Rewatching Game Seven and Rediscovering My Chicago Cubs Fandom

Not sure if you heard about this in between all of the celebrity deaths and a nincompoop winning the presidential election, but the Chicago Cubs won the World Series. This is a pretty big deal, because it had been quite a while since they had won one of those. People in Chicago were pumped; in fact, people all over the country were pumped as the number of Cubs fans have increased exponentially over the last two years. I'm not sure what caused that, but everybody loves the Cubbies these days.

I am a lifelong Cubs fan. I remember those years where Les Lancaster was a legitimate reliever, when I thought Rick Wilkins was a legit catcher, when Mickey Morandini and Jeff Blauser were a legitimate combo up the middle, when Brant Brown was a thing, when the Cubs acquried my favorite non-Cub, Rich Harden, and thought for sure that the drought was over (they got swept in the first round of the playoffs). I could probably list at least another 500 things I remember about this stupid team, as I have spent an unhealthy amount of time watching and thinking about the Chicago Cubs.

A few years ago, I moved away from the Midwest to Florida to set up permanent shop. I remembered the essentials, like my wife and my dog, but admittedly, my entire Cubs fandom didn't make the trip. I'm an adult in Florida, and not even near a stadium that the Cubs make a trip to every year. It's just hard to keep up that level of fandom, so I didn't. I mean, I still followed along, knew everything that was happening, but I wasn't there. I was here, away from things.

I watched the playoff games, but I'll admit, I fell asleep before the last out for most of them. This didn't really bother me too much, as it was actually a pretty boring postseason. People forget that the World Series games kind of stunk until Game Seven. That game was amazing, but I was out of town on business, and I had been up since 4:00 AM. By the time the first pitch was thrown, I had been up for over 16 hours and was working for 12 of those hours. I watched the first half of the game around strangers before retiring to my hotel room to watch the rest in the comfort of my temporary bed. I managed to stay awake until the end, but by the time it was over, I used my last bit of energy to whisper "Awesome" before rolling over and falling asleep. It was not the raucous celebration I imagined.

That bummed me out. I loved the Cubs, but I wasn't sure if I still loved the Cubs. I mean, it should have meant more. A couple weeks later I went home and visited my family. I tried to talk to my Grandma about the Cubs winning the World Series, but she has been having health troubles, and at 96, she really didn't have the mental or physical strength to really take it all in. I think we were both left with an empty feeling. It made me wonder if it's all worth it.

Let's face it. It's probably not. We don't care about sports because it's the logical decision. We spit in the face of logic when we cheer for players and teams, and that's part of the fun. Escaping the rational world to act irrationally and passionately about things that shouldn't actually matter in our day-to-day lives.

I wanted that stupid feeling. I needed to try to find it. So I waited a few months, and last week, I rewatched the final game of the World Series in its entirety, from the pregame analysis from Joe Buck, to the ups and downs, the rain delay, and the celebration. I wasn't sure if it would matter, but I at least wanted to try.

The first batter of the game was Dexter Fowler, and even though I remembered how that at bat ended, it didn't stop me from getting goosebumps when he launched the ball over the center field fence. It wasn't the home run itself, but it was the moment after Fowler rounded first base during his home run trot to turn backwards and point at the Cubs dugout as half of the crowd was erupting in cheers.

I was hooked.

Usually, I'll read a lot while watching baseball games, because baseball games are rather uneventful, but despite this game being two months old, I couldn't take my eyes off of it. Here were the most affecting moments during the game.

Good - Dexter Fowler home run
I already talked about this one.

Good - Jose Ramirez being picked off
Because there were a lot of big moments, I feel like this is going to get overlooked as time goes on, but picking off a runner is enough of a rarity where it felt special, like nothing was going to go wrong for the Cubs and destiny (the abstract idea, not the stripper) could take them to the title.

Bad - Javier Baez dropped ball when trying to turn a double play
The Indians had just tied the game at one, and Baez dropped what could have been an inning ending double play. Instead the Indians had two runners on and one out. All of my confidence from Fowler's home run and the pickoff move were gone.

Good - Kris Bryant's base running
Kris Bryant's two runs involved some of the best baserunning of the postseason. He scored on a very shallow fly ball that Rajai Davis misplayed to not give himself momentum into his throw and Bryant was barely able to slide under the tag. Then, when he managed to score from first on an Anthony Rizzo single, because of a hit and run, that was just incredible. The Cubs took a 4-1 lead shortly after that, and things were looking rosy yet again.

