The Curse is doomed.
The Chicago Cubs are destined to go to the playoffs and succeed this year.
Many people discredit the Cubs wonderful winning year. They believe the Chicago cubs are perennial losers. Granted, they have not won the World series 1908, when they won their second consecutive championship against the Detroit Tigers.
This year is very different though.
The cubs are finally putting together all of the pieces of the puzzle.
They signed sluggin’ Sammy Sosa to a multi-year contract, almost guaranteeing the fan favorite to stay a Cubbie throughout the rest of his brilliant career.
The Cubs also signed Julian Tavarez during the off-season. Tavarez has won six games with an earned run average under four.
When the Cubs didn’t re-sign veteran first baseman Mark Grace they wisely spent less money on former Oakland A Matt Stairs.
Stairs has brought the Cubs some power from the right side of the infield this year.
The Cubs were also blessed by the return of pitching sensation Kerry Wood during the off-season. He was injured most of last year. He has returned to dominance as the Cubs' ace.
The Chicago Cubs' pitching staff as a whole has been tremendous. They are the main reason the team is winning.
Pitchers Jon Lieber and Jason Bere have stepped up their game a notch to the level scouts expected them to be at. Another huge help for the Cubs' staff has been former CMU standout Kevin Tapani.
Tapani has been an anchor for this club and is pitching like he did for the Chippewas.
He is a severe force to be reckoned with.
Another factor helping the Cubs is their strong minor league farm system.
The young players on the roster are making big strides in helping the Cubs towards the post-season.
The Chicago Cubs' front office has been doing a wonderful job of bringing together a solid team in the off-season and during the current season. They have recently, added relief pitcher David Weathers and veteran first baseman Fred McGriff over to the team.
McGriff brings a clubhouse leader to the team that has been hitting the cover off of the ball the whole year. Weathers is added to an already deep bullpen, which is one of the toughest and best in all of Major League Baseball. With these additions to an already tremendous first place ball club, the Cubs are becoming serious contenders.
Putting all of these talented players on one field is only half of the battle. The players themselves are doing the other half along with the help of the brilliant manager Don Baylor. The team is not only hitting and pitching at a tremendous level, but they are also playing heads-up smart baseball.
They are executing plays and making minimal amount of errors.
As the old adage goes hitting wins ballgames, pitching and defense wins championships.
The Chicago cubs are doing all three of these things. The time is now for Chicago to prove to the world that they are a serious ball-club to be dealt with. The Cubs as of July 28th are four and a half games in front of the Houston Astros for first place.
The front office has done its job by putting a winner on the field and the players are doing their job by executing.
It is now time for the North Side of Chicago to show the world that the Cubs are for real.
The only problem I see with the Cubs season is that they will not have a chance to beat the Tigers again like they did in 1907 and 08 for the championship when they arrive there. The woeful Tigers should look at the Cubs to learn how to build a championship team. They certainly can’t do it themselves.
Chicago Cubs over the Seattle Mariners in six games to win the World Series and prove to all of the doubters that the Cubs are the best team in baseball.
Copyright Central Michigan Life
