I think I am a freak, and my wife knows it. Cannot wait to be in left field tonight.

Now that we’re all in that sentimental mood, anyone want to dedicate these playoffs to someone or something?

I’m dedicating this October to my Grandma Margaret who force-fed me the Cubs as a toddler and through adulthood. She died last year, but would have loved this team.

I can get decent game recaps elsewhere, but emotions and thoughts like this post cannot be found in the media, but only amongst true fans.

I can’t explain it, but my feelings going into this year are 180 degrees different from las year’s debacle. I am so excited for these games to start.

This season started out as one of the worst seasons i could have imagined. My father in law passed away in March from health complications. And while he was in the hospital my wife and i asked him for one thing, to do his best to bring a World Series Championship to the Cubs after he reached the heavens. Her dad was one of the best guys around, and the nicest man you will ever meet and he was a clear front-runner to actually pull some magic upstairs. He was a diabetic and absolutely loved Ron obviously, and he would get upset and whine just like Ron.

A few months later, my wife and i looked at each other and said – maybe, just maybe your dad is still working on that Championship. Now being 11 wins away from a magical season and one that we believe her dad brought upon us is great.

My wife’s sister said last week that the Cubs would win it all this year because her dad is not alive to see it. And i quickly corrected her and said no, it will be because of her dad, and that is when i think she really thought that this might be the year.

Win or lose, it is a game, and there are bigger things in life but – damnit this is gonna be fun and i just wanted to thank my father-in-law.

Go Cubs!

I’m sick with anxiety. I’ve had diarreha for the last day, a bad headache, and bad baseball dreams all night. Am I taking this too serious?

..I will there tonight with my Dad, the 2nd postseason Cubs game we have attended together. I hope I can bring him to many more this postseason.

When I asked him if he could go (silly question I guess) there was no hesitation… “Yes! I’m 70 years old, you dont miss things like this”

I cant wait. Go Cubs!

Off early at work. Go home, change into appropriate gear, enjoy baseball like only October can provide.

I cannot wait.

has given them losses pretty much everytime I wear it….

Not being looked at in October.

Fukudome shirt for me.

I remember handing my hat to my dad after the cubs blew the lead and telling him to burn it I was crushed as only a 12 year old fan can be. then in 89 my dad pulled the hat out of a box someplace and it became my 12 year olds hat.

Dad is 81 now and dancing in the streets but unfortunatly mom passed away in 02 and she was the big Cubs fan in the family. I’m sure she is wearing a huge smile right now.

My son came into town last night for his high school reunion and the first question he asked was whether or not that old hat still survived .I’m pretty sure it’s gone but we are on the lookout for it.

That does matter to this Cubs team. Home field didn’t seem to matter in the 2003 playoffs. The Cubs played better in Atlanta and Florida than they did in Chicago in postseason. It’s different for this club.

This 2008 Cubs team is 55-26 at home this season. I think this Dodgers series will go 5 games with the Cubs winning at Wrigley Field to wrap the division series up. I still wish game 5 of the 1984 NLCS had been at Wrigley. That club played well at home. That’s water under the bridge now. The new magic number is 6 (3 Cubs wins, 3 Dodgers losses). Let’s hope we have a new magic number about which to worry after this series.

You summed it up nicely Al…I have many of the same recollections (except for ‘69…was before my time). No doubt to this day, that the ’84 team was the best in the NL. I have those same feelings about this team. Let’s do it…Go Cubs Go!!

As I sit here thinking about tonight and the future I cant help to think about all the players and fans that werent as lucky as were going to be. All of you watching from up there thank you for all you did. Next year starts tonight, this season. We need and deserve this. Go Cubs GO!!! p.s. in my dreams last night all I kept hearing and seeing was some old man yelling holy cowwwwwwwww!!

after you were, so I lived the same Cub fan life as you did. The strangest part about it is that while we are living through these moments, it’s almost like time stands still. I can remember exactly what I was doing at every moment that you mentioned.
 
