The 2015 Chicago Cubs

First of all, I’ve moved on, today is a new day and the 24 hour grieving period I think every fan should be awarded is officially over. I know some people have called me a pussy for being down in the dumps yesterday or cite the Blackhawks success as a reason to not care about the Cubs but all of that is stupid. When you invest as much time (attended 50 games this year), money (50/50 raffles and hot dogs), and emotion into a team, it’s natural to feel like shit the day after it all ends. For the better part of 7 months Cubs baseball was a nightly event, watching this team was so much fun, and then one day you wake up and it’s all over and you’re waiting for next year. I don’t care if the other Chicago teams win a million championships, the first day after the Cubs are eliminated every year will always suck.

As for the 2015 Chicago Cubs, it’s hard to look back fondly 0n the season when they played so horrifically bad the last 4 games but that’s what I plan on doing. No one thought this season was about to happen. I remember sitting at Bernie’s in April talking about the Wrigley renovations and how the country was laughing at the Cubs organization yet again, praying for .500 ball throughout the year. To say this team exceeded expectations would be a gross understatement. They kicked the door down, put up their feet and started eating out of the rest of MLB’s refrigerator. Everything we had been telling ourselves the last 5-6 years was happening all at once. Everything Theo had promised was delivered. Kris Bryant came up and he was for real. Addison Russell came up and watching him switch to shortstop and master the position was sublime. Kyle Schwarber came up and murdered baseballs. Anthony Rizzo became a legitimate MVP candidate and incredible clubhouse leader. Jorge Soler hit home runs that made you gasp. Starlin Castro lost his way and then re-found it. Jon Lester pitched like a number 1 ace (forget his stupid W-L record). Jake Arrieta’s last 2 and a half months will be something I remember for the rest of my life.  Joe Maddon created an energy in that clubhouse from the top down that captivated this City, and the Cubs beat the Cardinals in the playoffs, a sentence I never thought I would be able to type, especially not this year.

The one moment that still sticks out for me is that series in early August against the Giants. There is nothing like summertime in Chicago and when you add in a good Cubs team it is off the charts. That series, when the defending world champs came to Wrigley for a long weekend and the young Cubs stood toe to toe with them, completing a 4 game sweep, was when it clicked. It was when I said wow, this team is actually for real. I’m no longer hoping to be competitive, I want them to take the whole god damn thing, and that is why Wednesday night hurt.

Up until that final out (ok maybe up until Hammel threw his first meatball) I really did think the Cubs were going to do something special this fall. I know we’ve been there before and people will say “same old dumb Cubs fans, always waiting for next year”, but if you spent this summer watching this team every single night you felt the exact same way. Every time I doubted them, they turned around and surprised me. Every time I said, well here comes the collapse, they kept on powering through. Remember when the Phillies came into town and swept the Cubs. Cole Hamels no hit them for the first time in almost 40 years and everyone said, well if you lose to the last place Phillies you aren’t for real. How did the Cubs respond? They won the next 16 out of 18 games. They were young, they were talented, and they didn’t give a fuck about history and curses and waiting for “their turn”.

Baseball is such a weird sport. This Cubs team should be good for years and years to come. With the addition of some starting pitchers they could very well be World Series favorites next year. But everyone knows that the future never goes as planned, if that were the case we’d be talking about the half a dozen Cy Youngs Kerry Wood and Mark Prior both won. The Cubs will be good next year but they may not win 97 games. They’ll be talented but someone could get injured or a slump could last more than a month. They’ll be competitive but sometimes that’s not enough. The point is I have all the optimism in the world going forward. These next 5-10 years should be a great ride, but you just never know, and that’s why when you get into the dance and you get 4 games away from the World Series it hurts to not finish the job. Saying the future looks bright doesn’t preclude us from being miserable about how this season ended. Soak it in, feel the pain yet again, hope that 2016 ends with a different result. And now we do what we’re best at, we wait until next year.