I’ve been around long enough to have seen some shit. As a Cubs fan, it’s mostly all I’ve seen, to be honest. In the last four decades the Cubs have been good approximately eight times.
Eight.
Oh, how humiliating.
For the last three years they have been terrible, even by their own miserable standards. But I’ve largely enjoyed it. Why? Because for the first time in my life, the Cubs are being run–baseball-wise at least–like a real Major League franchise. Some of the exploits on the field have been tough to watch, but it’s all been with a noble end in mind. Accumulate assets, develop into a regular postseason contender, and set up the infrastructure to stay that way.
So while some fans have been clamoring for the arrival of hot shot prospects like Javier Baez, Jorge Soler and Kris Bryant for many months, I’ve sat back and felt a very odd feeling for a Cubs fan.
Confidence. And some indigestion. Smokie links should be eaten in moderation, gang.
Theo Epstein and Jed Hoyer know what they are doing. When a player is ready, they’ll bring him up. No amount of foot stomping from the lunatic fan base, or weird, terribly veiled, heavily agendized writing from the Sun-Times was going to change their plan.
Some of the “kids” are up already. The first big arrival happened three seasons ago when Anthony Rizzo was summoned from Iowa. Arismendy Alcantara showed up last month to fill in for Darwin Barney for a few days while Darwin’s wife had a baby. Darwin’s in Albuquerque right now wondering what the hell happened. The bullpen is stocked with young power arms. Jake Arrieta was stolen from Baltimore. Starlin Castro’s been around long enough that most fans like nothing more than to bitch about him non-stop.
Oh, the team is still bad. They have their moments of competence like this last weekend in LA, but they’re not good.
But tomorrow feels like a symbolic turning of a page. The first of the big four or five or whatever, key prospects, will make his big league debut. Javy Baez isn’t going to make a bad Cubs team good. In fact, he’s likely to struggle. But his track record says he’ll figure it out and even while he’s just figuring it out he’ll still treat us to a prodigious blast here and there.
His promotion makes things more interesting. And it won’t be long now before Jorge Soler arrives (probably in September) and Kris Bryant (probably June of 2015–to save service time and to piss off Scott Boras) and Addison Russell (sometime next season) and Albert Almora (sometime in 2016)…
Some of them are going to be really good, some won’t meet expectations, or so we’re told (what if they all flopped…what if they all were awesome?)
The Cubs are more interesting now. The first two thirds of the season were spent shopping Jeff Samardzija and Jason Hammel and finding out what veterans might be of long-term use like Chris Coghlan and Justin Ruggiano might be. But now it’s about these prospects.
Javy didn’t get called up because fans bitched or a newspaper writer took time off from his weird deification of Carlos Villaneuva to whine that the time had come.
Theo and Jed don’t work that way. Javy had been destroying AAA for a couple of months, and they felt it was time for him to set his sights at the next level. They gave him a few weeks at second base and he gets a sniff of the big leagues.
Part of me has been dreading this day. Because Cubs fans as a group are pretty fucking dumb. Any struggles by Javy or any of these guys will result in a lot of stupid shit. And young players struggle. Well, except Mike Trout, but you know what I mean.
I could write about how this makes me feel as a Cubs fan, but I’m not a nine year old idiot.
This going to be fun.
It’s just the beginning and even if this works it’s going to take a while, but it should be fun, and that’s supposed to be the point. At least that’s what we’ve been told by fans of other teams who occasionally win things.
Right?
Couldn’t have said all of that better. Well done. There are gonna be ugly times and we still have to watch Castro be baseball-stupid but we can start to see the light.
Truer words were never spoken, man. This is beautiful. Should be required reading for every Cubs fan. Would that all these great prospects coming up be accompanied by a ritual launching of Al Yellon and Gordon Wittenmeyer into the sun. And any other meatball sports writer or broadcaster that keeps talking shit about what Theo and Jed are doing.
Eat my ass, doucherocket.
Exactly. I live near Chicago and hear the BS every day. I only know a few die hard Cubs supporters who actually get it. And… Trout DID struggle with his first taste of the Bigs. His first 40 games he hit .220. The following season is when the magic started.
Hmm.. Haven’t seen any Castro baseball stupid moments this season.
I am only hoping that Ricky doesn’t give Baez the Mike Olt treatment…trying to “find matchups” and “sitting him repeatedly.”
I think Mike Olt’s deficiencies led to them ‘looking for matchups’ for him.
Gave up on the Cubs in 2008. I’ve taken my children to a single Cubs game since they were born in 2004 & 2005. I’ve been watching them since 1984 and I’ve seen them blow it countless times no matter if they were the hottest team heading into the playoffs, a stacked talent team, a veteran ballclub, or the best pitching ball club in the league.
At the end of the day the Cubs are a bad organization. They are nothing more than entertainment gone bad. If it wasn’t bad enough that they blew up in 2003, there was a triple play of agony as the Cardinals, Red Sox and White Sox won in consecutive years following that implosion.
I don’t give a rats ass any longer if the Cubs win and get into the playoffs. They aren’t “loveable” anymore as losers. I don’t care how many “prospects” they bring up or how much they are doing to turn Wrigley into the next Bostonian baseball shrine. What I care about is losing this frigging shame of loser-hood and seeing a respectable team being fielded by an otherwise completely inept organization.
I’m supposed to get excited over a bunch of kids with “potential”? I don’t think so. None of them, even this Baez kid, had anywhere near the smoke trail following them that Prior had coming out of college and while I do agree that the organization is trying to win “the right way”, a single title isn’t going to resolve the issue (just look at the White Sox who have had their ticket sales plummet and fans leave not long after winning a title).
As a kid I loved the mantra “wait until next year” but I’ve said that for nearly 30 years and I’m sick of it. I’ve been to a SINGLE Cubs game in five years after being to countless games through 2004. The bottom line is that hope doesn’t win championships and while it’s a feel good story, no matter how much potential these kids have the only thing that is going to make this club worth a damn is winning. Hope? Sorry, I had that in 1985, 1992, 1998, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2007 and 2008. This is a business. The business of entertainment and there is nothing entertaining about seeing an organization hang it’s hat on “hope”.
Win. Just win. All the “feel good” articles that have been written about the Cubs over the decades serve as nothing more than to attempt to garner more faith from an otherwise useless company. The only difference in this organization is that losing has been not only tolerated, but celebrated by some of baseball’s most ignorant fan base that allowed for the worst toilets in the modern game, to terrible food, to their typical fan not knowing who is playing a particular position unless it is a super star.
Spare me the “hope”. Deliver a championship and THEN you will see my pocketbook open up. Until then, this is just more of the same bologna that has been being spewed by the fan base for the last 40 years.
It’s tired. It’s repetitive. And the Cubs do what they do best regardless of “hope”. They lose. The only difference this time is that it’s taken five years to get back to “hope” from “OMFG are they bad!” (and they are still bad).
Win. Just win.
-mM
Michael Montalto, it’s obvious you haven’t been paying attention to this team for past six years, because no one who has and understands what’s happening is talking the way you are.
And you’ll be opening your pocketbook far sooner than you’ll admit.
And Jerome Walton and Dwight Smith are fuckin’ rookies! And Mike Bielecki is finally healthy and has figured it out, Maddux will be a Cub forever and Sutcliffe and Sanderson still have some good years left. Just wait until Earl Cunningham and Ty Griffin get to the Majors!
With all of these young studs the 1990s are going to be awesome!
(actually it’s a great write-up but after 30 years of watching can’t-miss prospects fail, I’m withholding my optimism)
What the fuck is a Michael Montalto?