No offense Cubs fans, but I am SICK and TIRED of hearing how your team lost the NLDS rather than the Dodgers winning it.
I know all about the curse. I know all about your 97 wins this season. I know all about the "expectations." Most of all, I know that your Cubbies were "supposed" to win.
None of that, however, should change how the Los Angeles Dodgers went into Wrigley Field and absolutely made it sound like a church service rather than a playoff game.
The Dodgers ripped the Cubs' players and fans' hearts out...Sure the Cubs assisted in this thrashing, but come on—the Dodgers did come up with those crucial two-out hits that the Cubs could not.
The Dodgers pitchers made a few mistakes, but not too many. The Cubs' pitchers also made mistakes, and the Dodgers capitalized on it. Even in the game where the Dodgers had four unearned runs, the Cubs still only scored three and one of them was a ninth-inning who-cares run...Would you guys have liked it if the score was 6-3 instead?
It still doesn't take away the "L."
I really do like the Cubs. Other than the Dodgers, I was rooting for the Cubs to win the World Series, and I truly do enjoy watching them play...Especially at Wrigley. Yet I found myself getting rather annoyed after the Dodgers took Games One and Two at Wrigley and people were still claiming the Cubs lost them rather than the Dodgers won them.
I would understand this if the games were close, but they weren't close at all. The Dodgers outplayed them, out-hit them, out-pitched them, and, consequently, they swept them.
The Cubs certainly did not play their best, and I will wholeheartedly agree with that statement, but the Dodgers have been a very hot team the last month or so and came into this series with a ton of confidence.
To discredit this L.A. team is completely unfair and, in my opinion, it only shows how some people are simply sore losers. I am not calling all of the Cubs' fans sore losers by any means, just the ones who claim that the Cubs lost the series rather than the Dodgers winning it.
Everyone claimed the Cubs' pitching was superior to the Dodgers' and that that would be the difference in the series. Do I need to remind everyone that the Dodgers had the best ERA in the National League and the second-best ERA in the MLB behind the Blue Jays? That Derek Lowe and Chad Billingsley have pitched, by far, their best since the start of September?
People can say what they want to say, but quite frankly, it comes down to this...The media. The Cubs and their fans had probably never really heard of Chad Billingsley or Hiroki Kuroda, and they probably only knew Lowe from his days as a Red Sox pitcher.
The media and the Cubs' fans were only concerned with one guy with a first name that is recognized everywhere...Manny.
The Dodgers were fine with that. As the city of Chicago found out, they are a team with a ton of young talented players ready to step up. Whether it was James Loney, Russell Martin, or even Billingsley or Jonathan Broxton, the Dodgers proved to be more than a one-man team.
I would never argue that the Cubs played their best, but for people to whine and whine about how the Cubs choked is merely pathetic. Give credit where credit is due. The Dodgers scored 20 runs in three days...Were all 20 unearned? Absolutely not. The Cubs scored six runs in three games...Are you sure the Cubs choked?
7-2, 10-3, 3-1. Sorry folks, those scores are evidence of what is called an old-fashioned butt-whooping. As I mentioned above, I am not a Cubs' hater by any means, I respect them a lot, but enough is enough—just shut up and quit making excuses. The Dodgers outplayed you in every facet of the game, period.
By the way, the only thing quieter than Wrigley field during the NLDS was the Steinbrenner household.
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3 months ago
"None of that, however, should change how the Los Angeles Dodgers went into Wrigley Field and absolutely made it sound like a church service rather than a playoff game. The Dodgers ripped the Cubs' players and fans' hearts out...sure the Cubs assisted in this thrashing but come on—the Dodgers did come up with those crucial two out hits that the Cubs could not."
Couldn't have said it better myself, great article!!
from 3 months ago
Thanks Molly! I appreciate it!
3 months ago
Truer words may have never been spoken. The Cubs have all kind of talent but the Dodgers came in and beat them. They definitely have momentum going and as a Phillies fan I expect this to be a tough series. I'm still leaning towards the Phillies though. Should be fun!
from 3 months ago
Thanks Kevin. Yeah I think this series with the Phillies is going to be fun. I actually think there will be a ton of low-scoring games which may surprise people. Good luck to your Phils and to my Dodgers!
3 months ago
A great article. The Cubs had been the media story of post-season baseball with the Curse and what not. Even some presumptuous articles foretelling a Chi-town "subway series" were seen online! As so often it is in pro sports, only big names were thrown out in the media- only to have smaller name supporting cast members show why baseball is a TEAM sport.
