Clark & Addison Blog - CubHub.net

The Brewers need a win desperately to win or tie the Wild Card. Looks like Lou may help them a bit. Word is Carlos Zambrano will not start Sunday in the final regular season game after all. He will do his pitching on the side and young Angel Guzman will pitch for the Cubs against CC Sabathia, again on short rest. There is no tomorrow for the Brewers, so it’s all hands on deck for Milwaukee.

Meanwhile, the potential Cubs’ round one playoff opponents have narrowed to just two; the New York Mets or the Los Angeles Dodgers. If the Mets win the Wild Card, it will be Cubs vs Dodgers in the NLDS. If the Brewers win the Wild Card, the Cubs will host the Dodgers for game one, round one on Wednesday at Wrigley Field.

From my point of view, either LA or NY are good pulls for the Northsiders. They both have some bangers, as does Philly. But the pitching - at least on paper - looks pretty mortal to me. I dreaded the idea of facing Arizona again with Webb, Haren & company. Anything can happen in a short (best of 5) series, and those two guys can shut any offense down. But the Mets and Dodgers have some good arms, but not great. The Dodgers have a pretty complete staff that will keep you at 3-4 runs per game. But only Derek Lowe gives me pause. Seems like he’s capable of tossing a gem every now and then and has been hot lately. 

The NY Mets have Johann Santana (who tossed a clutch 3-hit shutout Saturday) but after that, mere mortals. The Mets offense was second to the Cubs in run production. I think there is some karma at work in (possibly) having to get past the Mets and Shea Stadium to advance in this dream season in the making for the Cubs.

Any way you slice it, they are happy in Atlanta in the headquarters of TBS, the network broadcasting the NLDS; the teams involved will be from 2 of the 3 largest media markets.

With a Brewers win and Mets loss today, the Brewers could clinch the Wild Card. Today’s game being irrelevant for the Cubs, and in my view having the Brewers win the Wild Card being favorable for the Cubs, it may be that both teams will celebrate a Brewers win at Miller Park.

If the Brewers are the Wild Card, the Cubs would face the Western Division champion LA Dodgers in the NLDS. Of all the possible scenarios still on the table, I think I like this matchup best for the Cubs. Plus a buddy who is a die-hard Cubs fan just moved to LA and got tickets to NLDS Game 3 at Dodger Stadium. That could conceivably be the clincher if the Cubs sweep! Ok, I’m getting a head of myself here.

I would rather see the Cubs face the Dodgers from a matchup perspective than either the Phillies or Mets. They can’t face the Brewers in round one because they are both in the same division. I think the Phillies would be the toughest opponent for the Cubs, followed by Mets, Dodgers and Brewers. Any way you slice it, this is an excellent conversation to have for Cub fans!

The clouds parted, the heavens opened, He looked down and smiled…

The Chicago Cubs are the 2008 National League Central Division Champions!

The Cubs Magic Number stands at 2 going into today’s action. Any combination of Cubs wins and Brewers losses that equal 2 clinches the National League Central Division Championshipfor the Northsiders!  When that happens - likely over the next couple days (as predicted here on Aug 29) - The Chicago Lakeview neighborhood known as Wrigleyville will erupt with what is sure to be a weekend long party. Rarely have we seen the Cubs clinch at home, and on a weekend, and with the nice weather…well as Barack Obama is known to say, Cubs fans sure like a party.

With 2 outs and down by 4 in the bottom of the ninth yesterday, the Cubs rallied to tie and eventually won the game in the 12th.  Further evidence this is not your father’s Chicago Cubs ‘lovable losers’ team. 

2008 NL Rookie of the Year Geovany Soto cracked a 3 run bomb to send the game to extras and Derrek Lee came through with a clutch single to center to drive home the winning run in an improbable victory. This one really drove a nail into the Brewers playoff aspirations knocking another 2 games off the Cubs Magic Number and giving them another loss to land them a game and a half back in the NL Wild Card race.

A critical development here is Derrek Lee’s clutch hit.  His numbers have been good this year but he has not stepped up as the offensive leader we all expect him to be. D-Lee has really struggled to drive the ball, and clutch hits have been few and far between. Maybe this game will get him going a bit.  Its better to peak going into the playoffs than not so let’s hope this is the catalyst for him. So far this team really hasn’t needed him - or any single player - to win games.  But in the playoffs where the game often hangs in the balance on every pitch, we need our big guys to produce. Let’s hope Lee can finish strong.

The Brewers lost again yesterday while the Cubs regrouped on their off day. This lowers the Cubs Magic Number to win the NL Central Division to 15 games. This is an important number, no doubt. However in my view a more important factor is elimination of the Phillies to lock a playoff berth for the Cubs as either division champ or the NL Wild Card.  The Phils are 8 game back in the loss column - which is a big deficit with 19 Cub games remaining.

The 2008 Cubbies have the playoffs in the bag. Sure, Central Division Champ would be nice for home field advantage, but being the Wild Card would also have some merit as it would keep the Cubs out of Arizona for the NLDS. Arizona with Webb, Haren & Johnson scare me the most in a best of 5 series. 

Still, a nice discussion to have for Cub fans in September, no?