April 3, 2005

My Time Of Year

Another cold winter has segued into another cold spring, but baseball is here and it puts a smile on my face because not only is it my favorite sport, but it’s also my favorite time of the year.  Summer is coming and with it come the dreams of a young boy and his favorite team winning the World Series.  I may not be so young anymore, but those dreams don’t go away. 

Last year, the Cubs were the odds-on favorites to win it all.  Everybody from Playboy, (I only read the articles) to Sports Illustrated in their “Hell Freezes Over” cover picked the Cubs to win.  That’s not the case this year and that’s a good thing.  Whenever the team has expectations, and believe me they have been few and far between, they never win.  This year, expectations are lower and I think if the injuries don’t bite too hard, they might surprise and do what they were supposed to have done last year.

But there are a lot of ifs involved.  Their GM, Jim Hendry still didn’t get a reliable closer or pick up a legitimate leadoff hitter.  Yet he gets praised while Manager Dusty Baker gets castigated.  I will admit Hendry is the best GM they have had in quite a while, but again, in Chicago, that’s not saying much.  He’s made some good moves, Garciaparra for one, but has missed the boat in other areas, including resurrecting a bad bullpen. 

On paper, this team is weaker than last years’ with Sosa and Moises Alou gone in the field.  Matt Clement may prove to be more of a loss than originally thought if Prior and Wood are unable to perform due to injuries.  They have a lot of pitching in the minors; unfortunately none of it is ready for the ‘show’ yet. 

I always prefer to look at the glass half empty instead of half full because I am a Chicagoan and I know whatever can go wrong will go wrong.  It’s a cynical outlook to have, but I have been well trained in it by my circumstances of life.

Baker takes a lot of heat for his managerial decisions.  While you can always find fault, and I have disagreed with his decisions at times too, I think he does a good job.  The team is now competitive and expects to win.  He overachieved with last year’s team.  Despite a slew of injuries, they won one more game than in ’03, when they were just five outs from the World Series.  Everybody blames him for the poor finish, but I think he held the team together under extraordinary circumstances to even have a chance. 

The bottom line is expectations are up because he raised expectations.  He has always been a winner as a manager, even though he has yet to win the big one.

I think the teams he had his first two years were not as good as everybody said they were.  I don’t think on paper that this team is that great either.  They have all had flaws, some more than others. 

Injuries play a major role and Prior is already on the DL starting this year.  You can’t win without the horses.  Whether they are going to be ready to saddle up or not, I don’t know.  But I do know that they have the right guy to ride them.

SportzNutz Columnist Darrell Horwitz isn’t shy when it comes to “A Fan Speaking Out”… he holds nothing back and tells it like it is, from a fan’s perspective.  A Chicago native, Darrell is a lifelong Cubs and Bulls fan. Along with his “A Fan Speaks Out” column, Darrell is the fan writer for the Chicago Cubs, here on SportzNutz.  If you have any comments or questions, please feel free to email Darrell at darrell.horwitz@nutzworld.net