Constable: Disappointment, not heartbreak, for Cubs fans
By Burt Constable
bconstable@dailyherald.com
In the wake of this season's collapse punctuated by Tuesday's 2-1 extra-inning loss to the Colorado Rockies in the wild card game at an emotionally drained Wrigley Field, some Cubs fans see the glass as half-empty and want to clean house. Other Cubs fans, conscious of all the injuries endured by this year's squad, still see the glass as half-full.
And we old-time Cubs fans still are just so grateful, even amazed, that we actually have a glass.
For years, decades, a century, fans of the Chicago Cubs never drank from a championship cup. Parched for triumphs, we'd sometimes get close enough to the river of success to cup our hands and try to scoop up enough happiness to quench our thirst. But the postseason nectar we tasted in 1984, 1989, 1998, 2003, 2007 and 2008 always left a bitter taste.
We swallowed a small dose of bummer after falling short in a surprisingly successful 2015 and then were allowed to guzzle when our team became the 2016 World Series Champion Chicago Cubs. Already in the small minority of Americans who were alive for a Cubs championship season, we fans imagined another title as the Cubs boasted the National League's best record for much of this season. But the giddiness of hope is different from the ache of longing.
Just four outs from a season-ending defeat, the Cubs rally with a single by Anthony Rizzo, a stolen base by pinch-runner Terrance Gore and an RBI-double from Javier Baez. But usual starter Kyle Hendricks, working his second inning in relief, gives up a 13th-inning run, and the Cubs, who showed an alarming lack of hitting at times all season, can't stage another rally.
But most Cubs fans don't cry. We shrug. We're disappointed, not brokenhearted.
Remember 2016? That was fun, wasn't it?
Only a dozen Cubs teams since 1876 have won 95 games. The Cubs have won 387 regular season games in the past four years, an average of nearly 97 wins a season. The Cubs have won 19 postseason games in those four years after having won 18 postseason games in the 107 seasons before that. Winning 95 games is nearly miraculous when you consider the barriers the Cubs faced.
The team signed free-agent Yu Darvish with the idea that he'd become the ace of the staff. Instead, he recorded just one win and three stints on the disabled list before being lost for the season. Another promising signee, Tyler Chatwood, lost his control and hit or walked 102 batters in 103 innings before losing his job. The Cubs signed Brandon Morrow as their closer, and he spent time on the disabled list in June before injuries kept him from pitching in the second half of the season. The man who would replace him, Pedro Strop, would have come in handy down the stretch but pulled his hamstring and missed the last 17 games before Tuesday's finale. Reliever Brian Duensing was injured three times, while fellow pitchers Mike Montgomery, Anthony Bass, Carl Edwards Jr., Rob Zastryzny, Justin Hancock, Eddie Butler and Drew Smiley all spent time on the disabled list.
Six games into the season, team leader Anthony Rizzo got hurt. Veteran Ben Zobrist spent an April stint on the disabled list. Outfielder Heyward spent two stints in May on the disabled list. Former MVP Kris Bryant was on the shelf in June and July. A month later, Heyward started his third stint on the disabled list, and shortstop Addison Russell joined the list of disabled, and currently is on administrative leave while MLB investigates allegations that he abused his former wife.
Catcher Willson Contreras, slugger Kyle Schwarber and the versatile Ian Happ all regressed from the previous season.
And still, the 2018 Cubs won 95 games.
The feast-or-famine Cubs hitters went hungry again to squander a chance to advance. But the Cubs, who followed the blueprint of the Boston Red Sox by luring away President Theo Epstein, signing Boston ace Lester and trading for former Red Sox Rizzo, are still following the Boston plan. Boston broke its curse in 2004 by sweeping the St. Louis Cardinals and seemed poised for a dynasty. The next year, the Red Sox were swept out of the playoffs by the about-to-be World Champion Chicago White Sox. The year after that, Boston missed the playoffs. The year after that, they won the World Series again.
If the Cubs follow Boston's path, they should win the 2019 World Series.
That should be fun.