Hey Cubs fans, what's happening?Consider this filler for the second All-Star break of the season, as the Cubs have been off yesterday for an off day and today due to a rainout, but also consider this the proclamation that you have been wanting to make/read for all your lives, or since 1984, for those of you over 28 years old...the Cubs are really, really, really, really good.
Really good. And not in a funny way.
After a quick slump following the All-Star break, when the Cubs came back to win three and lose six and all us Cubs fans said "uh-oh," the Cubs have regrouped and clubbed both of their foes, the Brew Crue and the Cards. They are now 45-17 at home(!!?!?), matched only by the Tampa Bay Rays(?!!?!?!?!?!?!!?!!), and they are improving on the road, winning their last five in a row.
So, things are looking better. Wait, no, things are looking incredible.
Credit Lou Piniella. The guy is a brilliant, blessed manager. I knew that when he took a good Mariners team and made them absolutely unbeatable. Now he is taking a stocked Cubs team, which they have been for a number of years now, but making them play like a team, not individuals.
Get this, Cubs fans. These are big signs that this is not your father's, grandfather's, or great-grandfather's Cubs team:
• Biggest indicator, hands down, the Cubs are NUMBER ONE in the Majors in walks. Right now they have drawn 462 walks. In 2006, ALL of 2006, they drew 395.
• Over the course of the season, the Cubs' potent offense is only second to the Rangers for the most runs scored, but have outscored opponents by 139 runs, and that's the most in the Majors.
• The Cubs have the best starting pitchers' ERA of any team.
• Jim Edmonds gets standing ovations from Cubs fans every other day.
That's just the tip of the iceburg. What do you think, is this a special Cubs team? I Sweet Lou going to take them to the Promised Land, or are they going to fizzle in the first round of the playoffs like the Mariners did?
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