bought in Free Agency. This is what us fans have seen grow and develop before our very eyes. There is a special bond, so to say, with this team. Personally, this is the most fun and joy I’ve had watching a Cubs team. That even includes the magical run of 2003 and the super team they had in 2008. We have spent 7 long years in the cellar and 2015 it just the start of something. No matter the result of this Wild Card game or what happens in the postseason, just remember this is the just the tip of the iceberg.

2015 was a remarkable season. We all knew this team was going to be driven by rookies and they’d have a good season. I had them penciled in for 82-85 wins and if ALL WENT RIGHT….maybe 88 wins.  Almost everything did go right for them.  Schwarber and Bryant did big things. Soler was decent, Russell was spectacular with the glove and came in clutch with big hits and Arrieta won 22 games and had a record setting 2^nd half. Castro got benched and re-emerged and Rizzo did Rizzo type things…yet again. They far exceeded everyone’s expectations finishing with 97 wins. Even Epstein and Maddon didn’t expect 97 victories for Year 1 of the product. Yes, I’m calling them the product because this isn’t a rebuild anymore. The Cubs are the real deal. Ricketts, Epstein the front office have created a monster…a monster maybe nobody can stop in the years to come. Hell, who knows? Maybe 2015 is the year.

I feel the need to reiterate this again…but this is a new era in Cubs baseball. The past is the past and it’s time to move on and forget. There are no curses, jinxes, bad omens or “Cubbie occurrences” for all that I’m concerned. There is just a team full of young, oblivious, naïve, and talented baseball players led by probably the best manager in baseball. It’s a GRRREAT combination to have.  If they win, excellent; if they lose and something bizarre happens it’s on the players. The great part of having a young baseball team is its 25 guys on the roster that just want to have fun and play baseball. They have the desire to win and won’t mentally unravel like the previous teams. Yes, I’m referring to the 2003 NLCS disaster.  These guys won’t buy tickets to fly back home after a game or expect something bad to happen and fold under pressure like a cheap folding chair.

For those of you who believe in superstitions and weird signs that the stars are aligning…I’m with you.  In the words of the great Michael Scott, “I’m not superstitious, but I am a little stitious”. Oh...by the way, I'm fully buying into the Back to the Future II prediction of the Cubs winning it all in 2015. If you’re wondering if I’ve lost my marbles, then you’re correct…especially when it comes to the Cubs. It’s just a part of being a die-hard Cubs fan. You take whatever you can get. You raise your hopes and watch it come to fruition or crash and burn. Which leads me into my next point. I’m sure you all have seen this by now but there is a freaky little numbers thing going on:

Cubs drought: 107 years

Last won World Series: 1908.

Date of 2015 Wild Card game: 10/7 (107)

Game time: 7:08 (19:08 in military time = 1908).

Oh if that wasn’t weird enough for you. The last time the Bears beat the Raiders at Soldier Field was in 2003. The Bears were 0-3 and won on a last second field goal. The Cubs happened to make the NLCS and go up 3-1 in the series. What just happened last Sunday? Bears were 0-3 and the Raiders came to Soldier Field and lost on a last second field goal.

I’m not saying this means anything and the Cubs will win it all….or am I? Hmmm.

The Cubbies are starting their quest to win a World Series tonight. All we need to do is support them and keep the negativity away from this team. Let’s put the kibosh on the fear, nervousness and anxiety. If they lose tonight, it’s not the end of the world. They’re going to be a force to reckon with for a while. So take a deep breath, grab a drink, get some food, get together with friends and/or family and enjoy some meaningful October CUBS baseball!

For all those Cubs haters still around....there won’t be much to make fun of very soon (Cardinals, White Sox and Pirates fans).

GO CUBBIES!