It’s been a century since the Cubs won the World Series (you may have heard something about that), and here are just 10 reasons why they won’t do it this year, despite standing on the brink of clinching the NL Central for the second straight year:
- Big-money players who fail in the clutch. Yesterday’s game-winner was one of the few really big hits of Derrek Lee’s Cub career.
- Aramis Ramirez and Alfonso Soriano combined to go 2-for-26 in last year’s division series.
- Ted Lilly’s career postseason ERA: 6.61.
- Kosuke Fukudome can’t play at the Major League level.
- Kerry Wood will blow up at least once with a ninth-inning lead.
- They won’t have home field advantage for the World Series (should they make it that far) because of what the secondbaseman for the Florida Marlins did in an exhibition game in July. Which makes perfect sense.
- Lou Piniella will have brought the team to the postseason in back-to-back years for the first time since Frank Chance in 1907-08. That said, Piniella is a terrible in-game manager bound to make at least one stupid move in the postseason to cost them a critical game.
- Soriano is perhaps the worst left fielder in the history of the game.
- It’s nice that Carlos Zambrano threw a no-hitter. Really, it is. But he’s not an ace and is almost destined to have an emotional meltdown after a bad outing at least once, if not twice, in the playoffs.
- Because they’ve been breaking my heart since I became a fan in 1981. As Big Ed Bookman said, “You’re not gonna let me have it, are you, Lord? I’m a sinner, and you’re gonna $&$%# me!”
Feel free to add your own reasons.
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