As a Cub fan, we have been robbed of the joy of being champions. Coming up short is so much a part of our nature, that we dare not even think of the moment of winning it all. You would think that living through the ‘85 Bears triumph and MJ’s golden years would have sated our appetites for experiencing being a winner, but alas, it’s not even a close second. I really want to experience that golden moment.

As we start this journey to what I hope will culminate in the title of World Series Champion, I hope that we can enjoy these moments and allow them fill us with as many good memeories as the bad ones that we have lived through. I pray that Lou and his charges have the stuff that champions are made of. I know they will represent us well, make us proud and award all of us with the trophy we so richly deserve.

I don’t think I’m going to be able to get a single thing done today. I need to go drink some coffee to settle me down today.

Has anyone been as good as Ted Lilly and he is game 4 (if necessary) starter. That is crazy if you think about it.

Hey Al … I read a quote from you in my local, small town newspaper this morning (280 miles south of Chicago). Your words were quoted and made the national wire service, along with a plug for bleedcubbieblue.com! Way to go!

Could be the best year of all!!!!

This team is absolutely special. For me, I think one characteristic about it that separates (and elevates) it from previous Cubs playoff incarnations – and other Chicago championship teams – is that there is no “cartoon” character. No Sammy, no Michael, no Fridge, no Ozzie. This is a solid team of pros, vets and young players, who know what they are supposed to do. No individual commands the media spotlight. Just play the game the right way.

History, curses, and lovable losers be damned. This is our year!

I wouldn’t be a Cub fan if it hadn’t been for the way he called the game. Let’s win one for all the great announcers in Cubs history! Go Cubs!

You can’t turn it on like a faucet, and, ‘on any given day…’ If you could, or if that wasn’t always true, it wouldn’t be baseball. And we couldn’t have that. Don’t like to conjure Nixon but I remember something he said about the deepest valleys and the highest mountains. Wouldn’t have it any other way. Go Cubs.

This made me choke up a little. Sometimes I wonder if I’m cuckoo for wanting it this much, but it’s always good to know I’m not alone. Thanks, BCB.

Complete roster won’t be announced until later AM.

And I think that was because it was my first taste of the postseason. I remember keeping track of the magic number and counting the number down. It felt like a personal assualt when Will Clark got into that skirmish with Mark Grace (who was my favorite player) at first base [remember that? at WRIGLEY no less], only Clark backed up his talk with an otherwordly series. Still hate that guy.

….is 4 years old. I went to pick him up from Sunday school last week and the teacher asked me if “Go Cubs Go” was a song. (I live in Houston). Turns out, when she asked what song they wanted to sing next, my son pulled out some Steve Goodman. Made me proud.

check it out

You capture my emotions in a nutshell.

Let’s Win Some Ballgames!!!

Didn’t you have a contest running?, or did I miss the prize presentation to the winner?

Thanks Al for your post. I feel better. I woke up this morning getting nervous because Mike and Mike, as well as those “experts” on ESPN seem to be picking the Dodgers to win (after saying all year that the Cubs were the best team in the NL by far). There is just something so different about this Cub team compated to the ones that have caused our hearts to be broken. If this team just goes about their business and plays like they can, I don’t see ANY team, AL or NL, beating them. Go Cubs Go!

Is this the first time a starting pitcher has pitched game one of the playoffs without a regular season win?

Light ’em up, Philly!

1984 — I was 11 and had been into baseball for two years prior. I knew the history, but didn’t fully appreciate it, not having lived through most of it. There was a chance that my dad and I would have been able to go to a WS game. I was convinced it was over after game 2, crushed when Garvey hit the homerun to win game 4 and inconsolable when San Diego took the lead in game 5.

1989 — Not hard math; I was 16. It hurt because, while the Giants were probably better, the Cubs had a lead in every game in San Francisco. I couldn’t understand why Zimmer went with a young Maddux in game 1 instead of the veteran Sutcliffe, who’d been there before. Dawson had a terrible series and might have made a difference had he hit better.

