Cubs just keep reaching new heights

Everyone knows the Cubs don't exactly have a stellar history.

But this year's team is starting to tread into unchartered (for the Cubs, anyway) territory.

With Wednesday's win over Pittsburgh, the Cubs moved 33 games over .500 for the first time since the final day of the 1945 season, when they were an NL-best 98-56.

That means the current Cubs have gone beyond the best records produced by the 1984 and '69 clubs, which became famous for what they didn't win.

Cubs senior adviser Billy Williams says this year's team reminds him not of the '69 Cubs, but the 1975 Oakland A's. After 16 seasons in Chicago, Williams spent his final two years with the A's.

"You look in the locker room, it's a team that's similar to what I experienced in Oakland," Williams said. "You can't tell if they're winning games or losing games. They don't get down, don't get up. If they win, they enjoy it for one day. There's 162 of them."

The '75 A's had won three straight World Series titles, but that year lost the American League championship series to Boston.

For the record, both the '69 and '84 Cubs peaked at 32 games above .500. The Cubs were 84-52 on Sept. 2, 1969, then finished the season 8-18.

Replay thoughts: Cubs players were largely indifferent to the arrival of instant replay in major-league baseball. The new system, which will mainly be used to determine home run calls, was not needed in Thursday's contest.

"I like it as long as it doesn't go from home runs into different areas," Mark DeRosa said. "I think the human element is what makes it special."

"I'd like to see it stay the same, but with these stadiums the way they're building them now and all the different angles, it's tough to see what's going on," said Jim Edmonds. "So I guess it is needed."

Fortunate pinch switch: Late in the seventh inning Thursday, Cubs manager Lou Piniella sent Jim Edmonds to the on-deck circle to pinch-hit in the No. 9 spot, but Phillies starter Cole Hamels recorded the third out before Edmonds got to the plate. Then to lead off the eighth, Piniella used Mike Fontenot to hit for the pitcher, and the utility infielder responded with a home run that started the Cubs' 5-run rally.

After the game, Piniella said he wanted to use Edmonds against Hamels, then decided to save him in case Phillies closer Brad Lidge came in to pitch.

Around the horn: Before the game, several Cubs were spotted checking the projected path of Tropical Storm Gustav, which slid south of the Dominican Republic, hit Jamaica on Thursday and may be headed toward Louisiana. The Cubs have multiple players who grew up in two of those locales. ... Renowned political columnist and commentator George F. Will skipped the Democratic Convention to visit Wrigley Field. He visited the Cubs' clubhouse before Thursday's game.