Bad - The passed ball that caused two runs to score
The Cubs were up 5-1 and in control and for some reason, they pulled Kyle Hendricks after allowing a two out walk in the fifth. They were almost too into the idea of Lester being a postseason hero, so they brought him in, and he gave up two runs on a David Ross passed ball when Kipnis hustled all the way from second to score on the play. It was then 5-3 and the Cubs inevitable World Series win didn't feel inevitable anymore.

Good - David Ross home run
Uh, yeah, if old ass David Ross is hitting a bomb, then yeah, I'd say this one is in the bag.

Bad - Rajai Davis home run to tie the game
I watched this two months later, and when Rajai Davis hit that home run, my hear legitimately sank into my stomach. Against all logic, I felt sickness when I saw that ball exit the park knowing full well that the Cubs still won the game. I knew what happened, and I couldn't help that feeling.

This was my favorite moment when rewatching the game, because this is when I knew that it still mattered. Yeah, I know it doesn't matter as much as it did in 1998 when I cried after the Cubs got swept by the Braves. And yeah, it probably doesn't matter as much as it did six years later when I got goosebumps when Glenallen Hill told me that had they gotten past the Braves, they would have won the World Series. But it still matters.

After that, there were obviously still more good moments. But it wasn't the baseball that stood out. When Zobrist hit the double to help the Cubs take the lead, the part that stood out most was Rizzo with his hands on his helmet in disbelief as he stood on third. And the replay of Zobrist leaping into second base out of pure excitement. It wasn't Montero's RBI single, it was the dugout erupting in cheers as it happened, and Montero turning to scream in their direction after reaching first.

And then there was the final out. The out was great, but the reaction is what really brought it home. The Chicago Cubs had finally won the World Series. My Chicago Cubs.

11 Things That Could Go Wrong For The 2015 Chicago Cubs

Guys, for the first time in a while, I am excited about a Chicago Cubs team. Like, I'm super pumped. Speaking of pumped, I need to pump the brakes on my excitement. And when looking at the Cubs, it is really not that hard to find places where they could disappoint. This team is full of question marks, so there is a lot that can go wrong. I am going to go through the team to find the 11 things that could go wrong this year from most likely to least likely.

1. Javier Baez
Baez seems as he will be getting plenty of playing time this season, but he hit .169 last year. He is going to strike out a lot, and although he has been able to adjust to the minor league levels, he is facing a different beast when it comes to major league pitching. If he can't find a way to make more contact, he could be on a plane back to Iowa by May, and as someone who grew up in Iowa, that is not a desirable outcome.

2. The Bullpen
The bullpen has been really bad these last few years. I think they have pieces that have potential to work out, because bullpens are a fickle beast. But with that fickality (totally made up word), they could just as easily fail again this season. They don't need a great bullpen, but if it isn't at least average, they are facing a steep climb to make the playoffs.

3. The Catching Situation
The Cubs acquired Miguel Montero to help shore up the catching situation along with Welington Castillo. Montero put up a good three year stretch, but that stretch ended in 2012. The past two seasons, he has struggled at the plate in what is a good hitter's park in Arizona. He did rate as a good pitch framer, but although I see value in pitch framing, I do think the value may be exaggerated. With Castillo and Montero, are the Cubs guaranteeing anything beyond a replacement level duo?

4. Kris Bryant
Kris Bryant is the sexiest prospect in the minors right now. Velocity is sexy, tools are sexy, but there is nothing sexier than home runs, and Bryant brings those in abundance. But he does struggle with contact, and he has yet to get a single hit in the major leagues, so until someone does it at the top level, there will always be question marks. There have been plenty of top prospects who failed to live up to the hype. Many Cubs fans seem to already be penciling him in for 30 home runs but counting on that production could leave them with a bitter taste in their mouth as the rookie struggles to adjust.

5. The Outfield
The outfield currently consists of Jorge Soler, Arismendy Alcantara, and Chris Coghlan. That isn't going to inspire a ton of fear in opponents. Coghlan had a bounce back year after struggling for a few years after winning Rookie of the Year in 2009. Although he could continue that positive momentum, he is turning 30 this season, so he seems like a pretty decent bet for regression.

Alcantara showed flashes during his time in the majors, but he never found the hitting groove that had Cubs fans excited about him while he was in the minors. He's not an elite prospect, so his ceiling is only an above average regular, but that's his ceiling, which means it is pretty likely that he falls well short of that during his first full season in the majors.

Jorge Soler is definitely the guy to be most excited about as he came up at the end of last season and acclimated himself incredibly well. Still, it was a very small sample size, and it would be foolhardy to be confident that he could repeat that performance. Soler could follow the Gregory Polanco path of getting off to a hot start but then struggling for months.

In summary, there isn't a single guarantee that any outfielder on the Cubs roster can even provide average value.