Props to an article that mentions people other than Pinella, Torre, Zambrano and Manny.
The Cubs may have owned the best record in the regular season, but they were not the best team in the NLDS. In many ways, many Cubs fans were calling it destiny- as though baseball OWED them a trip to the World Series.
The Cubs making it to the World Series would have made an interesting script, but that is what makes post-season baseball the fascinating drama that it is- there is NO script to follow. It is simply whoever has the best team on that day.
And on three days this post-season, the Dodgers had a better team than the Cubs.
from 3 months ago
Thanks Abner...appreciate the compliments. Great feedback and i AGREE WITH YOU ON IT ALL! I hate when people say it is "destiny"...you have to go out and earn it to make it destiny!
3 months ago
Cubs blew it. Old story. Same opinions as me though.
This team was filled with guys who all had career years and didn't slump the entire season, it was inevitable.
3 months ago
This was a nice read Jonny. The Dodgers beat the Cubs in all phases of the game-it wasn't even close...Now if the Rays could just do the same...
from 3 months ago
Thanks Marcus....I cant disagree with you there...I'd love to see the Rays beat the Sox
3 months ago
Hey Jonny - excellent article, direct and to the point, not to mention accurate.
The Dodgers executing when they had to, and beat the Cubbies into submission. Period. End of story.
Given the vast majority of Cubs fans are also Bears fans, a fair question is to ask if Ditka would endorse all this sniveling? Of course not.
Remember, a century of history is nothing to sneeze at.
from 3 months ago
absolutely right JC! Thanks for the compliments
3 months ago
Jonny, while you are 100% right about the Dodgers flat out beating the Cubs, you do have to understand that Cubs fans are very disappointed. Of course they are lamenting more than, say, the Brewers. The Brewers were happy to finally be back in the postseason, but Cubs fans thought their team had a great opportunity to end a 100 year World Championship drought. In those 100 years, Cubs fans have seen 26 other organizations win the World Series, and they just want to be able to experience what the fans of the 26 other teams experienced.
Now, I am not aware of all these excuses that you claim Cubs fans have been making recently, but you have to understand that every time that the Cubs have a great season, their fans get exciting about ending the drought. This year, they were 100% the favorite to be the NL rep in the World Series. I think I am being redundant, so I will stop here, but I think you can see what I am saying.
I am not a Cubs fan, but I felt like defending their fans because I feel bad for them.
from 2 months ago
Ari:
You are right; this is by far the best Cubs team I have seen in a long time. They have been a well-balanced team at times, showing clutch hitting, dominant pitching and an underlying confidence that they could beat anyone on any given day. I really thought they would have put up a much better struggle than what they did.
But something happened in the postseason. They held a lead for a brief moment thanks to DeRosa, but it seemed as though they kind of got the confidence knocked out of them- like they were scared to go up to the plate and swing away. I remember seeing a lot of Cubbie batters take pitches down the middle, like they expected pitchers to be too afraid to challenge them. I take nothing away from the Dodgers, but I must say that the Cubs were disappointing- not to necessarily a Cubs fan, but to a baseball fan.
This is just me, but I don't like Pinella as a manager. I find him far too volatile and too hands off until there is a trainwreck somewhere. I know that Cubs fans may think this team needed a fire lit under them, but I don't think this is the guy with the match.
3 months ago
How about Dodger fans? 100 years is terrible, but 20 years has felt like a hundred to the fans of a team with so much glorified history...
I hope you would have the same pity for them if they once again exited the playoffs without a series win.
Dodgers dominated the Cubs, Derosa was the only one who squared up any pitches against their pitching. The Cubs did not choke, they stunk and the Dodgers executed. Thats it.
from 3 months ago
How about Dodger fans? 100 years is terrible, but 20 years has felt like a hundred to the fans of a team with so much glorified history...
Reality check: the Cubs have actually not won for 100 years. It hasn't been 20 years feeling like 100. It's been 100 years feeling like eternity for the Cubs fans. Again, I'm not a fan, so I don't know what it's like. But imagine.
I can fully understand why fans are lamenting the loss, however, I do agree with Jonny that they should not be making excuses for their unanticipated first round departure.
3 months ago
This is a great article! I can't stand the East Coast biased. Shoot even the TBS announcers were rooting for the Cubs. The shots that the TBS crew put on display of the Cubs fans in agony were priceless.
ESPN picked the Dodgers to lose to the Cubs 3-2. I can't wait to see them prove more these so called "experts" wrong.
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