Elegy for a wasted baseball season
Cinderella's slipper has turned out to be not only a croc but a crock. In 2017, at least we lost in the NLCS. But last year, when we should have run away with the division, instead we tied with Milwaukee for first- and then lost the one-game playoff.
We should have run away with it again this year. After Theo Epstein's frustrated rant following the Cubs' elimination by the Brewers last year and his pointed comments about the number of games we could easily have won if we had just wanted to a little more, and how it would only have taken one to have won the division outright, I was comforted. Surely, I thought, the Cubs would do what was needed to fix so many things that were so obviously broken. But the Ricketts family pled poverty (in fairness, we have the second-highest payroll in the major leagues), and virtually nothing was done to fix things. It took until late in the season for us to pony up for Craig Kimbrel even though we lacked a closer, with Brandon Morrow hurt. And as it turned out, the Red Sox knew what they were doing when they didn't re-sign Kimbrel for what he was asking.
Injuries hurt us, to be sure, as did our practically non-existent bullpen. And now, as the smoke clears, the hated St. Louis Cardinals- the worst possible alternative, our arch-rivals- appear to be on the brink of clinching the National League Central Division. We may or may not even win a wild card spot in the playoffs.
It's not as if we're going anywhere in the post-season anyway. Frankly, I'd almost rather we didn't. The more complete the humiliation, the more likely it is that something will actually be done about all the pathos this winter, unlike last.
Having been a Cub fan for 62 years, my heart is covered in scar tissue by the number of times it has been broken in the past. Nor do I give up easily. My Cubs still have a shot at getting into the playoffs via that abomination, the wild card, and so I am not panicking. They might still be playing in October.
I remember what happened the last time the Cardinals won the division, and the Cubs got into the playoffs as a wild-card. We knocked them out of the playoffs and went on to the first of three consecutive National League Championship Series. While I can't say that I'm confident that this team has what it takes to repeat that achievement, I'm not giving up on the possibility, either. But on the other hand, while that might help me to feel better about yet another wasted season, it's not as if I have much hope of this particular team advancing beyond that.
Yesterday's 2-1 defeat at the hands of the Blushing Parakeets pretty much drove a nail into the coffin of our hopes to win a division we should have run away with. So whatever happens from here on out, this seems to be a fitting moment to contemplate where the team that has my heart as it had my father's heart before me goes from here.
First, Joe Maddon is gone. He simply will not be back, and shouldn't be. More on that in a moment.
Secondly, to those who object to David Ross replacing him because he lacks managerial experience, two words: Aaron Boone. As not only a catcher but a guy whom the players not only love but who has demonstrated the ability to be the disciplinarian Joe Maddon seems not to be able to be, Ross has even better credentials than Boone had in taking over the Yankees. And he already knows this team like the palm of his hand.
I defended Joe Maddon for years, but those who stress how well the Cubs have done under Maddon miss the point. They've done well because his teams have been loaded with talent. The real issue facing the Cubs- the bottom line, really- is why, given all that talent, they haven't done better! They not only have not turned out to be the dynasty everybody thought they would be after 2016, but they have lost two of the three NLCS's they've gone to under Joe and are in the process of blowing the division to a team with far less talent for the second year in a row. That it's the Cardinals, our arch-rivals, this time around makes it even harder to take.
Yes, the bullpen woes the Cubs have had would have doomed them no matter who was managing the team. And the front office hasn't exactly helped. Here we are, nearly three years after Dexter Fowler left us for the Cardinals, and despite it being such a huge and obvious weakness we still lack a leadoff hitter! Parenthetically, we should move heaven and earth to put Whit Merrifield in Cub pinstripes this winter and install him as our every-day second baseman. Admittedly the emergence of Nico Hoerner complicates the infield situation already, but maybe Kris Bryant could move to left field and Javy could play third. Or Nico could have a go at center field, another weak spot. Or something. An embarrassment of riches is a good thing to have. It could open up trade possibilities for badly-needed pitching. But we need a reliable leadoff man! It's too big a need and it's been too obvious a need for too long not to address it decisively before the first pitch of the 2020 season.
Metrics are all the rage, but Joe's obsession with metrics verges on being pathological. It almost seems that with Joe managing the team, the surest way to get benched is to get hot! All too often he'll replace a good hitter with an inferior one for some arcane tactical reason that seldom pans out, or pull a lights-out starting pitcher whose pitch count is still manageable despite having no bullpen and thus no adequate replacement! While Joe was unquestionably the perfect manager for the Cubs in 2015 and 2016, the fact remains that not only does he do a poor job in handling his pitching staff but he's just not a good tactical manager in general. His unexpected (read: bizarre) decisions frequently worked the first few years he was managing the Cubs because they took the other team by surprise. Well, they're not surprised anymore, and they're still bizarre. His musical lineups have to be disruptive to players' concentration; it's no wonder this team is so streaky when the players arrive at the ballpark every day not knowing what position they will play, where they'll be in the batting order- or even whether they're going to play at all!
Joe is one of the best ever at handling young players and avoiding the toxic kinds of psychological environments which have undermined so many Cub teams in the past. But the time where those things were the main concern is long past. The issue now is getting the maximum performance from the players- and Joe is a spectacular fail in that department. We will never get back to the World Series with Joe Maddon as our manager, and to bring him back next year would be tantamount to a white flag and mark the closing of the window for this team.
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