Friday morning I turned on MLB Network as I prepared to start my day. My intent was simply to have some background noise as I got ready, but the on-air personalities of Fran Charles, Al Leiter, and Mark DeRosa were having an extremely intriguing conversation about the Houston Astros that I just couldn’t ignore. Essentially, they were mentioning the value team meetings near or during playoff times have, with Leiter saying he’s not too fond of them, yet DeRosa—he of the 2010 World Series champion San Francisco Giants—stood up on the set’s furniture to attempt to inspire his audience. It got me thinking, and I even asked this question to my followers on Twitter, who’s going to take that lead on the Cubs in the coming weeks?
Your answer: nobody. The Cubs are a special case. This isn’t a team dependent on the leadership of its veterans. Now I’m not saying Anthony Rizzo and Starlin Castro are experienced enough to handle the pressure of the postseason; just that these guys have a force field around them right now. You can thank Joe Maddon for that.
If you didn’t already know, Maddon has set up a few clubhouse rules about how to deal with wins and losses. Len Kasper went on the Speigel and Goff show a couple of hours before Friday’s matinee and confirmed this. This is Maddon’s team and even the veterans understand that. This isn’t about that, though. Just know that the Cubs are fine. That’s why this post is about you, the fans. I’m going to tell you what Jon Lester told reporters back in early August. “This is going to sound really bad, but I’ve always been a big believer in playing stupid,” Lester said. “Being naïve.”
It’s about to get bad, guys. Right after the Giants lost to the Oakland A’s, sealing the Cubs’ postseason hopes, the trolls came about. And it wasn’t only your typical 35 follower, egg avi random tweeter playing the 1908 card—respected members of the baseball media couldn’t help but take a bite of the low hanging fruit.
Heartfelt congrats to #cubs and their fans for securing wild card. Enjoy. No way G Cole is losing that game. #billygoatcurse #1908
— Henry Schulman (@hankschulman) September 26, 2015
Last World Series Appearances: Cardinals 2013 Mets 2000 Dodgers 1988 Pirates 1979 Cubs……..1945
— Molly Knight (@molly_knight) September 26, 2015
We’re gonna get headaches on Cubs Twitter. I mean, we already do, but this time it’ll be way worse. It’ll be difficult to put up with just about every scribe—mostly because it’s their job—writing about the Cubs last playing in a World Series in 1945. It’ll be difficult to put up with the BFiB when they dust off their books filled with CUBS acronyms and barren female bears jokes. It’ll be especially difficult when Joe Buck hops on the national broadcasts and has to mention the Cubs’ history to the 17 people who’ve never heard about it.
So we took it upon ourselves at BP Wrigleyville to rally up the fans and give you the speech need.
Hello,
How about that ride in?
I guess that’s why they call it The Windy City.
You guys might not know this, but I consider myself a bit of a loner. I tend to think of myself as a one-man wolf pack. In 2008 when the Cubs had that magical season, I watched it all burn down and see my hometown Philadelphia Phillies enjoy the World Series championship. I felt alone.
But when I joined Cubs Twitter, I knew that I was home. And my wolf pack—it grew by hundreds!
And I knew that though I was one of the few Cubs fans in Philly, the rest of Cubs Twitter was right there with me!
And six months ago when the season was just about to begin, I thought “Wait a second. Could it be? Could it be possible that this is the team?” But my scarred heart told me to give it some time.
But now I know for sure that we aren’t rooting that team filled with old players on expensive contracts trying to make something happen in a one-year window.
And now I know for sure that the Cubs have the most productive first baseman in their long history hitting cleanup.
And now I know for sure that the Cubs have their best rookie ever manning the hot corner.
And now I know for sure that they have five players capable of producing game-changing plays in the middle infield—with their bats, gloves, AND legs.
And now I know for sure that #WeAreGood!
So let’s listen to one of our TWO aces when he delivered that $155 million dollar quote: Let’s play stupid!
We’ve seen a lot happen over the past 12 months. We lost our beloved Ernie. The Streak was ended. There were gut-wrenching losses to the most despicable of teams. Hell, we even took crap about a lack of crappers at Wrigley!
But look where we are now. We’re in October, baby! So when that random person pops into your mentions insulting the Cubs, tell them that scar tissue is strong and you can handle whatever recycled joke they’ll throw at you. You have a force field around you, and you sure as hell aren’t alone.
Let’s go.