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I am going to write a new article about the Cubs every month of the 2005 Cubs season. Here is issue #2. Pain and Injuries |
Pain of Being Cubs Fan
I tell myself every year that I am not going to let the Cubs winning or
losing affect my day to day well being. Then the season starts and somehow
they rope my back in. What is it? Does this happen in other towns for
other teams? I guess Red Sox fans know what it feels like. All I know
is that it is like April and Cubs fans are once again treating the losses
like we just lost the Bartman game again. Being a Cubs fan is an emotional
commitment. Even after a solid win the other day, Fox's injury made the
game feel like a big loss. And he is not like a career Cub or anything.
It is so weird.
Injuries
I can't do one of these Cubs Scoops without talking about injuries. It
is a huge part of being a fan of the Cubs to expect key players to get
injured. That is why I think it is real annoying in the beginning of the
year when sportscasters say stuff like "barring any injures, the
Cubs should have a good year." All this means to me is "the
Cubs will have a bad year." There are always going to be injures.
We should start looking at the players that fill in instead of talking
about when Nomar might come back or what part of Wood's arm is now hurting.
Also Armando Benitez just got placed on the DL so it is good that the
Cubs didn't sign him in the offseason, Percival only has one save, and
Danny Kolb has an ERA of 8.00. Would Michael Wuertz please stand up, please
stand up.
Sox and Bulls
This is something that has not happened in quite a while. This Spring,
the Cubs are not the #1 story on the back page of the major Chicago newspapers.
This year we now see Bulls and White Sox headlines. The Bulls are an easy
time to like and cheer for, especially with their overachieving, underdog
status. The Sox are finding any and every way to quiety win most of their
games and have their best start in team history. I know this is a Cubs
Scoop but the point here is that Chicago fans and media are turning their
attention away from the Cubs and this is something that we have not seen
in quite a while. Chicago is a bears town/fairweather Bulls town/Cubs
town. Even when the Sox are playing well, they can't fill their ballmall.
But the weird piece to Chicago is the Cubs. It is easy to be a Cubs fan
partly because I think people think it is cool or hip. And people that
move to Chicago from other places also embrace the Cubs. I guess the most
logical reason is Wrigley Field. As the Summer approaches, if the Cubs
continue to lose, lets hope the Bulls are still in it and/or the White
Sox don't mess up their great year so far.
Trades?
Most likely it is too early for Hendry to be able to pull off of deal
for veteran relievers at this stage in the season. Unless the Cubs are
willing to give up Angel Guzman and Felix Pie, I don't think they are
going to be able to bring in a real closer or major league starting shortstop.
I am fine with Neifi at SS and hopefully Walker will be back but the Cubs
have to shake up their bullpen. Don't the Pirates want Jose Macias and
Sergio Mitre for Jose Mesa? Come on Buck-os. Help a brother out.
Think Positive
There is a lot of negative things to write about so I thought I would
end with talking about players that are stepping up in these tough times.
Mark Prior looks like the Prior of 2003. I hope his arm can handle a whole
season. What else can we say about Derrek Lee other than awesome. And
Neifi Perez does not look like his career is on the downturn. Why the
Giants got rid of him, I will never know. That guy just gets on base and
he makes all the plays in the infield. I will take him any day of the
week over Macias (who is a Gremlin, I am sure of it) The only problem
I have with him is that his hand is constantly on his crotch. At least
it is not on someone else's crotch. The Cubs are at .500 and have yet
to put together any winning streak. When that happens, who knows where
the Cardinals, Reds, and Astros will be. The Cubs are not the only team
that will have injuries. The Cards already put Isringhausen on the DL
and the Reds are historically injury prone. We will just have to sit back
and hope that we have some finger nails left to chew on when we reach
the dog days of Summer.