2015 NLCS Thread: Chicago Cubs vs. New York Mets

[Yeti]

Here's the thing:

The Mets had a big first inning and really didn't do anything after. They haven't exactly pounded the Cubs in either game. Their starting pitchers were better than ours. Our bats didn't do anything.

In my mind, because this is how I'm conditioned, when it's the Blackhawks in a series hole, I always know they'll fight back and make it square. They almost always do.

The Cubs are not the Hawks and most of you don't give a fuck about hockey but this is about our mindset.

Not sure about most of you zen motherfuckers but I was irate during the first 2 innings last night. Watching my personal hero shit the mound in the first inning and give up a homer to the Human Baseball Meme pissed me off to the point where I said something shitty to my family and ended up spending the next hour plus thinking about why a fucking baseball game would make me throw a fit like a baby in the first place.

2 bad games does not make a series. It takes 4. Thursday morning the season might be over, or we might be talking about how a Chicago Cubs player went white-hot and torched the vaunted Mets starting pitching like Guy Montag heading into a pivotal game 5.

Eli said it somewhere last night: we have all offseason to be upset about losing this series so why start now? It's not over yet.

I thought about that last night. Weren't the Hawks down to an elimination game against Nashville or some stupid team when Kane and Hossa combined for a crazy goal after a power play ended during the first cup run? If this Cubs team is going to be different, like the new Hawks are different, then they will battle back in this series. If they're done after losing two road games in a seven game series then why are we even bothering to watch in the first place?

It was game 5. The series would have gone to 3-2 Nashville, with 2 games left

The point remains that the Blackhawks proved if you're going to be championshiop-caliber, which is what we still hope from the Cubs--that you simply work your way out of these difficult situations.
The Hawks were down in the series 2-1 to Vancouver in '09 and losing by a goal late in the third in Game 4 before rallying.  The next year--after they were staring into the abyss in the aforementioned Nashville series-- they also found themselves down 1-0 to Vancouver, and a 2-goal deficit in Game 2. Again they came back. They nearly pulled off the improbable against Vancouver in 2011 by coming back from down 3-0, came back down 3-1 against Detroit in 2013 as has been mentioned, and then very nearly came back from 3-1 deficit to the LA Kings in 2014.  Rife are examples where that particular championship team never panicked, and so often rallied back

There's also the Bulls, who lost the first 2 games to the Knicks in '93 after Starks' signature jam, and then won 4 straight on their way to their first three-peat.  The Bulls were also behind in their first 2 NBA Finals before winning both somewhat handily.

I just don't see this team going out with a whimper like the '08 team.  They may still lose, but if they do, it's going to be some serious work for the Mets to finish them off.

This Cubs team is a helluva lot like the current Blackhawks, in that even if they get knocked out they're either going out in pieces (2012) or guns blazing (2011, 2013). Or they're winning the whole fucking thing (2010, 2013, 2015). They're not going to be a bye for anybody, ever.

This shit is still a long way from over. I think they will piss all over Wrigley, marking their territory, and outhit whatever escapades Kendricks and Hammel get going.

If we want to really draw the parallel, we can just say this team is the 2009 Blackhawks: got further than we initially expected (I know, Eli, we can adjust expectations) and then win the following year, so buy 2016 WS tickets?

I really don't want that, though. Sweep these fuckers gone

[Slaky]

Here's the thing:

The Mets had a big first inning and really didn't do anything after. They haven't exactly pounded the Cubs in either game. Their starting pitchers were better than ours. Our bats didn't do anything.

In my mind, because this is how I'm conditioned, when it's the Blackhawks in a series hole, I always know they'll fight back and make it square. They almost always do.

The Cubs are not the Hawks and most of you don't give a fuck about hockey but this is about our mindset.

Not sure about most of you zen motherfuckers but I was irate during the first 2 innings last night. Watching my personal hero shit the mound in the first inning and give up a homer to the Human Baseball Meme pissed me off to the point where I said something shitty to my family and ended up spending the next hour plus thinking about why a fucking baseball game would make me throw a fit like a baby in the first place.

2 bad games does not make a series. It takes 4. Thursday morning the season might be over, or we might be talking about how a Chicago Cubs player went white-hot and torched the vaunted Mets starting pitching like Guy Montag heading into a pivotal game 5.

Eli said it somewhere last night: we have all offseason to be upset about losing this series so why start now? It's not over yet.

