They'll have to do it the hard way

So much for the Cubs coasting into the playoffs.

Unlike last season, they're starting to look like a team that will need more pluck to overcome worse luck.

The way it's going it's surprising that a drive up the middle by Milwaukee's Corey Hart didn't send Ryan Dempster to the hospital Saturday night.

As it was, the Cubs' pitcher was OK but the Brewers handed him a 12-6 loss anyway.

That wasn't an encouraging way for the Cubs to respond to third baseman Aramis Ramirez going on the DL earlier in the day with a dislocated shoulder.

The Cubs failed to convert a couple scoring opportunities. They made a couple errors. A couple balls that could have been fielded went for Brewer hits.

Injuries have a way of evening the competition and the Cubs certainly have had their share, including recently activated reliever Chad Fox forced from the mound in agony Saturday.

An earlier calf ailment already placed Ramirez on the list of key Cubs who missed playing time, along with Carlos Zambrano, Milton Bradley, Derrek Lee and Geovany Soto.

This looks like it could be one of those seasons when stuff happens to the Cubs instead of for them. Bit players will have to play leading roles and pitching depth will have to be deeper than it indicated it was in this game.

More than anything, Cubs manager Lou Piniella will have to both maneuver bodies and manipulate minds.

None of that happened in this latest loss at Milwaukee and the Cubs better catch their balance before it's too late.

Recent developments make it painful to think back to how the Cubs squandered 2008's opportunity to get to the World Series for the first time since 1945.

Heck, they might even have won a championship for the first time since 1908.

Last year was the Cubs' year. They were built for that season before imploding.

But you know what? It might not matter. In a perverse way less might be more this year.

Seriously, it's possible that the rash of injuries will harden the Cubs for the playoffs - if they can get there.

Last year the Cubs were so good that Wrigley Field was a postseason waiting room for six months. Then the playoffs arrived and the Cubs played like they thought they had a couple byes into the World Series.

The Cubs were prepared for the playoffs physically but not mentally or emotionally. Their bodies were into it but their heads were 100 years away.

The way baseball's postseason is now, the better teams don't always win. The winners often are the ones that grind down the stretch to get in.

Wild cards win World Series. The 83-victory Cardinals win the World Series. Everybody but the Cubs win the World Series.

Nothing else has worked for the Cubs the past century so how about toughing it out this summer and becoming strong enough to handle the pressure?

If the Cubs have the fortitude to persevere through a regular season of adversity, it might be just what they need to survive the playoffs.

That's a big if, judging by Saturday night's klunker.

But, hey, nothing else has worked the past 100 years so it's a concept worth considering.

mimrem@dailyherald.com