The phrase uttered by every real Chicago Cubs fan every year is still, “This is our year!”
Even after 103 years (yes, that number is correct) fans still think this is our year. If the Cubs are 20 games behind first place with 20 games to go, they still think they’re going to make the playoffs.
This is the blessing and curse of a Cubs fan.
Mostly everyone is born a Cubs fan, just like you’re born with red hair or big ears, you’re stuck with it and have to live with it. If there is someone that within the last 50 years chose to be a Cubs fan, then they are clinically insane.
Being a Cubs fan is like being on a really bad, poorly constructed rollercoaster, which in the end just makes you nauseous and sick to your stomach. The Cubs are like that really hot girl in high school that you always liked. She just teases you and you think she actually likes you, but nothing ever happens, but you still hold out hope that one day she’ll be yours (there are some people at IU that believe this happens to them, when in reality they are delusional and don’t know what it’s like to be friends with a girl).
But enough about me and my problems; let’s look at the Cubs; problems so far this year through 30 games. So far they are 14-16 and haven’t made us mad yet and haven’t impressed us. Of course, there are some pleasant surprises and some unpleasant disappointments.
The pride and joy of this year’s Cubbies is our double play tandem of Darwin Barney and superstar in the making young Starlin Castro. Castro was supposed to be good but Barney is the real head scratcher this year.
Coming into spring training Barney was a bubble player to make the team, and the only way he would make the team was because of his glove. Just this month, Barney was named the National League Rookie of the Month because of his .324 batting average so far this year.
He has been a staple at the top of the Cubs batting order this year with his infield mate Starlin Castro. Castro got off to a blistering start leading the league in hits, but has now come back down to earth and is still batting an impressive .313.
Another shocker this year has been Alfonso Soriano. The old, hobbled Soriano is leading all the majors with 11 home runs so far even though he is only batting .257 and playing his usual abysmal left field.
The big disappointment so far has been free agent “prize” Carlos Pena, who is batting just .169 so far this year and before the last two games had 0 home runs on the season. The Cubs are paying Carlos 10 million dollars this year, but thankfully we are only stuck with him for a year.
Right up there with Pena is our so-called ace of the pitching staff Ryan Dempster, who has a very impressive ERA of 8.05. To add insult to injury, the Cubs’ fourth and fifth starters (Randy Wells and Andrew Cashner) both got hurt after their first starts of the season.
They both had very impressive outings before getting hurt, and their replacements have ERA’s of 8.15 and 7.36. So far all year the Cubs’ problem has been pitching but once they get healthy they should do alright.
The Cubs will float right along the .500 mark all season, and with a little better pitching and timely hitting can creep into contention especially in the extremely winnable National League Central.
To leave you on an optimistic note, the Cubbies are only three games back with 152 games left which means THIS IS OUR YEAR!