I thought about that last night. Weren't the Hawks down to an elimination game against Nashville or some stupid team when Kane and Hossa combined for a crazy goal after a power play ended during the first cup run? If this Cubs team is going to be different, like the new Hawks are different, then they will battle back in this series. If they're done after losing two road games in a seven game series then why are we even bothering to watch in the first place?

It was game 5. The series would have gone to 3-2 Nashville, with 2 games left

The point remains that the Blackhawks proved if you're going to be championshiop-caliber, which is what we still hope from the Cubs--that you simply work your way out of these difficult situations.
The Hawks were down in the series 2-1 to Vancouver in '09 and losing by a goal late in the third in Game 4 before rallying.  The next year--after they were staring into the abyss in the aforementioned Nashville series-- they also found themselves down 1-0 to Vancouver, and a 2-goal deficit in Game 2. Again they came back. They nearly pulled off the improbable against Vancouver in 2011 by coming back from down 3-0, came back down 3-1 against Detroit in 2013 as has been mentioned, and then very nearly came back from 3-1 deficit to the LA Kings in 2014.  Rife are examples where that particular championship team never panicked, and so often rallied back

There's also the Bulls, who lost the first 2 games to the Knicks in '93 after Starks' signature jam, and then won 4 straight on their way to their first three-peat.  The Bulls were also behind in their first 2 NBA Finals before winning both somewhat handily.

I just don't see this team going out with a whimper like the '08 team.  They may still lose, but if they do, it's going to be some serious work for the Mets to finish them off.

This Cubs team is a helluva lot like the current Blackhawks, in that even if they get knocked out they're either going out in pieces (2012) or guns blazing (2011, 2013). Or they're winning the whole fucking thing (2010, 2013, 2015). They're not going to be a bye for anybody, ever.

This shit is still a long way from over. I think they will piss all over Wrigley, marking their territory, and outhit whatever escapades Kendricks and Hammel get going.

If we want to really draw the parallel, we can just say this team is the 2009 Blackhawks: got further than we initially expected (I know, Eli, we can adjust expectations) and then win the following year, so buy 2016 WS tickets?

I really don't want that, though. Sweep these fuckers gone

That comparison is already blown because the Cubs beat the Cards and the Hawks lost to the Wings that year.

It doesn't matter. The Cubs are better than the 2009 Hawks were relative to the rest of the league.

[R-V]

Comparing the Cubs to the Blackhawks reminds of the time Fork estimated a pro athlete's injury recovery time based on his own experiences with a similar injury.

[Quality Start Machine]

That comparison is already blown because the Cubs beat the Cards and the Hawks lost to the Wings that year.

It doesn't matter. The Cubs are better than the 2009 Hawks were relative to the rest of the league.

The comparison is still pretty valid, they took a bunch of young studs and went from perennial playoff spectators to one of the top 4 teams in one year.

If this is winds up being where the train pulls into the station, then we can say that Lester is Brian Campbell, and now we just wait to see who becomes Marian Hossa.

[PenFoe]

I don't understand any of these stupid hockey analogies.

[Brownie]

I don't think the Cubs are out of it by any stretch, but my hopes for a series comeback are not high. I have two tickets for tomorrow's Game 3, and my brother is flying in from Arizona to go with me. I am excited to go to the game, but I keep telling myself that I won't be despondent if they lose.

The Cubs won 8 in a row to end the season: 1 vs. PIT, 1 vs. KC, 3 @ Cincy and Milwaukee each. They then won 1 @ PIT for a 9 game winning streak. They then won three in a row after losing that opener to Lackey. That 12 of 13 run followed a 3-game losing streak (the only time in 13 tries the Brewers beat them after the All-Star Break and two vs. Pittsburgh). and that came after winning 7 of 8 (3 @ Pittsburgh, 2 vs. St. Louis and 2 vs. Milwaukee). What was before that? A three game losing streak, including two at Philly. Everytime they have a hiccup like this where we leave them for dead, they get on a prolonged streak. Is there time for them to right the ship? We'll find out.

The Mets got hot and really haven't had time to slow down until today. Remember, they had four cross country flights (to LA Oct. 7 or 8, to NY Oct. 11, to LA Oct. 14, to NY Oct. 16) with games in between. The Cubs' travel has been nice and light: a quick hop to Pittsburgh 10/5 after a 90 minute drive home, another quick hop to St. Louis Oct. 8, a quick hop to Chicago Oct. 10, followed by brunch and football and a light workout at Wrigley Sunday, with off days Wednesday and Thursday before a ride to New York.

What am I saying? I have no idea, except that maybe this off day benefits the Cubs and hurts the Mets. Maybe.

