Cubs Fever
Echo Staff
In recent years, it has seemed like every other team in the National League Central has simply been better than the Cubs. Those days are clearly over.
The 2015 Cubs won 97 games and earned a wild-card berth in the postseason. Though that team met an untimely end in the NLCS at the hands of the New York Mets, it was clear that the potential was there for the pieces to come together – and indeed they have. This year’s Cubs team built upon last year’s success and won the NL Central with 103 wins, the highest win total in all of Major League Baseball.
The main reason in the eyes of many for the Cubs’ success this year has been their pitching. With key rotation pieces Jon Lester, Jake Arrieta and Kyle Hendricks, the Cubs have one of the best starting rotations in baseball. Factor in bullpen pieces such as Aroldis Chapman and Pedro Strop, and it’s no wonder the Cubs have dominated.
“This season, Cubs management took the time to identify free agents that filled gaps that were present last year, such as consistent hitting, bullpen presence, and additional starting talent. They also have the benefit of having experienced the postseason last year, so this isn’t a new thing for them,” says Dan Bechtel, math teacher.
While any casual baseball fan (hopefully) knows that the Cubs haven’t won a World Series in 108 years, many don’t know just how badly the Cubs have struggled in that timespan. They haven’t so much as been to a World Series since 1945, and since then have only been to the postseason seven times (including this year).
Some fans believe this is all due to bad luck. The Cubs missed out on a trip to the World Series in 2003 when Moises Alou wrongly blamed his misfortunes on a fan and kicked off an infamous collapse that handed the pennant to the Florida Marlins. This is all to say nothing of “The Curse”, one of the most famous examples of superstition in all of professional sports.
And yet, this is the team that is the future of the National League Central. This is the team that is predicted, not only by Cub fans, but by those who get paid big money to predict baseball, to finally snap the Curse of the Billy Goat and bring a World Series trophy back to the North Side.
Bechtel believes this is the year. “This team is the more talented team [than World Series opponent Cleveland] and they ended the last round of the playoffs hitting their stride. We can certainly be beaten on any given day, but after the season we have had and the postseason thus far, I find it hard to believe that a team could beat us 4 times in 7 chances.”
The Cubs are currently tied with the Indians 1-1 in the World Series.
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