Today's Cubs unfazed by heartbreak of 1969
NEW YORK - Cubs fans of a certain age remember in painful detail the 1969 season, when the team blew a big lead and watched the New York Mets pass them on the way to a world championship.
They remember Tom Seaver's near no-hitter, and they remember the black cat.
Largely because of 1969, Cubs-Mets used to be something. It carried on well into the 1980s, when pitcher Dwight Gooden was throwing smoke past Cubs batters.
But as the Cubs and Mets get set to meet in the National League championship series - the first postseason series between these former NL East rivals - history doesn't matter, especially not 1969.
"Forty-six years, there you go," said Cubs rookie Kyle Schwarber, who wasn't even with the big club when they swept the Mets this past May. "We've moved on. We're ready to go. We're ready to keep pushing on and hopefully get to our ultimate goal."
Although in one way it might be sad that a rivalry isn't what it used to be or that players aren't up on history, but in another, today's Cubs don't seem burdened by any kind of history, whether it's with the Mets or that the Cubs haven't played in a World Series since 1945 or won one since 1908.
"I was aware of the history when I got to Chicago, but I think it was a bigger deal in town than I realized," said Cubs president Theo Epstein, who presided over the Boston Red Sox' first World Series victory since 1918, when they won in 2004. "A lot of people remember the heartbreak of that pennant race and kind of blame the Mets for it. So I've recently become more aware of that.
"I have my own personal Mets heartbreak from 1986 as a 12-year-old Red Sox fan. Our guys are just too young to be worried about that let alone maybe even aware of it."
Cubs pitcher Jon Lester, who starts Game 1, said he isn't versed on Cubs-Mets history.
"We answered questions last week about the Cardinals and Cubs rivalry, and I couldn't comment on it," Lester said. "I don't know. This is just a fun series."
Mets manager Terry Collins dismissed the notion 1969 enters the picture now.
"People in this room weren't even born in 1969," Collins said. "I have no idea, believe me. That was the '60s. I was worried about going to war more than anything else."
Ditto for Mets general manager Sandy Alderson, who turns 68 next month.
"The only thing I recall about the postseason in 1969 is that I was stationed at Quantico taking Marine training at the time, and the field radios that we used - they were called PRC-25s - could pick up the audio from the television broadcasts. So a few of us would go out in the bush and hide and listen to the games.
"But that's my only memory. I was cooped up in a Quonset hut at the time."
Rookies no more:
The Cubs can trot out a lineup that features up to four rookies, but Kyle Schwarber says the young players have moved past rookie status because of the experience they gained this season and making the playoffs.
"I think we are experienced," Schwarber said. "We've been playing the whole year just like everyone else. We suit up like everyone else. We wake up like everyone else. We come out and play the same ballgame as everyone else. There's really no inexperience. It's grind time. It's the playoffs. There's no excuses for being inexperienced."