Waiting game continues for Chicago Cubs

Written by changthai11 on Tuesday, October 7th, 2008

WIGGINS World

T his Major League Baseball postseason is more like a drought season for most of the teams involved.

Six of the eight ballclubs in the field were seeking to end long dry spells of one type or another.

The granddaddy of them all, of course, would be the one endured by the - here’s that phrase yet again - “long- suffering Chicago Cubs” and their followers.

Chi-town’s loveable losers have not won a World Series in 100 years.

And that long wait will continue for the Cubs, who were broomed out in the divisional round for the second straight year.

This year it was the Los Angeles Dodgers who bounced the Cubbies in three.

And geez, did you see the faces on Cubs fans during the last few innings of the game two LA romp?

I never saw so many male adults on the verge of tears.

So, look for yet another year of Cub fans wearing their suffering like some sort of “Curse of Billy the Goat” (it’s a long story) badge of honour.

It must be said, though, their whining is much more good-natured and self-deprecating and not nearly as annoying as the Boston Red Sox Nation crybabies wailing about the now-broken “Curse of the Bambino.”

Recent Series wins by Boston (in 2004) and the Chicago White Sox (in 2005) have left the Cubs alone in the futility longevity department.

The BoSox ended an 86 year wait and the ChiSox halted a titleless stretch of 88 years.

Other 2008 droughts were less lengthy.

The Dodgers, in disposing of the Cubbies, won their first postseason series since 1988 when they last won a World Series title in their Kirk Gibson home run-inspired domination of Oakland.

The Milwaukee Brewers, meanwhile, have yet to win it all since their inception in 1969.

The city of Milwaukee last experienced winning the Series back in 1957 when the Braves still made Suds City their home.

Also, in the Brewers-Philadelphia Phillies NLDS opener, one of the two would win a postseason game for the first time in a long while.

The Phils had gone since 1993, when they won twice but lost the Fall Classic to Toronto on a Joe Carter walk-off home run.

You had to go back even further for Milwaukee, back to 1982 when Harvey’s Wallbangers (then-skipper Harvey Kuenn’s line-up of sluggers) copped a couple of contests before losing the World Series to St. Louis.

It was the Phils who were the first to snap their negative skein, taking the first two of their set with the Brew Crew.

In game three, Milwaukee finally got their first postseason W in a quarter of a century. But Brewer hopes of a first WS title were dashed a day later with a loss.

Over in the American League Division Series, it took the Cinderella Tampa Bay Rays 10 years and 9 last places finishes before they earned a shot at a postseason win by winning the AL East.

They got it in the opener of their set with the Chicago White Sox.

The Los Angeles Angels, though they won a Series in 2002, were not without some drought baggage of their own - carry-on? - in their ALDS opener vs. Boston.

The Angels had lost nine straight postseason games to the Red Sox.

It soon stretched to 11 in a row as they dropped their first two with the BoSox.

The Angels finally snapped that losing streak in game three to stay alive this postseason.

So, nearing the end of the Divisional Series, some droughts have ended and others have been extended.

But those clubs who saw their dry spells halted have really just enjoyed a relative spinkle of success.

They and their faithful clamour for much more.

Dodger fans won’t be satisfied until they regain bygone glory.

The Philly Phanatics, sounding like Red Sox Nation bellyaching heirs, are lamenting being titleless in major pro sports since 1983.

The Rays, an expansion team like the Brewers, don’t want a Brew Crew-type stretch without a Series title to their name.

The Angels hope to avoid emulating the ChiSox and BoSox.

All still long for that last champagne deluge.

Dave Wiggins can be reached at davwigg@gmail.com.