Seasons Ending

We left City Park in New Orleans on Sunday night a few hours after the sunset, as Dr. John was nearly finished. It marked the end of the Voodoo Music Experience festival, but for me it also marked more: the end of the music festival season, and the end of the first part of the semester, prior to the mania of over a month of law school exam preparation. And as we settled in Sunday night to watch the final innings of the World Series, it marked the end of baseball season.

I would be lying if I said I was not a little bit glum to see the seasons end.

It didn’t help that the Red Sox won in resounding fashion, although after Game 2 on Thursday night that was all but a foregone conclusion. But really, for me at least, the disappointment in watching a team that I don’t like win the World Series immediately melded in with the rest of the disappointments: that I didn’t get to watch as much baseball as I would have liked this season; that when I did watch at the end, after a brilliant flash of September, the Cubs quickly limped out of the playoffs; that we simply cannot slow time no matter how much we wish we could linger in the good moments already racing behind us before these moments begin to lose their vividness in our memory, or before the distance becomes real in the rarest cases, those best moments that will always be vivid in our memory.

Every year the baseball season ends and we all begin to plod towards winter—even in Texas it's the off-season—and for many of us it’s always a time of looking back more than looking forward. I’m already starting to think about how to fit this season into the folds of the past, how to make sense of it in the context of this era, this chapter in the Cubs’ story—and in my own. I’m not there yet, though. It doesn’t make sense yet.

And, it’s too early to get excited about next season. Or skeptical about next season, which I was for a second as I read an e-mail from KJM yesterday while catching up with last weekend’s e-mail. His conclusion:

Cubs are going to have to give up pieces and take some chances. They have a decent team that should finish above .500, but they do not realistically have a team that will challenge people come playoff time. They could always get lucky or get hot, but they should try and make their own luck.

I think that understates things a bit, because as I force myself to try looking ahead to next season I think that 1) they will have more potential starters who are capable of finishing with records over .500 than they will have rotation slots, so there will be someone who gives them a chance to win starting every game and 2) the major players in their lineup—Lee, Soriano, Ramirez—all stand to have at least as good a season as last, and probably better. I should also mention that KJM made another point with which I agree: “I think they have landed a solid one with Soto.”

In short, even without adding much, it’s hard for me to imagine the team having much worse of a season because it’s hard to imagine very many of the players having worse seasons because so many had seasons that were pretty mediocre. I figure they’ll be about as good or maybe a little better, but in a division that is also going to be better across the board. So we’ll see what happens.

He also sent me a link, writing that “I know, we all hate Jay, but I want your take on a point toward the end of the article.

The new owners, whoever they are and whenever they took over, would do well to study the Boston model. Unlike the Yankees, who continue to be the most disliked team as a younger and dumber Steinbrenner bufoonishly takes over, the Red Sox haven't become champions simply because obscene sums have been thrown at the payroll. They've smartly grown their revenue streams and farm system and arrived in the Series with a $140 million payroll, not significantly larger than what the Cubs' payroll will be when the backloaded contracts of The Filthy Five kick in. Sure, the big-ticket contracts of Beckett, Ramirez, David Ortiz, Schilling and J.D. Drew are Yankee-like, but it's the homegrown lads -- Kevin Youkilis, Dustin Pedroia, Jacoby Ellsbury and Papelbon -- who have exposed the Cubs as wannabes.

By the way, do you believe this Papelbon character? I know closers are nuts, but he isn't living on our planet. ``I didn't know there was a Riverdance tour. I was listening to the voices in my head,'' he said of his now-infamous exhibition.

Most impressive about the Red Sox revolution is what the owners have done with the park. Years ago, they were talking about relocating to the fringes of Route 28, but someone grabbed a dose of common sense and decided to spruce up the plane. It's a magnificent experience, not as neighborhoody as Wrigley but cut romantically into the framework of Boston life. They've added seats atop the Green Monster and somehow have enhanced the park instead of infringing on its integrity. Everything is green and beautiful, and while the seats are narrow, no one is complaining as I write this in a press area in the right-field seats. They stand the entire game, sip their hot chocolate, chant their heroes' names and appreciate their newfound glory. There isn't a drunk in sight because everyone is immersed in each pitch, with an extraordinary number of folks actually keeping score with pencils.

``The fans are relentless, passionate and they don't allow us to let up for an inning, a minute,'' said Schilling, who exited in the sixth to a roaring ovation from fans sensing this could be his last Fenway start. ``If we do let up, we hear about it.”

(Emphasis added by KJM)


As for Mariotti’s article, I think it suffers like most of his columns: he over-simplifies his points that simply cannot be true in any over-simplified form because it lets a few people agree and even more disagree most strongly. His specie of over-simplification ignites reaction the same way as certain politicians and is not all that dissimilar from bigots and plenty of other people who prefer not to examine their opinions too closely: to cast the world in such stark lines is to avoid the difficult nuance a true observation requires.

What he seems to be suggesting—I won’t allow him “arguing”—is that the Red Sox have been a better organization than the Cubs, that Fenway Park has become better than Wrigley Field, and that Red Sox fans have been better than Cubs fans.

There’s some force behind what he’s saying—winning is a pretty obstinate fact—even if there’s also a lot of emptiness and a whole lot of gray shades. The one I’ll take issue with here, though, is the point about the fans. (My apologies to Mariotti if I’m creating a straw man only to skewer him.)

