By BK-Rockford

Something’s happening on the north side of Chicago and it’s something I haven’t seen very much of over the years: The Cubs are winning. The best part about this Cub surge is how they are doing it. No more are the Cubs squandering five run leads in the ninth. No more are the Cubs 3-4-5 hitters missing the broad side of the barn with bags loaded and nobody out. No more are the relievers getting lit up while the starters punch their catchers. No my friends, that is all behind the Cubs. Michael Barrett now wears a Padre uniform for cryin’ out loud!

So the question has been posted at numerous forums and sports websites: How have they done this? Well, I put my brain to work and here is what I came up with…

1) A bona fide 1-2 combo never hurts. Since 2003 when the Cubs sported Kenny Lofton and Mark Grudzielanek in the 1-2 holes, nobody has seemed to fill that spot accordingly. In the one hole we have had Corey Patterson, Neifi Perez, Ryan Theriot, Ronny Cedeno and much, much more. In the two hole, we have had, well, let me save some time and just say A LOT of people. Now we have Alfonso Soriano and his 138 million reasons to hit the ball and hit it hard, along with Mike Fontenot and his .408 batting average. See, you can’t pitch to them the same way as our other previous 1-2 hitters and as a result, Derrek Lee gets to bat with runners on base. What a concept! My only question is: Why did it take so long for Fontenot to make the club?
2) Cliff Floyd and Aramis Ramirez are both healthy. Look, Floyd hasn’t been healthy since 2005, but we all know this guy is an All-Star if healthy. Ramirez had a lingering knee issue that is now gone. As a result, to go along with the 1-2-3 hitters, the Cubs have hitters one through five all batting over .300 for the season. Floyd can hit 25 home runs with his eyes closed but needs to be healthy to do it. Like the White Sox with Jim Thome, it looks like the Cubs found a guy that most deemed unhealthy and unusable. Boy are the Cubs thankful they did.
3) No more pandering to the “vets”. Under Dusty Baker, Neifi Perez, Jacque Jones and Michael Barrett were catered to like they were elite players, which we know they are not. Nowadays, the new skipper in town starts who, *gasp!*, play the hardest and actually perform! As a result, you see Ryan Theriot, Mike Fontenot, Angel Pagan and others play instead of Jones and Barrett. Oh and let us not forget the days when we had to make sure “Holly” got his at-bats.
4) The catchers can actually catch! Barrett was a defensive liability who cannot catch a game. Rob Bowen and Koyie Hill can’t hit well but can catch a game while actually being able to throw out runners. We need to remember that in 2003, the Cubs back stoppers were Damien Miller and Paul Bako. They hit like crap but were numbers one and two in the majors when it came to throwing out base stealers. Not bad!
5) The bullpen got it’s groove back. Just like Stella in one of the greatest movies of all time, the Cubs pen has gotten their groove back. With the exception of Scott Eyre, the pen is throwing how they were expected to. To go with that, they have found someone in Carlos Marmol who could be the next super closer in baseball. He throws hard, throws strikes and sports a one-point-something ERA. Throw in Bob Howry, Michael Wuertz and Ryan Dempster and you have a nice looking bullpen. I know its taboo to mention, but Kerry Wood will be returning in about 30 days as well to add one more arm to that mix.

So to the fans of Wrigley, enjoy this while you can. Judging from past Cub teams, this is most likely not going to last for very long. Will this team go all the way? I’m not quite sure. I’m thinking they could ala the Cards of last year. But my gut is telling me something else: Wait’ll next year. That is so Cubs, is it not?

good stuff.....but itd be a lot better if it was in S&N