You know, at times like this, I think maybe the Met-fan mentality -- "we'll cock this up somehow, just wait" -- is prophylactic. It's not that we never have any hope; it's that defeat, when it comes, is expected. It is a return to a familiar natural order. The disappointment remains, but is not crushing.
I'm not saying that Cub fans should think this way or that it would make their pain any easier to bear. But if you've ever read Bill James's long essay about the 1985 World Series, and his observations from the Royals-fan side of the aisle about the mental breakdown the Cardinals suffered after "The Call," you might agree with me that being the presumptive heirs to the ultimate W all year long -- not believing they could or should win, which is appropriate, but assuming they would, which is not always smart -- may have put the Cubs up agin it in terms of the ability to handle their current psychological situation.
Again, I don't know. I have no degrees and we're just talking here. But amid the nonstop slavering ballyhoo going back to March over the Cubs' murderers' row of hitters this and arms race on the mound that and Maddon the pressure sensei the other thing -- and these things all existed, but October can be a volatile bitch -- Cleveland just quietly got their shit done. Also had scary good pitching, much of which they didn't get to bring to the postseason with them. Also had a nasty lineup (including, apparently, the AL's MadBum at the plate?). Are not getting the tongue bath the Chicagoes are, and if it's because FOX isn't comfortable showing thousands of fans wearing a racist cartoon that Cleveland isn't getting the same invented-flush-toilets coverage, okay.
...Wait, I've seen at least half a dozen Trump ads during the Classic so far. So I guess your racist cartoon only gets coverage if he pays for it.
ANYWAY, all this by way of saying that I really felt for Vince Vaughn last night, because I have been at actual, literal funerals where that would have gone better for him. And I am not sure it's going to go a whole lot better for the Cubbeenies tonight.
Points:
Baez -3
Bryant -1
Rizzo 4
Russell 0
Zobrist is the new Rizzo -4
***
Napoli 0
Santana 7
Kluber 12 (6 IP + 6 K - 1 BB + 1 TB, nobody left on)
Standings after the jump!
Money remains functionally unchanged:
Simone 168
Williams 160
Arbour 144
Shee/Bell 138.34
But these slates all have Lester, so if the Cubs can't get send the Series back to Believeland, it could come down to the hitters. Yuhan 2 has also fallen away a bit further at this point.
Bingham 1 138
Yuhan 2 130.01
MacEachern 124.34
Reid Love 121.33
Stempel 120.67
Drake 119
Johnson 116.67
Yuhan 1 115.67
Cameron 1 100
Bauer 1 93
Shotwell 88.67
Ekard 82.33
Bauer 2 68.66
that which does not kill us makes us Bunting 2
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On paper, you have to like the Cubs' odds. In practice: see above. People been liking the Cubs' odds, but you still have to play the game. Bauer v. Lester, 8 ET. Good luck, everyone!
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