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This makes you think when the season ends, no matter where you expected. The Cubs closed the season with consecutive defeats at home and in less than 48 hours. A division title has escaped, as have their hopes of rediscovering the magic of the 2016 World Series.
The good news is that as a player approaches the end of a difficult season, the optimism of getting closer to a new season may be the way to go. This helps calm the game. Since I started this Cubs team out of uniform this year, I had the chance to cover this team as an analyst. We can conclude a lot of this season from this advantageous position.
Throughout the season, I saw a team hoping to find ways to win and most of the time, she found them. There is no better indicator of this spirit when new players join you, whether they are from minor leagues or an exchange. . These players did not join as opportunistic, autonomous agent hopefuls, or did not check the box of their achievement as an appeal; they came to meet expectations and they quickly showed how they wanted to be part of the family and keep the tradition of success.
From the first round of David Bote to excellence in the majors to the passion of Cole Hamels and Jesse Chavez to want to be part of the team next season. From rookie to rookie, they wanted to be here and they certainly wanted the end to be different. Perhaps more importantly, the chance to rewrite this end of next season.
As Javier Baez said last night, the Cubs have "struggled all season", which is a credit to what they hoped to accomplish with 95 wins on the blackboard after the end of the fighting season. They seemed to win despite the fact that they were sometimes at a disadvantage, at the beginning of the season, the rotation started to be felt, the offense started and stopped all year, the Unsung heroes of the market became the anchor until Brandon Morrow's injury. and Pedro Strop made the weight difficult to bear. Questions around a teammate like Addison Russell also presented a personal struggle, not only his own, but also how his brethren in the locker room are trying to support him while learning more about broader societal implications. To play a child's game, you must grow quickly in a split second.
When you put it on paper, you talk about a team that lost an ace from Day 1 to Yu Darvish. Tyler Chatwood, supposed to anchor the fifth or better starting niche, had unsustainable command problems, with the most useful player having failed Kris Bryant, the pen's background collapsed as a result of an injury, while the team overcame a series of endless tasks games towards the end of the season. It was the moment when their opponent, the Brewers, became hot.
Despite all these challenges, known challenges of all teams, the game exploded at an inopportune moment: September. It was at that time that the offense became systematically inconsistent and that the numbers that kept them afloat as a force began to become a handicap and sink the ship. The basic percentage, which was a feature most of the year, has become a struggle. The discipline on the plate slipped, just when some rivals of the division stood against them, from Pirates to Cardinals to Brewers.
Yet no one offers excuses in their closing talks. Their expectations evolved away from the years when I wore the uniform in the mid-90s. They made the playoffs for four consecutive years and were pretty deep over the previous three years. It was not enough to do it. In fact, when they succeeded, they did not even celebrate much. Anthony Rizzo recognized the course, but evoked the deeper goal of the team to repeat a championship.
This level of goals causes an additional fall in disappointment when they are not achieved. The "C" on their uniform is a bubble now. It's out of respect. Won after years of team defeat and this year both offensive and defensive, great things were expected from spring training.
And when you are a target, it can bring you closer.
The players talked about their team as a family and not as colleagues or business partners. They expressed their admiration for Joe Maddon's manager because of their sense of being themselves and playing baseball through this perspective.
And it worked, for the most part. That was not a dynasty, but again, the game is no longer at that time. Astros, Royal, Cubs have all won for the first time in a long time (or never) in recent seasons. It seems that you simply need to grasp your moment and follow it as the window closes and circumstances beyond your control appear to you. So you're getting old.
Meanwhile, players will return home, face uncertainty about their future, spend time with friends and family, regroup, retire, and perhaps take a moment to watch the game.
And when the time comes, the fire will start burning again, will never be extinguished, but what could happen in 2019 has just given new oxygen. And this team seems to welcome the idea that next season, 95 wins Build.
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