Sure the Cubs won 97 games this season. Awesome team efforts all the way! Maybe that is the problem with this club. Sounds strange but look at it this way. The Cubs only had 1 regular starter this season with a .300+ AVG (Theriot). No Cubs player hit 30 homers. Only 1 player had 100+ RBI's (Ramirez). The offense showed great patience all season. The most walks in years from any Cubs team (maybe Dusty was on to something). Nah! Walks are good for the team but you have to have some real threat in the lineup to drive those free passes home. Only Aramis was the hitter pitchers feared. Mr. Clutch would come through in the late innnings. The team was less patient in the NLDS and Aramis (among others) slumped. Lee hit fine but doesn't posses the power he once displayed. No one could come through with a big hit.

No pitcher on this staff won more than 17 games (Dempster and Lilly). Pitching wasn't the problem. Howry never pitched in the NLDS. The Cubs had the pitching to carry the team far into October but the bottom line is this:

Good pitching will stop average hitting. That is what brought the Cubs demise in the NLDS.