Imagine the last 5 seasons had gone differently. Imagine the Cubs had won the World Series in 2003, and won a second time in 2007. Don’t we figure Cubs fans would behave at least as well as the Red Sox fans he observes? How can anyone have the capacity to appreciate newfound glory like Cub fans will when our time arrives?

And if Boston had not won in 2004, and were losing again in 2007, does anyone doubt that they would be as testy and cynical as ever, much worse than Cub crowds in recent years?

Look, no one’s saying that if we look at the sea of Cubs fans we must admit our tone has lost some of its romanticism and idealism and optimism, and become tinged with new frustrations and disappointments and yes: Envy. I also find it hard to believe that everyone in Fenway Park was sober, or even acted like it. But it’s all relative: a moment as perfect for its patrons as the one he witnessed at Fenway will cast everything in its perfect light. It’s precisely the possibility of such a moment that has fueled Cubs fans for a century, and is what keeps us coming back.

In short, there’s no better veneer on life than winning at baseball, and I refuse to accept that anyone understands this simple truth better than or even as well as Cubs fans.

I will also pass along some of KJM’s thoughts:

• Other than you, I don’t recall being at many Cubs games where people are immersed in each pitch. I know it happens, for example when I took my Dad to Wrigley for the first time this year. But if you think about it most of the people we go to games with are as concerned about getting as close to 9 beers down as they are 9 innings down. Never thought about that until right now. Actually the games I have enjoyed the most are the games where I am not with the drink till you drop crowd.



• As for the homegrown players, this makes me recall a conversation I was having with my dad concerning the Colts vs. Patriots. I am a Colts fan having grown up in Indiana and lived in Indianapolis for a time. I personally think the Patriots are evil personified. I look at the Colts and they are good because almost everyone of their players came through the draft and their system (Manning, Addai, Harrison, Wayne, Gonzalez, Clark, Freeney, Sanders, Saturday, etc.). Most of the Patriots came as hired guns (Moss, Stallworth, Welker, Harrison, Seau, Vrabel, etc.). Even their poster boy, Tom Brady was an afterthought 6th round pick that they got lucky on, no matter what they say (If they thought he would be this good they would have never chanced waiting to the 6th round).
  
  Anyways, the home grown talent provides a more likeable team and one that is easier to vest yourself in personally in my opinion. I know you agree with this, having talked before about doing things that right way. I know you despise the Yankees and the Red Sox, and they do buy many of their players, but the point I am working towards is one I heard on the radio the other day. The four World Series that the Yankees won, were actually done with largely home grown talent. They fell apart when they started signing all the big names. The won with Derek Jeter, Bernie Williams, Jorge Posada, Andy Petite (before he left), Mariano Rivera, Orlando Hernandez. They are getting back through guys like Melky Cabrera, Robinson Cano, Hideki Matsui (not a great example), Chien-Ming Wang, Phil Hughes and others. Granted they still acquire a lot of star power, but it has not gotten them over the top lately.
  
  To bring this full circle to the Cubs, they need to focus on player development. How did Detroit get back to the top? Home-grown talent (HGT). Looking at the Cubs I see very little HGT lately, but I do sense an uptick. Carlos Zambrano, Geovany Soto, Ryan Theriot, Carlos Marmol, Sean Marshall, Rich Hill, Felix Pie are all HGT. These are the guys that you need to build a foundation with. In the age of free agency, you are always going to need to go out and pick-up a big bat or arm, but you need a solid foundation of HGT.
  
  Look at the Sox. Yeah, people like Beckett and Manny, but they seem to love Varitek, Youkilis, Pappelbon and Pedroia. The odd ball is Ortiz. They LOVE Ortiz, but I think that relates to his personality, clutch hitting and the fact the Red Sox signed him after the Twins had flat out released him.
  
  The point I am getting at is the Cubs seem to be starting to get on the right track. Who were two of the most liked players this season…Theriot and Marmol. They play the game right and have only been Cubs. Lee, Soriano, Ramirez, people all seemed to get down on at some point as they are outsiders, no matter how much they have become the face of the Cubs, they are still outsiders. The true love is felt for guys like Kerry Wood that you and [KEJ] both love to a fault and will always love, but I attribute that to him always being a Cub and the experiences you went thought as a fan with him, especially during some formative periods of your life. I feel the same way towards Chris Speilman of Ohio State/Detroit Lions.

I think just about all of these points stand well, although I would offer in passing that 1) I have been at Cubs games where every fan is immersed in every pitch, especially Game 6 of the 2003 NLCS, and 2) both the recipient of the World Series MVP and the Red Sox truly most valuable player these playoffs, the one guy without whom I do not think they would have won it all—Josh Beckett—came via trade with the Marlins. (Although in counterpoint, Hanley Ramirez went to the Marlins in that trade, and had he stayed on as HGT he could have only helped the Red Sox because he’s become darn good.) So it’s always gray shades in these modern times of baseball.

Anyway, it’s a good chance to stop, pause, and reflect. The Cubs gave us plenty of great moments last season, and I’m thankful because to be thankful now is also to be hopeful for next season: the two emotions are married. We Wait Til Next Year because last year—every year—had its good moments. Its perfect moments.

I miss them already.

Editor's note: Although KJM takes most all of the great photos here on A & I, I took the ones in this post. I sure did get lucky on the one with Lee about to hit his double in Game 81.