How would a Cubs and Rays WS have gone down?

by cubnational on Oct 21, 2008 12:30 AM CDT Comment 14 comments

A long winter is ahead, so I may as well ask it now. I'm going to just have to get this off my chest, since the inevitable question comes up ..

What if somehow, the Cubs had played up to their potential in the postseason this year? What if It Did Happen?

What if the Cubs had engaged in a hard fought series of NL championship games in which no one got hurt, every starter went deep into their games and a brilliant combination of defensive/offensive team effort had brought them over the Dodgers and the Phillies to the doors of the 2008 World Series?

How would we have done? Assuming the Cubs didn't repeat the chokesterism from 2007 and played some decent, competitive and exciting baseball that this whole 2008 season prompted and set us up to expect from them and they actually took the NL pennant, what would have gone on in the 2008 World Series between the Cubs and the Rays?

Personally, watching the Cubs get basically owned by the Rays earlier this year was not particularly encouraging. I will have to drag the videos out to watch and try to pretend they're WS games. If they were, admittedly, coaching and matchups would be different, but the play was still pretty decisive. The Rays just looked a whole lot better than we did .. even though we ended with almost identical records.

Engaging in "What If?" speculation is the lot of the Cubs fan so I guess I'll bite and send up the flag and see what you scholars, dreamers and fans say. You're Lou Pinella and you're coaching a team that was still on a roll - who's going to be in your lineup and rotation? Or you're an observer wondering how to hedge your bets. Or you're a fan just trying to figure out how to save a spot at the fence gate and watch even an inning or so of a WS game since you couldn't sell your kidney on Ebay to afford getting a ticket on StubHub. What would happen?

This is a FanPost and does not necessarily reflect the views of SB Nation or Al Yellon, managing editor (unless it's a FanPost posted by Al). FanPost opinions are valued expressions of opinion by passionate and knowledgeable baseball fans.

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I'd be dissapointed

First, I wouldn’t be disappointed in being in the World Series but rather playing the Rays. We played them 3 times earlier this year.

In my perfect world it would have been Cubs/Red Sox. That would be an awesome series that could have happened now 3 out of the last 6 years…

by ak123 on Oct 21, 2008 12:50 AM CDT reply actions 0 recs

Sigh.

It doesn’t feel very good to think about this, so I won’t, especially since the Cubs went there in June and not only got swept, but looked bad doing it.

"That's my opinion and if you don't like it, well, I have others." ~ Groucho Marx

by Al on Oct 21, 2008 4:02 AM CDT reply actions 0 recs

The Rays are there and the Cubs are not

N/T

"Have You heard of the Boom on Mizar 5?"

by Grockcubs on Oct 21, 2008 6:19 AM CDT reply actions 0 recs

I would hope the Cubs

did better than they did back in June…

Sweet Lou for Mayor in '11.

by blackhawk24 on Oct 21, 2008 6:58 AM CDT reply actions 0 recs

I'd imagine...

…that it’d go down like every other Cubs World Series scenario thats bounced through my head in the last few weeks…

…and would end with my alarm going off…

One thing you learned as a Cubs fan: when you bought you ticket, you could bank on seeing the bottom of the ninth.
Joe Garagiola

by Ryan at Cubshub on Oct 21, 2008 7:04 AM CDT reply actions 0 recs

Based upon Cub performances

against LA and the series at St. Petersburg in June, I’m going to block out the question and go to my happy place.

But the wind blew me back via Chicago, In the middle of the night

by N Oakley on Oct 21, 2008 8:28 AM CDT reply actions 0 recs

Four game sweep

And the Cubs aren’t competitive in any of the four games.

Next?

The worst beer I had was pretty good.

by Worf on Oct 21, 2008 8:51 AM CDT reply actions 0 recs

We will never know...

Hell, it’s bad enough that another expansion team is in the WS before the Cubs can return! I’d rather not speculate…

Jimmyeatworld

by Jimmyeatworld on Oct 21, 2008 9:14 AM CDT reply actions 0 recs

Maybe this is every bit as lame as believing in curses...

…but I really feel that the Rays are Team of Destiny this year. I heard on Kap’s show last night that, going into the season, Baseball Prospectus projected Tampa Bay to win 88 games this season. They beat that by nine games. I remember reading/hearing people saying that the Rays might surprise us all and finish above .500 for the first time. They won their division – the American League East!

When Bartlett missed that easy ground ball in Game 7 of the ALCS, I thought, “Ah ha! See? The Cubs aren’t the only ones who make fielding errors under postseason pressure! Now let’s see how they respond.” And how did they respond? They pulled themselves together and won the frickin’ game. And that was after suffering that comeback win by Boston in Game 5 and looking pretty flat in Game 6.

They’re just a young, fearless, resilient team with seemingly unstoppable momentum on their side. And I honestly believe that it’s simply their year. I’ll be pretty shocked if the Phillies manage to beat them. (Then again, I was also sure that Torre and Manny were going to lead the Dodgers right to the Fall Classic, so…)

Oh, and to answer the question, I don’t think the Cubs would’ve gotten by them either. Playing their best, maybe our boys could’ve eeked out a solitary victory at the Trop, and maybe they could’ve taken two of three at Wrigley. But that would still leave them 4-3 losers in seven. It would’ve been nice to see them get that far, though.

"I see I'm not the only one around here who can't hold his water." - Final words of the water pipe in the visiting team dugout, Dodger Stadium, October 4, 2008.

by dat cubfan daver on Oct 21, 2008 10:59 AM CDT reply actions 0 recs

Since the Ray earned the right to be there and we didnt,

I feel compelled to say they would win.

by Cubinator on Oct 21, 2008 11:25 AM CDT reply actions 0 recs

As long as we're fantasizing

that the Cubs beat the Dodgers and the Phillies to advance to the World Series. I say the Cubs win it in 4. Soriano hits a leadoff homer in all four games, Lee does not hit into a double play in all four games, Dempster pitches a no hitter, Zambrano pitches a perfect game, Wood gets two saves and Soto gets the MVP of the series to go along with his rookie of the year honors. Cubs fans sing Go Cubs Go for a guiness book of records of 4 straight hours in Wrigley Field. Cubs fans celebrate outside the park till the sun comes up and not one arrest is made.

A baseball game is simply a nervous breakdown divided into nine innings. ~Earl Wilson

by tucsoncubsfan on Oct 21, 2008 12:10 PM CDT reply actions 0 recs

How would a Cubs and Rays WS gone down?

With a Rays sweep and Rays outscore them for the series 28-5. It would’ve been a total debacle of historic proportions.

Over time, your quickness with a cocky rejoinder must have gotten you many punches in the face - Al Swearengen

by lemon20pie on Oct 21, 2008 3:35 PM CDT reply actions 0 recs

Ray of hope, gone.

The Rays are a much stronger team than the Cubs, and I think the Rays are the best team in MLB. I expect the Phillies to win maybe a game or two, but the Rays to come out as champions.

That said though, the Rays could lose to the Phillies and they could have lost to the Cubs. The Rays are better than Boston but still nearly lost the ALCS.

We have two MLB teams in Chicago and in my 44 years I’ve only witnessed one Chicago team in the World Series. That’s pathetic! That’s not a slam solely on the Cubs but on both teams.

Now we get watch an expansion team play in the World Series, a team that’s been around less than 20 years, while our Chicago baseball teams and the fans have to survive on hope, again.

Well at least we have the Bears, Bulls and Hawks…

by DrCrawdad on Oct 21, 2008 11:46 PM CDT reply actions 0 recs