1998 — Getting there was it’s own reward. That team had no business in the playoffs, and much like the 1989 team, won games with thrilling comebacks. Game 2 was a letdown, because they led 1-0 in the ninth and wasted some scoring chances. But, I got to take my dad to game 3, which was very important to me – after all the regular season games he took me to, I got to take him to a playoff game.

2003 — No need to go into too much detail here. I bought a bottle of champagne on the way home after work and told the woman at Tenuta’s (for all you SE WI residents) who was wearing a Mark Grace hockey-style Cub jersey that it was for “just in case”. I told no one about it. After the seventh, I took glasses out of the cupboard to get ready . . . . The worst part is, my dad was starting to really get excited about their chances. He’s learned to play it close to the vest after a lot of disappointments, but he really thought that they were going to do it.

2007 — Blink and it was over. I didn’t have high expectations, but I had hope. I still wish Lilly hadn’t shaken Soto off three times before throwing that fastball, but it didn’t bother me all winter. DeRosa swinging at that 3-1 pitch in game 3 just sucked the life out of it — but I still like DeRo.

2008 — They’re focused and determined . . . let’s see what happens. GO CUBS!

and as I get older I keep telling myself not to get so emotional about winning or losing games during the season. It’s hard to do and I thought I could do it but last weekend when the games meant nothing I found myself still getting upset that we lost. Now with the playoffs starting against the Dodgers I really can’t help but get more emotional than ever because from the age of 7 to 33 I lived in L.A. I have a few friends who are Dodger fans but they know me and we have a nice friendly rivalry. There is however one friend who I don’t talk to very often anymore but I knew I would be hearing from him now and sure enough he sent me an email that wasn’t exactly a friendly rivalry type email. I haven’t responded to it and I’m hoping to respond after the Cubs beat the crap out of the Dodgers. So this first round against the Dodgers really has me more nervous than ever and I was sure hoping as I got older that the nervousness would get less and less but I guess it’s not possible.

I think you nailed it for a lot of us. I was first aware of the Cubs in 1963 thanks to my dad giving me an Ernie Banks bat from Wrigley Field. I started listening to the games on WGN radio and was hooked even though most of my family were Reds or Dodgers fans and most people in the area of Indiana where I lived were Cardinals fans for some reason. The 1969 season changed our lives; in a lot of ways that is when I started to really grow up (was also 12 then).

I’ve lived away from the midwest a lot of years and even out of the country before the internet days and have always tried to follow the team but not get as emotionally attached as that magical/terrible summer. I even got the Chicago Tribune delivered by mail when I was in Germany in the 80’s just for the Cubs coverage. There is truly something different about the Cubs, as a fan at least, than any other sports team. It’s like they are part of your family and all the phrases they put in beer commercials…

Anyway, thanks for the time and effort you put into this site. It’s great to have this big community where we can experience this together. For Ron, for all the great Cubs broadcasters both radio and TV who have brought this team into our lives, for all the Cubs fans I’ve known, some of whom remembered 1908, for all the former Cubs players who never got to experience a WS, and especially for Ernie and Billy, this is the year.

maybe you can schedule a few extra overflow threads. Those of us left here might need ’em.

As a Cubs fan born in 1945, I shared all the moments Al articulated so well, plus a few more that he’s probably too young to remember. The ‘58 and ’63 Cubs had some decent runs into July before losing it, and ’58 was probably Ernie’s greatest season.

I think the essence of being a Cubs fan is hearing all those “why do these crappy losses always have to happen to us” voices in one ear, and then in the other, “this is finally going to be our year.” These two voices are in constant dialogue with one another, vying for my Cubs fan soul.

I’m in NYC on business today but will be checking in to BCB from time to time for faith and encouragement.

