The Cubs have stalled (since a great weekend, Milwaukee has won two in a row, and we’ve lost the one game we’ve played) at a magic number of four, with a combined 10 games left for us and the Brewers. Some, smelling the all too familiar scent of collapse, have started the ledge-climbing.
I’m not there yet, but tonight’s games will tell a lot. I really do think we’re going to be in *severe* trouble if the magic number doesn’t drop at least one digit tonight. Obviously I’d vastly prefer it to be due to a Cubs’ win, rather than a Brewers’ loss, but at this point I’ll take either, frankly. And if both happen tonight, and the magic number drops to 2, I think it’s basically over.
If the Cubs do blow it? Well, I’ve been there before. And I remember all too well the year of 1998, when a truly lame Cubs team bumbled their way into the post-season, only to be humiliated on national television by the Braves three games in a row. If we can’t even beat the Brewers, we clearly don’t deserve to go to the play-offs. Then it will be back to the familiar mantra, “Wait until next year.”
That being said, I still think we’re going to do this. I should have a better feel for things tomorrow, though.
