The Poor Cubs

A good friend of mine has been a Cubs' fan for as long as I can remember. His favorite time of the year is in the off-season, because that's when moves are being made and everyone is 0-0. One can pretend that everything will go perfectly. Even before the season begins, one can envision their team going to the World Series and bringing the trophy back to their hometown. But, then reality sets in, or in this case, the regular season, and all those dreams and visions go by the wayside. The Cubs' fans' motto since 1908 has been, "Well, maybe next year." We're only 47 games into the season (just over a quarter of the way through) and my friend is already stating this motto. He and others were saying before the year started that the Red Sox broke the curse two years ago, the White Sox ended their long streak of not winning a World Series a year ago, so it was only fitting for the Cubs to break their curse and end their streak this year. If the first 47 games are any indication of what's to come, the Cubs' fans' may want to start saying that motto of theirs already, "Well, maybe next year."

Chicago has gone 5-21 in their past 26 games, are 18-29 overall, but their past four games have been especially painful for Cubs fans. They got swept by the Florida Marlins, the cellar dweller of the National League East and the team with the second worst record in the National League (third worst overall). The Marlins swept the Cubbies and with ease. Chicago ace starter Carlos Zambrano took the hill on Friday afternoon to face the Atlanta Braves at Wrigley. Even though Zambrano was wild at times and walked a handful of Braves, he had a no-hitter going into the 7th inning. At this point, the Cubs were up 4-2. They were up 5-3 going to the 9th inning when closer Ryan Dempster took over. Pinch hitters Pete Orr and Tony Pena lead off the inning with singles. Second baseman Marcus Giles walked to load the bases with nobody out. Edgar Renteria walked to score one and make it 5-4. Chipper Jones struck out. Andruw Jones hit a ball to right field, where Pena tagged up and scored easily to tie the game at 5-5. But, second baseman Neifi Perez couldn't handle the throw from the outfield, and Giles was sent around to score. Perez then overthrew catcher Michael Barrett (Perez was charged with two errors on the play) and Giles scored the go-ahead run, to make it 6-5 Braves. Kenny Ray then came on in the 9th for Atlanta to get the Cubs out 1-2-3, at which point a loud chorus of boos were heard all around Wrigley. A game where starter Carlos Zambrano had a no-hitter going into the 7th inning and the Cubs found a way to lose. Atlanta finished with 6 runs on 5 hits and the Cubs had 5 runs on 12 hits. When things are going bad, sometimes teams just seem to find ways to lose, which was the case with the Cubs on Friday.