Adam wrote a great post that I recently enjoyed about how it’s become World Series or Bust for him and many other Cubs fans as this year has unfolded. It’s a fantastic read, but my main feeling at this point in season is almost exactly the opposite.
IIRC, we discussed whether or not our views as fans/writers have changed at some point early on in the OV Podcast, before computer and human DL time shuttered it. At the time I didn’t think too hard about the question – I had cautious optimism that the Cubs would improve this year and anything else would be gravy. Well, I guess that huge stretch of winning this month counts as delicious, delicious gravy.But rather than get me excited about the postseason, my reactions after most of the wins and losses of late has been to smile and/or shrug, no-hitters excepted*.
Earlier in the season I had been hanging on to every game, getting pissed off at various umpires’ strike zones and the Cubs offensive struggles, but it really all crested for me during the Cardinals series back in July, which ended with the Cubs blowing a late lead in the series finale to end up with a split. It seemed like everyone on social media was tearing their hair out while I was just too busy laughing at Yadi getting ejected for arguing with an umpire while a ball was still in play. At that point I must have figured that the chances the Cubs pulled ahead of the Cardinals and Pirates was pretty miniscule, and the Cubs huge tear a few weeks later only reinforced that when they barely made up any ground on either team.
There’s not really much of a race anymore. It’s been pretty clear for a while now that the only shot the Cubs have at the playoffs is the wild card game, and I have the day circled on my calendar. Until then, I’m not to worried about the results of anything that happens. The Cubs are a good, above average team, and unless something crazy unlikely like a 10 game winning/losing streak happens nothing is likely going to change their positions – we’re slotted in. Why ride this crazy emotional roller coaster the rest of the way when we’ll all end up at the same place? I’ll wait to hop on until we get to the coin flip game.
Meanwhile I won’t get drawn into stupid arguments about Starlin Castro or Dan Haren that my 2009 self would have been all over. Stuff like the hilariously bad rollout of SIERA and my needlessly long defense of EJax’s peripherals as well as breakouts like Arrieta’s and Samardzija’s have just left me with a better appreciation of all the shit I don’t know. I’m just taking my nose out of the spreadsheet and just watching the damn games now without thinking as hard about it (dying laughing). I would have been excited by stuff like BP’s newest pitcher metric or the sheer volume of great content that BP Wrigleyville has been putting out, but I just don’t care about details of players’ swing adjustments or one-month pitching trends or whatever anymore.
If the Cubs do get into the ‘real’ playoffs following the WC game, maybe I’ll turn into World Series or Bust mode. But until then, I’ll smile at Bryant walkoffs or the odd no-hitter, and simply laugh when Castro has three errors in a game, since in the grand scheme of things it matters so little compared to what will happen on October 7th. If the catch the Cardinals, great! If the Giants or whoever catch them, then ¯_(ツ)_/¯, we were playing with house money anyway. I just hope no one gets hurt. Maybe I should give up my True Fan card.
*I caught the 5th-7th innings of the game while making/eating dinner. I was catching up on house stuff after a bunch of travel this month** and had put it in since I knew I’d be in and out of the room and figured it wouldn’t be a big deal with a game on. If only Len Kasper had been calling this game I would have been alerted that a no-hitter was in the offing since he gives zero fucks about jinxes. Oh well (dying laughing).
** i.e. catching up on my DVR backlog. Serious business.
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