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Constable: Cubs are 2-0! This is rarer than you think

The Chicago Cubs have won two straight games to start this 2016 season.

Celebrating a streak of two victories in a row seems a bit silly, even desperate. Like bragging about doing two pushups without resting, eating two hot dogs in one sitting, or making it to Page 2 of the USA Today Giant Book of Easy Crossword Puzzles. Several teams, including the Chicago White Sox, started the season with two victories.

But the Cubs haven't reached the rarefied air of a 2-0 start since — wait for it — 1995. Addison Russell, the Cubs' starting shortstop, was a 1-year-old then.

Winning the first two games on the road is an even rarer feat. Cubs veteran Anthony Rizzo wasn't even born when the Cubs started the 1988 season with two victories in Atlanta. The second triumph was a 3-0 complete-game shutout by a promising young Cubs hurler named Greg Maddux, leaving him just 346 wins short of his Hall-of-Fame career total.

When your team matches a level of success that it hasn't reached since the last millennium, it's easy to get excited, as evidenced by all the 162-0 fantasies on social media. Two wins give Cubs fans the opportunity to enjoy the fun, instead of panicking about Kris Bryant having more errors than hits.

The Cubs outscored the Angels 15-1 in the two games, and leadoff hitter Dexter Fowler compiled as many total bases (nine) as the entire Angels team.

The 2-0 start is reminiscent of the Cubs' last World Series championship team in 1908. That team opened the season in Cincinnati with a sweep of the Reds. The '08 Cubs took another two out of three from the Cardinals in St. Louis and came home in first place with a 5-1 record. This year's squad can match that pace by winning three in the four-game series starting tonight in Arizona.

Not known for busting out of the gate in April, the Cubs' best effort was in 1934, when the team won its first seven games. That Cubs team finished in third place with a 86-65 record.

Good starts don't necessarily correlate to successful seasons. The MLB record for most consecutive wins to start a season is shared by two teams. The 1987 Milwaukee Brewers, behind hitting stars Paul Molitor and Robin Yount, started the season 13-0 and were 20-3 until a 12-game losing streak. Those Brewers finished 91-71, in third place, and out of the playoffs. The 1982 Atlanta Braves started 13-0 behind MVP Dale Murphy, finished 89-73 and were swept out of the playoffs by the St. Louis Cardinals.

Bad starts, however, generally are omens of doom. The 1997 Cubs started their season by losing the first 14 games. Mark Grace and Sammy Sosa put up decent numbers, but Ryne Sandberg called it quits that year, and the team finished in last place with a dismal 68-94 record.

The vaunted 1906 Cubs, who won a record 116 games before losing the World Series to the Chicago White Sox, were a meager 3-3 after dropping their home opener. Not yet playing in the Friendly Confines, those Cubs went an astonishing 60-15 in away games.

So there are plenty of targets for the 2016 Cubs. The first, of course, is equaling the 3-0 road start last accomplished 28 years ago. Current Cubs bench coach Dave Martinez knows what that would feel like. As the Cubs starting center fielder on April 8, 1988, he pounded out four hits and a homer in that win.

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