By Marty Gangler
The Chicago Cubs last won the World Series in 1908. That was 99 years ago. Last week we lost a Cubs fan who was around for 92 of those 99 years. Papa, my grandfather, died this week without ever seeing the Cubs win the World Series. But that never seemed to bother him. He never turned the game off, never stopped following the team, never stopped going on the road to see them play. I can’t even remember Papa ever complaining all that much about Cubs management. He was just a fan.
Papa was a native Chicagoan who did the same things that a lot of people do in a lifetime: He grew up, got married, got drafted, had kids, went on vacations, celebrated holidays, loved his grandchildren; and he did it all with the game on. Thinking about Papa and his love affair with baseball and the Cubs makes me wonder about the players who wear the uniform. They might never have known Papa, but they must know that fans like Papa exist, fans with funerals where “Go Cubs Go” plays as family and friends pass the casket paying last respects.
Right? They do know, don’t they? That baseball and the Cubs become woven into the fabric of people’s lives that much? I’m not talking about the drunken bleacher boys throwing trash onto the field. I’m talking about the guy in the second mezzanine keeping score and telling stories about being at the 1945 World Series.
I’m not asking this year’s Cubs to win one for Papa – though that’d sure be nice – but I’d just like to let them know that the uniform they wear means more than a multi-year contract and product endorsement to a lot of people. A lot of people care. Papa cared, and I care, so they ought to play the game like they care. The Cubs – like any sports team, only more so than many – are the backdrop to a lot of life experiences for folks, be it family get-togethers or first dates or the sacred bonding rites conducted by friends at bars and betting parlors. Yes, it’s just a game, but that’s the point: It’s not work, it’s not tragedy, it’s something we can care about and something utterly enjoyable – if often frustrating – that we can spend our time on this Earth experiencing.
Not to put too much pressure on young kids from Latin America and Louisiana, but when you get paid millions of dollars a year to wear the uniform, it’s not too much to ask that you respect the game and its true fans. So keep this in mind when you come to the plate with a runner on third and one out. Choke up and make some contact to get that run home. I miss you already, Papa.
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Week in Review: The Cubs split a four-game set with the Phillies and lost two of three to the Mets. These series’ against two NL East contenders was supposed to be a big test for the Cubs. Are they for real? Well, the real test comes after 162 games, not seven. So let’s just wait and see.
Week in Preview: The Cubs head out for a seven-game road trip with three in Houston and four in Denver. No one will argue that this week will be a test to see if the Cubs are for real. But these seven games count in the standings every bit as much as last week’s seven games. So this actually is just as much a test to see if they are for real. Just like every game over a 162-game schedule is a test.
The Second Basemen Report: Mark DeRosa started five at second base last week; Mighty Mike Fontenot starting the other two. Mighty Mike’s slight decrease in playing time correlates to a decrease in his average from .400 to .308. Uncle Lou plays the hot hand. He will play the young guy, and he doesn’t really get into favorites. He’s the Anti-Dusty. He was even a better broadcaster than Dusty. Damn I don’t miss Dusty. Oh, and expect more of the same playing time-wise this week at the second sack.
In former second baseman news, Chris Stynes went to spring training with the Baltimore Orioles in 2005 where he fouled a ball off his leg and shattered his fibula. It is not known where Chris Stynes is today. He is missed.
Sweet and Sour Lou: 79% sweet and 21% sour. Lou is up only one point this week on the Sweet-O-Meter despite being right in the thick of things in the NL Comedy Central due to closer issues. Uncle Lou doesn’t like Ryan Dempster but has little choice but to use him. And like your real crazy drunk uncle, Lou isn’t going to make a big stink that his nephew Earnest is cooking burgers on his Smoky Joe today. Lou knows the burgers will be edible, he’d just rather have his burger cooked over a larger heat source.
Beachwood Sabermetrics: A complex algorithm performed by the The Cub Factor staff using all historical data made available by Major League Baseball has determined that a team’s performance over 162 games tends to be a better indicator of where that team will finish in the standings than any single week’s worth of games.
Over/Under: The amount of time Ron Santo adds credible insight to a Cubs broadcast this week: +/- 42 seconds.
The Cub Factor: Catch up with them all.
The Cubs Answer Men: Things have changed since the Cubs last won a World Series. The Beachwood’s Rick Kaempfer and Dave Stern will be your personal advisors the rest of the way with what you need to know.
Mount Lou: Lou continues to stay at green and will probably do so until October – unless or until Ryan Dempster goes south and an infield fly falls on Aramis Ramirez’s head and he’s out for the season and Jacque Jones accidentally breaks Derrek Lee’s leg and Kerry Wood pokes Carlos Zambrano in the eye falling into the hot tub.
Posted on August 6, 2007