By the way, how long was Matz throwing in the Mets bullpen? Any chance his arm falls off too?

[Chuck to Chuck]

I don't think the Cubs are out of it by any stretch, but my hopes for a series comeback are not high. I have two tickets for tomorrow's Game 3, and my brother is flying in from Arizona to go with me. I am excited to go to the game, but I keep telling myself that I won't be despondent if they lose.

The Cubs won 8 in a row to end the season: 1 vs. PIT, 1 vs. KC, 3 @ Cincy and Milwaukee each. They then won 1 @ PIT for a 9 game winning streak. They then won three in a row after losing that opener to Lackey. That 12 of 13 run followed a 3-game losing streak (the only time in 13 tries the Brewers beat them after the All-Star Break and two vs. Pittsburgh). and that came after winning 7 of 8 (3 @ Pittsburgh, 2 vs. St. Louis and 2 vs. Milwaukee). What was before that? A three game losing streak, including two at Philly. Everytime they have a hiccup like this where we leave them for dead, they get on a prolonged streak. Is there time for them to right the ship? We'll find out.

The Mets got hot and really haven't had time to slow down until today. Remember, they had four cross country flights (to LA Oct. 7 or 8, to NY Oct. 11, to LA Oct. 14, to NY Oct. 16) with games in between. The Cubs' travel has been nice and light: a quick hop to Pittsburgh 10/5 after a 90 minute drive home, another quick hop to St. Louis Oct. 8, a quick hop to Chicago Oct. 10, followed by brunch and football and a light workout at Wrigley Sunday, with off days Wednesday and Thursday before a ride to New York.

What am I saying? I have no idea, except that maybe this off day benefits the Cubs and hurts the Mets. Maybe.

By the way, how long was Matz throwing in the Mets bullpen? Any chance his arm falls off too?

TL;DR.

Cubs had never lost an NLCS game 2 until yesterday. Cubs have never won the NLCS. So...

[World's #1 Astros Fan]

I don't understand any of these stupid hockey analogies.

Can I interest you in the '88-'89 Chicago Bulls?

[Oleg]

The 1905 Cubs finished 13 games out of first place = 2014 Cubs.
The 1906 Cubs lost in the World Series = (possibly) 2015 Cubs.
The 1907 Cubs won the World Series.

Is that a good comparison?

I'm going back to sleep now.

[Tonker]

The 1905 Cubs finished 13 games out of first place = 2014 Cubs.
The 1906 Cubs lost in the World Series = (possibly) 2015 Cubs.
The 1907 Cubs won the World Series.

Is that a good comparison?

I'm going back to sleep now.

You can't just leave us hanging like that: what happened in 1908?

[Oleg]

The 1905 Cubs finished 13 games out of first place = 2014 Cubs.
The 1906 Cubs lost in the World Series = (possibly) 2015 Cubs.
The 1907 Cubs won the World Series.

Is that a good comparison?

I'm going back to sleep now.

You can't just leave us hanging like that: what happened in 1908?

Ask the guy who wrote Back to the Future II.

[Saul Goodman]

Jason Hammel will start Game 4. Time for Hendricks and Hammel to fulfill their destinies as regular season chumps, postseason champs. IT'S GONNA HAI

[InternetApex]

The 1905 Cubs finished 13 games out of first place = 2014 Cubs.
The 1906 Cubs lost in the World Series = (possibly) 2015 Cubs.
The 1907 Cubs won the World Series.

Is that a good comparison?

I'm going back to sleep now.

You can't just leave us hanging like that: what happened in 1908?

http://www.onthisday.com/events/date/1908

[Oleg]

The 1905 Cubs finished 13 games out of first place = 2014 Cubs.
The 1906 Cubs lost in the World Series = (possibly) 2015 Cubs.
The 1907 Cubs won the World Series.

Is that a good comparison?

I'm going back to sleep now.

You can't just leave us hanging like that: what happened in 1908?

http://www.onthisday.com/events/date/1908

Fuck Tsar Nicholas II right in his fucking ear.

[SKO]

The 1905 Cubs finished 13 games out of first place = 2014 Cubs.
The 1906 Cubs lost in the World Series = (possibly) 2015 Cubs.
The 1907 Cubs won the World Series.

Is that a good comparison?

I'm going back to sleep now.

You can't just leave us hanging like that: what happened in 1908?

http://www.onthisday.com/events/date/1908

Fuck Tsar Nicholas II right in his fucking ear.

Lousy, treacherous damn Cossack.