6. The Starting Rotation Outside of Jon Lester
Cubs fans feel as if the starting rotation is a strength, as it performed very well last year. It could be, but it is not hard to imagine it being a weakness of the team as well. Jake Arrieta had a breakout year, but sometimes these breakouts turn out to be just flashes of greatness, and it seems as though the best case scenario is a repeat of his performance, which leaves a whole lot of room for regression.

The Cubs also brought back Jason Hammel who excelled for them, but quickly imploded after being sent to Oakland. Depending on Hammel going back to that first half glory instead of the second half gory that he had in Oakland may prove to be a poor decision.

Are you buying Kyle Hendricks? No offense to Hendricks, but his season seems a tad unsustainable for future years.

And that is followed up by Travis Wood who fell off a cliff after having a great year in 2013 (Fun fact: I saw him hit a home run in San Francisco that year). His true talent level is probably somewhere between his performances from the past two years, but that may only be good enough to be a fourth starter.

The Cubs starting rotation has been one of the few bright spots from these past few years, but expecting it to continue that way is far from a guarantee.

7. Starlin Castro
After falling off a cliff in 2013, Castro bounced back to his previously established level of play in 2014. He seems to have settled at the level of good, not great, shortstop. But the guy has never been known for his intangibles, so it wouldn't be that shocking if he fell back this season.

8. Jon Lester
Lester is the ultimate prize of this free agency period, so the Cubs are counting on him to supply great performance and lead the pitching staff. We are just a couple years removed from a 4.82 ERA from Lester. Although I think that will continue to be an outlier, what if he is only a #3 starter and not a 1 or 2? That's not that hard to imagine, and things are only going to go downhill as he ages. There's a decent chance that he supplies a 3.50 ERA instead of a 2.50 ERA. That's good, but it might not be good enough to lead the Cubs to the playoffs.

9. Anthony Rizzo
He could fall back to a .233 average? I mean, that is a possibility. But yeah, I'm definitely to the stages of grasping for straws at this point.

10. Joe Maddon
Joe Maddon has never won outside of Tampa Bay. Does he have what it takes to succeed or will the bright lights of the Windy City overwhelm him into managing like Dusty Baker? Okay, it will be tough to come up with one more ridiculous than that.

11. The Cubs Are Cursed
But yes, this one is more ridiculous.

So there you have it, 11 things that could ruin the Chicago Cubs 2015 season. Before I went through all these things, my prediction was 162-0 while sweeping through the World Series, but I have to temper my expectations. After going through all of these potential issues, it is clear I was a tad too optimistic, so 150-12 while only winning the World Series in 5 games. I have to stay realistic; I hope you can too.

Which Cubs Prospect Is Most Likely To Be a Bust?

The Cubs are currently loaded with hitting prospects as most agree that they have the best farm system in baseball. Still, every Cubs fan seems to be cautiously optimistic about the future. Since these guys have not performed at the big league level, some of them are bound to fail. The odds definitely say that some will not work out, but which ones are going to fail? That is the question that I am going to try to answer by looking at the Cubs top hitting prospects and determining who has the largest, and by process of ranking, smallest, chance to fail.

8. Arismendy Alcantara - He has consistently done well in the minors, and he is already holding his own at the major league level. There are going to be some growing pains, but I feel very confident saying that he will be a valuable major leaguer while under team control.

7. Addison Russell - His chance of being a bust seems to be almost entirely tied to his chances of injuries. But considering he came back from a serious hamstring injury and has annihilated the ball in Double-A since being traded to the Cubs, that seems to quell those concerns. He gets extremely positive reviews for his defense, and it seems likely that he will be the shortstop of the future. According to everything that I have seen and heard, it seems very likely that Russell will be an incredibly valuable major leaguer.

6. Jorge Soler - This may seem low on the potential to bust, but I see very little chance in him not becoming a good outfielder. Like Russell, his only real concern is injuries, and he has slightly more concern with that, but when he is healthy, he hits. He has always put up good numbers, and since he's come back from injury, he's put up scary numbers. Soler and Yasiel Puig got signed in the same year, and everybody thought Soler was the better signing. Now, that looks a tad silly right now, but Soler has the potential to be as good as Puig, so I don't think the Cubs are too disappointed about signing him.

5. Billy McKinney - He is not only 20 years old and more than holding his own in High-A. Everything that he has showed so far has shown that he can be an above average regular. Still, he doesn't have much of a track record since he is so young. He has the potential to turn into a better player since he is so young for his current league, but that lack of track record also means that he could end up never making a positive contribution at the big league level.

