Otto: Chicago Cubs must be ready to face a 162-game grind
"You look forward to Opening Day like a birthday party when you're a kid. You think something wonderful is going to happen."
-Joe DiMaggio
As Opening Day approaches for the Chicago Cubs, is this the year?
I had a coach in the minor leagues who always commented that a team has to do a lot well to win just one game. Now multiply that by 162.
It's Anthony Rizzo getting knocked on his rear end with an up-and-in fastball. Then drilling the next pitch off the 355 sign.
It's Kris Bryant getting jammed the first time up, then getting one in the air the second time around for a 3-run homer.
It's Jake Arrieta going to the mound without his great stuff and grinding out a 5-4 win to stop a four-game losing streak.
It's Jon Lester, with men on first and third in the seventh inning fielding a comebacker and throwing a strike to Addison Russell cutting across the back for an inning-ending double play.
It's Russell cutting across the bag, taking a bad throw, and yet spinning it into a double play.
It's Kyle Schwarber going to "The Well" in left field to take away a sure double.
It's Dexter Fowler and Jason Heyward owning the real estate in center field and right field.
It's Miguel Montero taking a foul tip off his thumb, then plugging the gap with a double his next time up.
Before the first pitch of each opening game, the players, coaches, managers and front-office personnel will walk around their respective clubhouses and wish each other well. It's a time of excitement and optimism, yet there always is a sense of the unknown as to how a season will play out.
For a manager like Joe Maddon, every season poses its unique and unforeseen challenges. This is Maddon's 42nd year in pro ball. If he hasn't seen it all, he's fairly close.
Maddon managed his tail off last year.
Is this the year for the Cubs? Of course. But they better do a lot of things well.
• Dave Otto, a standout athlete at Elk Grove High School, pitched from 1987-1994 for four MLB teams, including the Cubs. A former baseball analyst for WGN Radio, FoxSportsNet and Comcast SportsNet Chicago, Otto also is a member of the University of Missouri Hall of Fame.