4th or Better

So, all season long, my hopes for the Cubs were not too lofty.

Even though they were just 2 seasons removed from the 2003 team that played for the National League pennant and, in fact, came within, what, 8 outs of making it to the World Series. Despite the fact that they had a legitimate shot at the wild card in 2004 (before completely blowing it down the stretch). And in spite of my elation that they had jettisoned the deadwood of Sammy Sosa and Moises Alou during the offseason (yeah, yeah, I know those guys were their top 2 power hitters, but, between corked bats and constant injuries, I honestly believed the Cubs would be better off without them).

In reality, this should have been a pretty solid season for the Cubs; in reality, I just knew it would not be.

“Fourth or better,” I told Karl, probably back in April. “If they finish 4th or better, they will have exceeded my expectations.”

2005 Chicago Cubs: Final record: 79-83 (21 games out of 1st in the National League Central, behind the St. Louis Cardinals( 100-62), the Houston Astros (89-73 — good enough for the NL Wild Card) and the Milwaukee Brewers (81-81), and ahead of the Cincinnati Reds (73-89) and the Pittsburgh Pirates (67-95).

So, now it is on to the playoffs, and I must toss all of my support to the Cards because I LOVE playoff baseball (honestly, it is among THE most exciting sporting events). And maybe the White Sox. Mostly because the thought of a Cardinals-ChiSox World Series is kinda cool.

It will most likely never happen, but ... you never know.

: )

My “4th or better” mantra also held true for my first-ever attempt at fantasy baseball. Yes, I decided to give it a whirl, along with some fellow Apples in The Orchard. Unfortunately, this was an auto-draft league, so the computer or the powers-that-be at Yahoo! or whatever get to decided who gets what players. And I ended up with some decent ones, but none of the “biggies” (Pujols, Lee, A-Rod, etc.), and what “good” hitters I did get failed to live up to the preseason hype (most notably, Carlos Beltran). And then my good players kept going down with injuries, so I would try to sign suitable replacements, and ... well, it just wasn’t all that pretty at times.

I did lead the team in wins and strikeouts for most of the season, though ... ’til I ran out of innings for my pitchers. (Guess I shoulda paid a little closer attention to all that.)

Well, anyway, just like the Cubs: Wait ’til next year!

: )

In more important news, closer to home:

Today’s Tennis Match Result: Us 2, Them 1 (I know, it should probably be “We” and “They,” but that sounds kinda weird)

Last Night’s Football Game Result: Girls 21, Boys 14

My teams ROCK!!!

: )