10/06/2003 09:11:00 AM by Rob

It just keeps getting better and better

Well, maybe not for everyone. Ron Santo has cancerous tumors in his bladder, and he will miss the next playoff series while he undergoes and operation to have them removed. He seems to think he will be back in the saddle for a World Series run.

I think the team will be there, if not its radio color commentator. Ol' Ronnie should thank God every day that he isn't a dog, because if he were my dawg, I would have put him down a long time ago.

But for the rest of us, the long suffering fans here in Chicago, the suburbs, the rural areas around the MetroSwarm, out in Berkeley, Seattle, Tacoma, Brooklyn, Tennessee, Alabama, Nebraska, even at Buddies', all of us, it just keeps getting better and better.

Yes, I was seriously considering having Kerry Wood traded for A-Rod. Go ahead, kick my ass. Go on. I'll bend over and hold still while you whale away.

Jeezus, I was sitting there enjoying a late night BBQ Chicken pizza, when Ramirez hit his bomb. I just kept going "ohhhhh my....ohhhhh my" over and over again, real low and soft. I guess my family was worried about me.

If you go by my premise, that you keep the guys who perform in the clutch, regardless of their numbers or whether or not you like them personally, then I guess we have to keep Lofton, Karros, Ramirez, Alou and Simon, and even Goodwin. If these guys are feeling the brunt of the weight of 95 years of built-up frustration, they certainly do not show it.

OK, now to the Marlins. I keep thinking about Back to the Future 2, where Mikey Fox goes to the year 2015, and while tooling around on his hoverboard, he sees the announcement over the Hill Valley Jumbotron that the Cubs have just swept the World Series....against Miami, in big teal letters. Well, this isn't the World Series. In fact, we have been closer to a World Series before. In 1984, remember, we were one inning away...even one out away? I don't remember. Like some car accident victims, I have suffered some sort of retroactive amnesia about that night.

Right now we are still four wins away. Hopefully someone like Zambrano, who will likely pitch games 1 and 5, can come away with a win for us, so that Prior and Wood don't have to carry the whole load.

If it seems like I am a downer on what should be a glorious morning, you are right. A friend of mine here at work cautioned me months ago not to get excited until the second round of the playoffs. My head saw the wisdom, but my heart figured that, hell, we'll never get that far, so why not shoot the wad now? Well, my friend, now is the time! I am going to show my excitement my own way, by spending money I don't have on lots of Cubs shit, and to try my hardest to find a deal on some boards for one of the games!

But I realize, as should you, that we have NOT won a pennant, we are NOT in the World Series, and all the talk about "the first postseason series win since 1908" is skewed.

Yes, it's important that we beat the Braves. Yes, it is a historic accomplishment. But history has been twisted as they keep adding layer after layer of playoffs. We are actually less close to a World Series as we were at the START of the 1984 LCS, since it only took 3 wins then. We do have momemtum going, but so do the Marlins.

I am having trouble naming the Florida lineup. I know that Lowell is hurt, I know that Derrek Lee is at 1B from Fantasy league, I know Juan Pierre leads off and Luis Castillo plays second, and I know Pudge is there. I couldn't tell you the LF or RF offhand, or who is playing third now, or short. Wait, they have an Alex Gonzalez, too, and he hits about 70 points higher than ours.

But they have the best record in the majors over the last three months or so, and I fear that their speed game may drive us nuts, which means more emphasis than ever on not letting guys get on base. They will be far more patient than Atlanta, even if their pitchers will suck worse.

That said, I still think we will win in 6.

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