I even dreamed about it last night, after I was already inspired to write a blog post once I awoke. I dreamed that the Chicago Cubs were about to lose another game, this time to the Cincinnati Reds (supposedly a "lowly" team in the dream), but mid-game they acquired about two or three no-name, good-field, contact-hitting ballplayers. Maybe even a pitcher or two. They then came back to win the game. And of course, it was on the road.
That's the 2019 Cubs in a nutshell: they're great at home, but terrible on the road.
Their home record is 41-19.
Their road record is 23-39.
Because of their great home record, they're in first place in the National League Central with a record of 64-58, ahead of the Milwaukee Brewers and St. Louis Cardinals.***
But, because of their lousy road record, not only are they way behind the other two division leaders (the Los Angeles Dodgers' record is 82-42 and they are 19 1/2 games up on the second-place team in their division (wow!!); the Atlanta Braves' record is 72-52 and they are 4 1/2 games up on the second-place team in their division), but they are struggling to hold off the Brewers and Cardinals for first place in their own division.
Prior to 2016, in a year when the Cubs were having a good season, any little signs of mortality would throw me into a fit of fear and anxiety, as if, "there's no way they can win the world series this year!" As if that were a world-ending thing. And prior to 2016, it was.
I'll be honest: I have a hard time seeing them win the National League pennant, let alone the world series. The Dodgers are too good -- that is, if the Cubs even advance to the National League Championship Series to face them -- and their likely first-round opponent, Atlanta, will likely have home-field advantage, based on what I expect to be a better win-loss record once the season ends. Which bring me back to my first point:
For the Cubs to win, they're going to have to win on the road. Just the first round of the playoffs will find them having more road games than home games. Yikes. Not to mention the gauntlet of facing the Dodgers, and then, if they beat them, either the Houston Astros or New York Yankees, both of whom are having great seasons as teams.
We are late enough into the season that I'm led to believe that these are who the 2019 Cubs are: great at home, terrible on the road. Even though they still have most of the same core players from the 2016 championship team, they're really not the same as the 2016 team. Truly, I'm disappointed; given that I deliberately avoided watching more games in the world series, I do hope for another chance someday to this time actually watch the games. But I heard something interesting on the radio yesterday: the question of whether this era of Cubs baseball would be a success even if they don't win another world series; and the answer being a resounding "yes." It is that that I'm choosing to hang on to, and as such learn to be ok with this year's Cubs team as is.
Will the 2019 Cubs win the world series? Unlikely. Will they even get better on the road before the season ends? I also say, unlikely. But I've decided that that's ok. These guys aren't the 2016 team, and having a world series title three years ago is much better than having a 111-year title drought. And Cubs fans everywhere will continue to give God thanks (whether or not they believe in Him) for the one. 2016 was our moment in the sun, and those of us who were alive then to experience it will forever have that.
***As I went back and checked the records, it turns out that as of today, August 17th, the Cubs aren't even in first place in their division: the St. Louis Cardinals, with a record of 64-56, is one game ahead of them. Case in point.