I scoffed, at the beginning of the baseball season, at Lou Pinella’s insistence that for the Cubs, this year, it was “the season of hope.” Because, frankly, the Cubs were atrocious in the month of April. And May.
But now, with six games left, the Cubs have a three game lead in the National League Central.
It’s the Cubs. I learned to accept disappointment at an early age because of the Cubs.
But this year? They haven’t found new and inventive ways of losing. No, I credit the Orioles with being that team, this year.
So, I’m optimistic. Could this, in fact, be the year of destiny? Has the ghost of John McGraw said, “Oh, for fuck’s sake, let the Cubs win?” Considering that his Giants are atrocious themselves this year and were of interest only for the Barry Bonds Show?
(McGraw? What about Murphy’s Goat? Well… I’ve never held with the Curse of Murphy’s Goat — the Cubs’ curse goes back way before 1945. Snookering John McGraw and the New York Giants in 1908 on their way to the pennant and their last World Series victory seems far more likely the source of the Cubs’ century of futility than a story of a goat and its curse.)
But I’m a cautious optimistic.
Go, Cubs, go! 🙂