Saturday, October 06, 2007

The Cubs Major Problem...Nudity

As I write this I realize that I have misled people with the title of this post. No one even reads or comments on this blog unless I mention nudity. So I mentioned nudity. It isn't the problem for the Cubs, however. It is brazen attempt to lure you to read my blog.

So here's what I am really writing about.

The Cubs have a major problem.

Many people have speculated over the years. Are they truly cursed?

Steve Bartman in seat Aisle 4, row 8, seat 113 has been blamed. People miss that it was not the last out of the game. The Cubs needed five more outs. People forget that it was a foul ball. People forget that the Cubs folded like a house of cards. It was easier to blame the curse or to blame Steve Bartman.

In 1969 a black cat walked in front of the Cubs and their season crashed. The Miracle Mets went on to win the division and the World Series.

The Cubs big problem is the one problem that they don't want to hear or address. It's Wrigley Field.

Wrigley Field is a class field, an icon, one of the wonders of the baseball world. Cubs fans flock to it and most games are still played in the daylight.

That icon is like a noose around the neck of the Cubs.

The Cubs played well at home. They were 44-37 in front of their home crowd. However, lots of teams play well at Wrigley. Opposing hitters like hitting the daylight as well. It's a rare and special treat.

Secondly, Wrigley is either a bandbox home run crazy park or, when the wind blows in, impossible. The Cubs always struggle whether to be a 'pitching team' or a 'hitting team.' It is difficult to pitch in a park where pop ups can turn into home runs and it is difficult to hit in a park where blasts turn into pop ups. For most teams the Wrigley problems happen a few teams a year. The Cubs have the problem 81 games of the year.

The biggest problem, however, is obvious. The Cubs were 41-40 on the road. That's a bad record for a championship team. Whereas it is a treat for opposing hitters to bat in the daylight, Cubs hitters play fewer night games than other teams. Playing under the lights, for them, is a huge disadvantage.

They haven't been eliminated this year. I will make my prediction---a bold one at best. They will not win a World Championship until they begin playing their home games elsewhere. Wrigley is a great historic park that has become a noose around the necks of is residents.

1 comment:

J.R. Stuart said...

Dude, where's the nudity?

JRS (constant reader, infrequent commenter....)