So now it’s November, and the baseball season is officially over.
Yes, I know about the Arizona Fall League, and the winter leagues in various warm climates, but I don’t care about any of that. I’m old-school in many ways, and that’s the biggest one of all.
Some will need to keep the baseball fires burning, but I’m off for a long winter’s nap, instead.
I read a tweet the other day that made me laugh. It said words to the effect of the tweeter was going to be angry when all of the bandwagon fans start coming to Wrigley Field when the Cubs start getting good. If pie-in-the-sky were sold by the slice, this guy has had more of it than the Baker’s Square near my house.
I suppose this guy’s point was that he–unlike the fans who are beginning to question Theo Epstein’s presumed golden touch–is keeping it real. He’s standing strong. The whole Dale Sveum thing, like the Kerry Wood signing, and the Ian Stewart signing, and the Edwin Jackson debacle, was just a bump in the road. And 197 losses over the past two years? No established veterans to build around, a la David Ortiz? No starting pitcher who can hit double digits in wins for a season?
No problem, at least for this guy.
On the day that the Cubs were hoisting a scoreboard mockup at Wrigley Field, the Red Sox were hoisting the World Series trophy. Again. Red Sox fans no longer get to “feel my pain” through that old Bill Buckner story. That’s officially a thing of the past now.
The Cubs were painfully close in 2003, and it looked like they might be close again in 2008. But there’s been nothing to get excited about since then. Nothing to justify the ever-increasing cost of tickets, and nothing in the way of upward movement. Yes, the Cubs did lose fewer games this year than they did in 2012, but 96 losses does not suggest that good things are coming anytime soon. Talk to me about all of the Cubs’ prospects once they finally get to Chicago.
So the tweeter who’s already mad at people like me for tuning this franchise out will have to start singing the Cubs’ praises himself. I, for one, need some time off. November, December, and January, at least.