Go, Cubs, Go.

for putting my feelings into words.
I have no idea how I am going to make it through the next 7 hours. I’m about ready to jump out of my skin! Today is my daughter’s birthday and she has requested we go out to dinner….so I’m probably going to have to miss the first 3 innings or so….somebody keep my seat warm for me. ;)

I haven’t been through nearly as much as most of you, but sometimes I feel like I have hearing stories about the past failures from fellow BCBer’s, strangers and my Grandpa. This does feel different, Last year I felt like the Cubs would have to get really hot to do any damange, this year if the Cubs play as they are capable they should have a chance to win it all. Getting off to a decent start tonight is also huge, maybe 2 runs in the 1st or 2nd inning.

I clicked on your Al’s old site, I saw the Roger Hornsby quote and I’m not ready to read that everyday. I need another month of Cubs baseball before I see that everyday.

Therefore, I approach these days with equal amounts of wonderment…and terror.

I woke up this morning and got scared as hell about this series for some reason. Ryan Dempster will hopefully make me feel much better tonight.

This is going to be the longest day ever. I got all my work done already and now have 6 painful hours until I am off. I’m seriously thinking about rolling the phones to my cell and running some errands to keep me busy. I’m going nuts.

Let’s FREAKING go Cubs!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I was 14 in 1969 Al, and I went through all the same emotions you mentioned. Despite the outcome of that season, I was hooked.

I too, believed that the Cubs of that era would surely win it in 1970, then 1971, 1972, etc. When the Cubs broke up the core of players after that, I went on to college and thought I had finally gotten the Cubs and 1969 out of my system.

I got married in 1983 and my wife didn’t really understand my obsession with baseball.

Then 1984 came. Living in mid-Michigan, I was more of a Tigers fan that year, but I secretly hoped beyond hope for a Tigers/Cubs World Series. I was elated when the Cubs clinched and was sure that they would beat a so-so Padres team and win up playing the Tigers for it all.

My wife became hooked on the Cubs that year after watching Ryne Sandberg. He is to her what Ernie Banks is to me.

I was crushed when they lost out in San Diego and thankfully had the Tigers to fall back on. And they didn’t let me down. They kicked the crap out of the Padres- appropriately so after a**hole Kurt Bevaqua’s kiss blowing act to the SD crowd as he rounded the bases after a late home run in game #2 (the only game they would win). I felt the Cubs would have given the Tigers a MUCH better series- one I hoped would go 7 games- and into extra innings in game 7 to boot.

My wife saw her first game at Wrigley in 1985. Over the next 21 years, we would occasionally get Cubs game tickets, drive in from Michigan and watch the Cubs lose. Didn’t matter who they played against. They lost. Year after year. They even lost to the Expos in a game we attended in Montreal in 1990 as part of a Cooperstown Hall of Fame roadtrip we took.

We rooted for Cubs playoff teams in 1989 and 1998. And saw a few more Wrigley losses.

She saw 15 straight losses at Wrigley- (including game 6 of the 2003 NLCS). All the while, she became more obsessed with the Cubs than I was. And she had NEVER seen them win a game in person.

She finally got her first Wrigley win at Opening Day in 2006 (or was it 2005?) vs. the Cardinals.

I agree with you that this year’s team is the best, deepest and most complete Cubs team we’ve ever seen. They surpass the strength of those ’84 Tigers (up to this year, the best team I’ve rooted for) and played more consistently over the whole year than the Tigers did in 1984 (they rode the huge wave of that 35-5 start) when they went wire to wire.

Anyway, I feel cautiously optimistic for the playoffs and no matter what happens, this year has been a great ride for the team, coaches and organization. They and WE are due for some playoff sunshine. Unfinished business indeed.

Let’s play two!

Eleven to go.

The more you understand about baseball, statistics, matchups, etc, the more you get yourself all nervous and wrapped up about all of this. I remember being 7 in 84 and 12 in 89 and not caring nor understanding about pitching matchups and all of that. It was as simple as the Cubs were my team and they were going to win because I liked them. Unfortunately in the early 90’s I learned about the importance of pitching and all the little things that make up a good team or real awful teams. Anyway, I just wish I could tune in tonight and just feel like the Cubs are going to win because they are my team.

I think we all just want to cry like babies…………………………in a good way!