4. Javier Baez - The fact that he swings at a lot of pitches is worrisome, but the one thing that quells my fear is that he has made adjustments at every level. He struggles early on, but then he makes those necessary tweaks and starts to crush the ball. The strikeouts are still a concern, but the more he proves himself, the more I start to believe he could become an infield playing Vladimir Guerrero. That's the absolute ceiling, but there are few players that can claim to have that sort of potential.

3. Kris Bryant - I love Kris Bryant, because he is totally my type. Big power, strikeout concerns, and questionable defense (my type for pitching is velocity and strikeouts). Try to get me to stop singing the praises of Chris Carter; you can't. Still, this is the line where I start having real concern about bust potential. Let's just throw out some minor league lines of comparable players to see what type of player we can expect Kris Bryant to become.

Bryant - .341/.446/.685 with 36 home runs, 68 walks, and 129 strikeouts while 3.3 years younger than his competition.
Player A - .321/.381/.667 with 43 home runs, 48 walks, and 134 strikeouts while 3 years younger than his competition.
Player B - .317/.387/.670 with 40 home runs, 57 walks, and 169 strikeouts while 2.7 years younger than his competition.

Those players are all pretty similar. Bryant has the advantage in age and walks, but he is on pace to strike out closer to Player B than Player A. Still, there has been some change in strikeout rate overall, so we can give him at least comparable contact rates to either guy. Player A is Brandon Wood, Player B is Dallas McPherson. Don't mind me; I'm going to be vomiting in the corner over the next few hours. Kris Bryant is a potential monster, but he has some flaws in his game. If he struggles at making contact in the minors, it is only going to get tougher at the major league level. Wood and McPherson were two guys who completely fell apart at that level, but despite all that, Kris Bryant is already close to my heart, so despite all this logic, thre is no way I would bet against him (Full disclosure though: I'd still be a little intrigued if the Cubs signed Brandon Wood today. His current line with the Sugar Land Skeeters is .098/.156/.159.).

2. Kyle Schwarber - There is just so very little to go on with Schwarber that he has an incredibly high bust potential. He crushed the ball at his first two stops but is struggling at the High-A level, which is probably an appropriate level for a college player. There is no consensus on whether he can stay behind the plate, and it's too early to really tell how good of a hitter he will become. I just can't imagine anyone being very confident that he will turn into a quality major leaguer. That doesn't mean that he won't; it's just that there is not enough evidence to go on to make a strong bet either way on Schwarber.

1. Albert Almora - This is a pretty obvious number one choice as this is the one hitting prospect who has not set the world on fire this year. He was just okay at High-A, and he has really struggled since moving up to Double-A. I am not a huge fan of walks as the be all, end all for prospects, but it is a preferable thing for a potential leadoff hitter to excel in. He is only 20 years old and in Double-A, so it is not time to throw in the towel. This could be a bump in the road, or it could be a sign of things to come. I am hoping for the former, but like with all of these prospects, only time will tell.

The Unfair Expectations of the Chicago Cubs

It's that time. Time to punish myself and talk about the Cubs. They have actually been playing pretty good baseball lately. There has been a little bit of excitement building from the fans that I know. But, let’s face it, they’re still not going to be good this year. In fact, they are probably going to be bad. Anyone who disagrees is a moron. Let’s not address them in this post. Let's look to the future instead.

Most reasonable people will also agree that next year the Cubs are going to be bad. Let’s not deal with the people who assume that Theo magic will take the Cubs by storm in 2013.

But in 2014, yeah, I could see them being relevant. I imagine a team a few games above .500 that still falls short of the playoffs. Then, in 2015, the team will be built on Theo’s brains and the Ricketts’ cash. I am a reasonable Cubs fan, so these are very realistic expectations.

But then I realized something. I’m a moron, just like the fans who expect this to be the year for the Cubs. Here’s the reason: We just don’t know. Expecting Theo to be able to build a team in a certain timeline is stupid, because there is no way to know how things will fall for the Cubs.

Look at this past year’s draft. The Cubs had the ninth pick and selected Javier Baez. I don’t know what he’s going to turn into, and nobody else does right now. But the eighth pick of that draft was Francisco Lindor, and scouts are nutting themselves over his potential already. If the Cubs had just been a little worse, they could have had Lindor instead of Baez. There is just no way of knowing how things will break in the future (in that vein, Baez could still become the better player, since there is a lot of time before either guy reaches the majors).

The only thing smart Cubs fans can do is judge the process, and hopefully see things moving in the right direction, while always remembering that the Cubs front office knows more about a player than you or I think we do. The Cubs are in good hands, but they are a long ways off, and setting a deadline will just leave you disappointed. Honestly, we just don't know.

Instead of The Chicago Cubs: Maybe Next Year, let’s change that slogan to The Chicago Cubs: Maybe?