Rozner: Silly season about to begin for Cubs
If this Chicago Cubs season has been too easy for you, don't worry because the circus is about to come to town.
The Cubs will clinch the Central Division this week and that will start the parade of elephants and zebras, clowns and jokers, and — most frightening of all — the network newscasts.
Yeah, if this is the calm before the storm, consider what's coming to be a massive outbreak of tornadic activity that is sure to shake your foundation.
Soon will begin the stories about jinxes, goats and black cats, and a flood of tales about dying relatives watching from their hospital rooms, hanging on for one last chance.
Know where the high ground is and prepare yourself now, before the tsunami hits.
Cubs players, however, will not be able to hide from it all. There will be wave after wave of reporters asking 22-year-old Addison Russell, 23-year-old Javy Baez and 24-year-old Kris Bryant what they know about the 1908 Cubs and everything that's gone wrong since.
They'll want to know what the young Cubs remember about Babe Ruth's called shot in 1932.
They'll ask about Leon Durham's Gatorade soaked glove from 1984.
They'll wonder about Les Lancaster forgetting the count in 1989.
They'll want to know if anyone knows what happened to Kevin Tapani in that ninth inning in 1998.
They'll ask about the foul ball, the botched double play and the manager who slept while it all went awry in 2003.
They may even suggest Carlos Zambrano should have remained in that game and finished what he started in 2007.
It will go on and on and on.
Players will be coached never to roll their eyes and remain patient while all three rings are filled, acrobats soar and music blares.
The magnitude of it all has been too much for some in the past, but these players seem unfazed by the stage or the history.
Lurking as well is a possible rematch with the Cardinals, a team fans love to hate, but that the players view as just another foe. If they have to face them again, the Cubs will approach this opponent with respect — as they do each team — but not reverence.
As for the St. Louis approach, perhaps the Cardinals look forward to the opportunity, should they make the playoffs.
“We thought all along that if somebody could put pressure on the Cubs, we'd love to see how they would respond,” Cardinals broadcaster Al Hrabosky told the MLB Network recently. “We swept the Cubs in Chicago earlier in the season. The team knows they're capable of doing it.”
Sounds like they want the Cubs.
“When you get into the postseason, it's a completely different ballgame,” Hrabosky said. “With all the experience the (Cardinals) have, the veteran core of leadership here, it would be a lot of fun to watch the Cardinals and Cubs match up again in the postseason.”
So there you go.
The silly season isn't even underway yet, but it will probably kick off this week in St. Louis, when the Cubs have a chance to wrap up the division at Busch Stadium.
The degree of nonsense will begin to ratchet up and the Cubs will have to manage it from now until the end of October — or maybe early November — should they play that long into the postseason.
The good news is Theo Epstein has been through just as bad — or maybe worse — in Boston, and he's got the right guy in Joe Maddon to deflect the incoming fire.
The Cubs have placed a premium on acquiring strong-willed players, and even their young stars seem able to handle anything that comes their way.
They're going to need it when the invasion begins.
As for you, well, the best advice might be something my grandmother was wont to say when the water got too deep.
Don't forget to hold your nose.
brozner@dailyherald.com
• Listen to Barry Rozner from 9 a.m. to noon Sundays on the Score's “Hit and Run” show at WSCR 670-AM and follow him on @BarryRozner on Twitter.