Congratulations to the Cubbies!

http://m.mlb.com/news/article/201450026/cubs-win-nl-central-for-first-time-since-2008/


Joe Maddon proves that an old dog can teach the young dogs new tricks. Really fun team to watch.

Gonna be hard for me this post-season with the Mets (I hope), the Red Sox (I think), and the Cubs (my sentimental favorite this year) all playing. Given sentiment, history, and Madden, I think I have to pull for the Cubs this time around.



we were in a bar in chicago when the cubs clinched-some cheers. I think they know it is still a long way to go. but they are cautiously optimistic.


Cubs have always been my #2 team. I'll be rooting for them unless the Rick Porcello (!?!) anchored Sox rotation manages to hold it together through the postseason. Then all bets are off.


I was hoping Cubs would sweep SF last night and advance. I am fearful of the Giants considering they have won the WS three times in five years. With Cubs 103-58 and Giants 87-75 (same as Mets) in regular season, it would be sad if Cubs get knocked out this round.



mlj said:

I was hoping Cubs would sweep SF last night and advance. I am fearful of the Giants considering they have won the WS three times in five years. With Cubs 103-58 and Giants 87-75 (same as Mets) in regular season, it would be sad if Cubs get knocked out this round.

The Giants only have one Bumgarner.


A Cubs - Indians World Series would be wild.


Or the Jays. I can't remember the last time they won the Series, either.



DaveSchmidt said:

Or the Jays. I can't remember the last time they won the Series, either.

It was the year the great glacier came down from the North and formed the Meadowlands



.

The Giants only have one Bumgarner.

Don't remind me.


I think it is:

Cubs 1908

Indians 1948


good jobs cubs-I gave up on last nite's game around the 7th inning-nice comeback.


Francona managing for Cleveland.

Epstein doing his thing for the Cubs.

Two key Red Sox people leading up to 2004 going head to head? Sign me up.


Nate Silver gives the Cubs a 63% chance of winning the series. I want both teams to win, but you have to cheer for the Cubs because they have been in the wilderness for so long.



bikefixed said:

Francona managing for Cleveland.

Epstein doing his thing for the Cubs.

Two key Red Sox people leading up to 2004 going head to head? Sign me up.

Yah, I keep grinning over this as well (along with Hoyer as the Cubbie's GM). Epstein came up as a brash young genius, got ridden out of Boston after having raised expectations to finally be a modern team and then not winning every year, and now done a masterful job with the Cubs. The trades he made for young players early in his tenure in Chicago have paid off really well, and then he added some key free agents in recent years to glue it all together. Hiring Maddon was another excellent move for this club.

There seems to be a really nice group of excellent GMs and executives in baseball these days. It is fun to watch as teams rebuild, get good, lose players to free agency, and rebuild again. Seems to be a much faster cycle than in past eras, although that could just be my own biased perception.



Cubs fans - you should represent...

Me - Go Indians! (Cubbies are more lovable as "losers".)



jimmurphy said:

Cubs fans - you should represent...

Me - Go Indians! (Cubbies are more lovable as "losers".)

Disagree! Last Saturday (or perhaps it was the Saturday before that) Evan Roberts was basically saying the same thing prior to the Cubs actually winning the National league pennant. I called in (Wendy from Maplewood) and told him, among other things, it was bad karma as a Mets fan to do so. Same goes for you Mr. Murphy.

Wendy from Maplewood

Real fan, fake person


The reasons:

I've been annoyed all season by the pre-coronation of the Cubs. The Cubs are really NLINOs in their style of play. I much prefer the Indians' more NL-style of play. And when I don't have a deep rooting interest, I root for the underdog, which in this case is Cleveland.

No bad karma here!


This is one of those rare matchups that I can watch blissfully free of any rooting interest. Lindor shows how to run on Lester, no wild lead or dancing required? Hooray! Schwarber makes good on his return with a double off the wall? Huzzah! Rival pitchers painting corners? Rah! And rah! (Conversely, Davis overlooks a DP at second, or Contreras misses a triple because he hot-dogged it while down six runsi? Ouch. And double ouch.)

