Cubs Win!

I could not let this day before the 2003 division series go by without gloating in the Cubs central division championship. For longtime Cub fans like me, this has been a magical season. All the troubles Sosa had early (corked bats, beanings), injuries to Grudz and Alfonseca, and an inconsistent bullpen have been alot to overcome. It does show how far good starting pitching (and being in the right division) can take a team however with Wood, Prior, Zambrano, and sometimes Clement.

Of course, Im still waiting for the other shoe to drop, being the pessimistic conservative that I am (I attended the Cubs/Cardinal game in August when Kerry Robinson hit a walk-off homerun, his first and perhaps only of the year and thought that the inevitable slide was about to happen). I am inclined to agree with George Will's assessment of Cub fans written in 1974 (just after the good but not great teams of Santo, Banks, Jenkins, and Williams had passed) in his essay "The Chicago Cubs, Overdue"

"The differences between conservatives and liberals are as much a matter of temperament as ideas. Liberals are temperamentally inclined to see the world as a harmonious carnival of sweetness and light, where goodwill prevails, good intentions are rewarded, the race is to the swift, and a benevolent Nature arranges a favorable balance of pleasure over pain. Conservatives (and Cub fans) know better."

We'll see what this week holds! For an analysis of the series see the Sun Times.