September 10, 2004
THIS WAITING GAME IS PAINFUL When is it going to end?
by Pete Khazen
(Editor’s note: Apparently, major fissures, not just cracks, are emerging all over Cubbyland in addition to those well-documented ones in the Wrigley Field grandstand concrete. Our resident Cub fan is stuck in one of those morasses, looking for others to share his pain. Not finding them in St. Louis, he is traveling to the source for the weekend. I hope he drives carefully. - Brian)
In the Information Technology world, it is commonly understood that if someone writes an email or sends an instant message to you with capitalized words, it’s for one of two reasons: either the sender mistakenly had the caps lock on or the sender is yelling at you. Following the Cubs 6-0 loss to the Montreal Expos Wednesday night at Wrigley Field, I have a need to vent. I have a need to send such a message to the Cubs organization. The following should be read and understood that the caps lock was not mistakenly left on: THIS WAITING GAME IS PAINFUL.
The 2004 MLB season has been a long, painful waiting game for this Cubs fan and many others. It has been filled with a level of frustration that I believe only Cubs or Red Sox fans can experience. I’m sure Cardinal fans can draw similarities to their team’s 2003 season and having to deal with that of the Cubs, but they’re too excited about the 2004 season to even care to look back on 2003. Besides, the Cardinal faithful is reveling in sadistic laughter as they watch the fans of their rivals suffer after so much hype to the season.
I am an optimist, and I have been writing, to much scrutiny from my colleagues at The Birdhouse, all season about silver linings in what has transpired this season for this Cubs team. Under most circumstances, a 74-62 record, putting the Cubs within a half-game of the NL Wild Card, would have Cubbie fans annoying the heck out of Cardinal fans and anyone else in their path to the post-season. But, things are different this year.
The Cubs are just not playing that fundamentally sound, feel-good baseball. Things just aren’t coming together for them. Nobody is stepping up to be the positive, commanding leader; not even Dusty Baker. And those silver linings I like to write about are getting harder and harder to find as the chances to turn things around slowly dwindle away in this painful waiting game.
So, yes. I’m getting tired of waiting for it all to happen. I’m tired of waiting for the team to be healthy, and I’m tired of hearing about how the injuries are what were keeping this team from being glorious. The injuries aren’t the problem; the fact that the Cubs can’t beat the Expos at home at least two out of three games is the problem. They make costly errors and run the bases worse than most Little League teams. I mean, come on. How many times can Moises Alou get doubled off base on a fly ball or line drive? I see leadoff hitter after leadoff hitter get walked in late innings. I see runners in scoring position left standing on base inning after inning. And above all, I see a passion to hit solo home runs like there is more glory in it than a bases-loaded double.
For a while, I was waiting for the Cardinals ridiculous season to take that nosedive. But that clearly isn’t going to happen during the regular season. Heck, I’ve even been waiting for Rick Ankiel to get the call-up just so that he can possibly lead to the team’s demise. That call-up has arrived, and I’m still waiting for that first wild pitch. And as for the pitching staff that couldn’t last a full season, well, I’m still waiting for even a sign that they are getting tired.
As Cubs fans, we continue to hope, pray, and wait for things to get better. We read and hear about how Dusty’s teams always make a late run. But the time has arrived for that run, and we are still waiting. Forget the magic dust, where’s the motivation? The team is obviously pressing, and they’re not producing because of it. They aren’t having fun, and they are in a pennant race. They’ve been playing the entire season like it’s the eighth inning of Game 6 of the NLCS and Steve Bartman just dropped that ball. As this level of play goes on, it continues to be painful to watch and keep waiting.
My brother and I had a debate after losing the last game to the Expos. We argued whether it was more painful to see these losses on TV or have to struggle through the updates pitch by pitch over the web. No one won the debate, but I must admit that I’m getting really tired of seeing notes similar to, “Pitch x – In Play – Outs recorded” for the Cubs and “Pitch x – In play – run(s) scoring play” for the opposition.
Speaking of the opposition, it seems that Florida and Houston have realized that they are in a pennant race. Even San Francisco and San Diego have awoken from short naps. So I’ll appeal to the broad audience out there, fully aware of the responses the Cardinal nation will probably have for me: Are the Cubs going to wake up anytime soon and put an end to this painful waiting that rivals Jerry Seinfeld and his friends in the Chinese Restaurant episode?
I can go on venting, but the Cubs are still alive… barely. With a backlog due to Hurricane Frances, they still control their own destiny but wouldn’t mind a little help from their I-55 rivals in those six games against the Astros.
The Chicago Cubs begin the most important series of the season today against the Florida Marlins at Wrigley Field. Due to rescheduling because of Frances, the Cubs get to play an extra home game, which will be part of a doubleheader today. And thanks to my other brother, I get to return to my hometown to take in the Saturday game at The Friendly Confines.
Is this the weekend when the painful waiting game comes to an end? I guess I’ll have to wait and see.
Walton’s take: I hate to tell Pete this, but in terms of the waiting game ending, the only thing that might be decided in the next few days is the Cardinals clinching the Central Division. Best case for Pete is that he remains in his waiting game for three more weeks. If it is resolved any sooner for the Cubs, it very likely won’t be good news for them.
