Yankees vs. Cubs is not fair in any sense of the word

First appeared on June 21, 2011
in The Lebanon Reporter

Though it was not Paul Revere and his steady steed “Brown Beauty”, the call was clear this past weekend in Chicago. Down the Magnificent Mile and through the Plexiglas look-out of Willis Tower, the call rode upon the notorious winds while echoing from the Hancock Building to the Wrigleyville Rooftops: “One if by land, two if by sea-the Yankees are coming, the Yankees are coming!!” And boy did they ever. So many Yankee fans found their way to Wrigley Field for a 3 game set that one had to wonder if it wasn’t instead a gimmick dress up game like “Belligerent Tourist Night” or “Mafia Day” at the ball park.
The confluence of uproarious “Let’s go Yankees!”chants and glowering Cubs fans booing meekly produced an undoubtedly playoff atmosphere. For Orthodox Baseball Fans it was a surreal scene one should only witness once every 70 or 80 Octobers. And while snarky Yankee fans clad in garb boasting 5 of the last 15 World Series titles were certainly awestruck at the majesty that is Wrigley, they could do nothing but snigger at Cubs fans in their 1907-08 “Back to Back” championship celebratory t-shirts.
For far too long the Yankees have been the standard bearer of success in Major League Baseball while the Cubs the posterchild of futility. The Yankees are the carrot at the end of a stick as the Cubs once again play the role of bewildered Donkey. Yes, the Yankees are the Dean Martin to Chicago’s Jerry Lewis; although with all due respect, that is an insult to Jerry Lewis so let’s just call the Cubs Carrot Top instead.
Using the trusty thesaurus my old English teacher Emma Staller first armed me with 20 years ago, I‘ve found the perfect word to describe the 2010-11 Cubs; they are “bad”. Only one team in Major League Baseball has committed more errors this season than Chicago and, as you can likely surmise, that team is not very good either.
It would be far too easy to for the lowly Cubs to hang everything on poor fielding however. So it is with much relief they can boast having the worst ERA in the majors as well. Ever unsatisfied with any substandard level of mediocrity, they also lead everyone in batters walked.
First year manager Mike Quade speaks of injuries that have forced him to play more of “the kids”, or younger prospects the Cubs weren’t planning on pressing into service this soon. At this point it doesn’t really matter if they are playing savvy 20 year vets, wide-eyed rookies or Russian Cosmonauts riding donkeys, if they want to salvage anything of this season, the Cubs need to play better in the field.
And after taking 3 of 4 from Central Division leading Milwaukee late last week, the Yankees series suddenly appeared noteworthy. A “turn the season around” opportunity perhaps. Friday began with promise as Chicago drummed the Yanks 3-1 (we use “drum” here because Cubs fans are so unfamiliar with beating anyone this season that a 2 run win appears quite impressive) but Saturday and Sunday saw the Northsiders return to form.
To be fair, of the 27 innings played over the weekend, Chicago was excellent in 24. Their defense was solid and the pitching stronger. Wednesday of this week will mark the end of a stretch of 44 games in 46 days for Chicago, of which they’ve lost 24 including 8 straight. The key is finding a way to sustain solid defensive play for the foreseeable future, or at least the upcoming series against their Southside nemesis the White Sox.

© 2011 Eric Walker Williams