"NLINOs" took me a minute, but it was worth it. No bad coinage there.


P.S. Well, maybe one thing to root for: more forecasts of inclement weather, so that every World Series game starts at 7 and schoolkids have a chance to watch the whole thing.



DaveSchmidt said:

P.S. Well, maybe one thing to root for: more forecasts of inclement weather, so that every World Series game starts at 7 and schoolkids have a chance to watch the whole thing.

School kids?! Count me as one who would appreciate that too! I threw in the towel in the 8th after the 3R homer. Approaching 4 hours in a relatively low-scoring game starting after 8pm just isn't right...


Agreed. Miller could have shaved some time off the final 3:37 had he been his usual sharp self. But you know how we Tar Heels like to slow things down.


And thanks for the heads-up btw! I had not heard about the early start.


Or MLB could just go back to a 154 game season, toss in a few doubleheaders as a bonus for the fans, and finish the season with the chance of better weather.

And still do earlier starts for kids and old farts like me who have to work the next day.



mfpark said:

Or MLB could just go back to a 154 game season, toss in a few doubleheaders as a bonus for the fans, and finish the season with the chance of better weather.

And still do earlier starts for kids and old farts like me who have to work the next day.

Like! Can we get a 3-game series for the Wild Card though? Make the last 2 games a DHer, so it only adds 1 day. Think of the strategy on that day if a Game 3 loomed!



jimmurphy said:

The reasons:

I've been annoyed all season by the pre-coronation of the Cubs. The Cubs are really NLINOs in their style of play. I much prefer the Indians' more NL-style of play. And when I don't have a deep rooting interest, I root for the underdog, which in this case is Cleveland.

No bad karma here!

Makes sense. Have a question for you however: On the Mets thread you mentioned how nice it was to see teams score without as much dependence on the home-run and referenced the 90 Yankees. Aren't the Cubs in that ilk as well or not as much as Cleveland? And I hear you about leaning for the underdog. In this case I lean towards Chicago since for so much longer than even Cleveland they are the underdogs of history.



jimmurphy said:



mfpark said:

Or MLB could just go back to a 154 game season, toss in a few doubleheaders as a bonus for the fans, and finish the season with the chance of better weather.

And still do earlier starts for kids and old farts like me who have to work the next day.

Like! Can we get a 3-game series for the Wild Card though? Make the last 2 games a DHer, so it only adds 1 day. Think of the strategy on that day if a Game 3 loomed!

I think I'd rather have a regular 3 game series without the possible DH but still have 154 games. It may take us to where the season ends now but I'll take that over the weirdness of a do or die game that is so not baseball unless there is a real tie. And MLB still makes the $. Also, can we please go back to home field in the World Series being determined by best record and not the All Star game? TIA.



wendy said:



jimmurphy said:

The reasons:

I've been annoyed all season by the pre-coronation of the Cubs. The Cubs are really NLINOs in their style of play. I much prefer the Indians' more NL-style of play. And when I don't have a deep rooting interest, I root for the underdog, which in this case is Cleveland.

No bad karma here!

Makes sense. Have a question for you however: On the Mets thread you mentioned how nice it was to see teams score without as much dependence on the home-run and referenced the 90 Yankees. Aren't the Cubs in that ilk as well or not as much as Cleveland? And I hear you about leaning for the underdog. In this case I lean towards Chicago since for so much longer than even Cleveland they are the underdogs of history.

I see the Cubs as fastball-hitting power guys. No? (And as you've noted, to be consistent, I've lamented that I do not like OUR team's dependence on the HR either, but some preferences and allegiances trump (sorry) others).

Cleveland is very much the underdog - history aside. How many guys in their lineup have you even heard of? Maybe I'm just ignorant of smaller market AL teams, but they seem scrapper, hungrier, and more worthy. Liking Schwarber's passion though... Happy for him!


Are there any real, diehard Cubs fans on this board?? Represent, People!


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