With the writer in attendance, the Cubs put up their first win of the season against Pittsburgh on Saturday. It was such an exciting win, I’ve decided to devote an entire post to it.
Let me begin with this. I believe this Cubs team has the talent to win 85 games and win the division, of course assuming they catch a few breaks. Most likely, we will finish near .500 and behind Milwaukee and Cincinnati. But either way, there’s something different about the publicity and attitude around the Cubs this spring. It seems like there is less pressure on this team since the 2003 team, which had just come off losing 95 games in 2002. The team has question marks, like any other team, and expectations, like any other team. But there isn’t that angry sense of urgency and negativity around here. And the reason for that, I believe, is that the Cubs have nothing to lose.
The roster will be changing quite a bit next offseason, and this is a year in transition for the Cubs. Originally, it seemed that this would be a year of rebuilding. But with moves for Carlos Pena, Matt Garza, and Kerry Wood, it changed somewhat to a ‘win now’ formula, leaving fans confused about the current status of the organization. Some cited Jim Hendry trying to build a veteran core to support the ascending youths rapidly arriving at Wrigley, and others cited Hendry trying to save his job. But the Cubs should be a team that will create some noise in 2011.
With that as the backdrop, the Cubs season began with a grim 6-3 loss to the Pirates on Opening Day at a packed Wrigley Field. The new PA announcer debuted, the new faces were seen, and the staff and roster were announced in a Bulls-style rendition. But a grand slam from the newest Cub killer in Neil Walker and a two-run homer from Andrew McCutchen would be all the Bucs needed to spoil the festivities.
Hoping to begin the season 2-0, the Pirates started Paul Maholm against Carlos Zambrano. And a good move that was, as Maholm didn’t allow the Cubs to get much started all game. Zambrano allowed two runs over the first six innings, and then injured himself but he didn’t tell anyone about it because he wanted to continue to pitch. The next batter he faced, Garrett Jones, promptly homered off him. Adding another run to the deficit in such a tight game is huge, says conventional wisdom, but in the grand scheme of things at that point I think the bigger concern was that the Cubs weren’t even on the board yet. It’s hard to score three when you have yet to score one. Another zero in the bottom of the 7th, another missed opportunity. But finally came the bottom of the 8th.
What ensued in the bottom of the 8th is hopefully something Cub fans can get used to. Evan Meek is no rookie on the mound, even if he’s an undeserving former All-Star. But the Cubs made him look bad anyway in remarkable fashion. Kosuke Fukudome, of all Cubs, got the party started by getting on base. Starlin Castro then drove it to the opposite field, scoring Fukudome, and setting himself up to score. Enter Marlon Byrd, who also hit a ball to the opposite field – a hard-hit ground ball right at first baseman Lyle Overbay. Overbay, fresh off a long visit to the American League, has never been known for his glove. That would explain the inexplicable job he did of letting the ball eat him up and roll in right field. Walker, the second baseman, had no chance to stop a scoring Castro who had sped around from second base already. A few batters later, Alfonso Soriano came up with a chance to electrify the stadium with just a simple base knock. After a long, grueling at-bat, Soriano hit another opposite field drive to right center field. Of course, a moment of suspense followed as fans had to momentarily wonder if the center fielder McCutchen was about to break their hearts with a horizontal diving catch like on all of his highlight reels. But the ball dropped before he could get there, resulting in a huge roar from the surprising crowd of 41,000 and tying the game at three. Two batters later, Blake DeWitt stepped up as a pinch hitter and lined a double that gave the Cubs a two run lead. Where did he hit it? To the opposite field, of course. Carlos Marmol came in a half inning later and did his thing, dominantly striking out the side in his first appearance of the season. And just like that, the Cubs had stolen a win away from the Pirates.
The Pirates were in control of the game for around two and a half hours. The Cubs took the last half hour and dominated on both ends, winning the game and summoning the cliché, ‘It’s not how you start, it’s how you finish’. And finish the Cubs did, unlike the Cubs of a year ago. If there was a single problem that plagued the 2010 Cubs, it was that they couldn’t win tight games. The Cubs lost more one run games than anybody in MLB. Losing one run games is terrible for team chemistry and morale because it leaves a frustrating stench of defeat and an air of incompetence. In this game, the Cubs were trying too hard against Maholm early on which led to their offensive struggles. The Cubs were very aggressive against Maholm and tried to pull the ball too often. Once Meek came in the game, however, the team got in a rhythm of taking what they were given and just dropping it into the outfield, regardless of location. Once they all realized they could build a rally with a barrage of singles and doubles instead of homers, the offense just clicked.
This is quite impressive work. These kinds of rallies were the trademark of the 2008 Cubs, but were nowhere to be seen in 2010. For the Cubs to continue winning, these will be crucial.
