Just The Cubs Being Cubs

Just two weeks ago, all of Cub nation was riding high with dreams of a playoff run dancing in our heads as we sat at 55-49. Just one game behind the Brewers for first after a dreadful start.

Fast forward 14 days and one really expensive torn quad later…

The Cubs are now 60-57 and 1.5 games out of the lead.

We’ve hit a very worrisome slide (we can’t score and our pitching has been wildly inconsistent), yet have managed to only lose a half-game in the standings.

Not so bad, right? Not so fast.

I’ve been saying it all year. As all young teams do, the Milwaukee Brewers were bound to hit a slide. You’ll remember me saying it wasn’t a matter of IF, but WHEN.

Well guess what, WHEN is NOW.

In their last 23 games, the Brew Crew has gone 8-15… and not only could we not take advantage, but as only the Cubs can do, we actually figured out a way to fall farther back.

I’d say it’s unbelievable, but this is just how Cubs baseball goes. I should be used to it by now.

But still, there’s hope. There’s about 45 games left and I still say just above .500 ball from here on out gets us that division.

The Brewers rotation is proving to be quite mortal, Francisco Cordero is a blown save waiting to happen on the road and some of their bats have finally cooled… with the exception of Ryan Braun.

Fans and critics alike shouldn’t be so quick to dismiss the notion this kid could win ROY and MVP. This kid (and yes, when you’re born in 1983, you are most definitely a kid) is hitting .348 with 22 HRs, 59 RBI, 54 runs and 10 SBs… and he didn’t even get called up until May 25. For all of you without a MLB calendar in front of you, the rest of the league started playing on April 2.

If this team ends up hanging onto the division and barring an awful slump, you tell me one player in the NL who is more valuable to his team’s success.

Cub fans, if you’ve got any voodoo dolls stored away, now is the time to get ‘em out and paint Ryan Braun’s mug on it.

Hey, if a freaking goat can cause several generations a lifetime of heartache, why can’t a stupid doll buy us a few games in the standings?