I’ve never seen a Cubs team with as good a starting rotation as the 2008 club. There aren’t any big holes in the lineup unless you count Dome in the second half of the season. Marmol and Wood provide the best 1-2 punch I can remember the Cubs having in the bullpen. I think this team is a little better than the 1984 club. Let’s hope the 2008 team does better in the playoffs. I sure am glad there can be, at most, 2 games, not 3, in California in this Dodgers series.

Never been so excited for the playoffs to get under way!! This year’s team has easily been the best Cubs team of my lifetime and I am ready to watch it continue on!!

All things great in 2008!!

Did any of the past Cubs teams with great records have someone who sucked as bad as Howry on their playoff roster?

and this season is only beginning. Round one is over, three rounds to go. I’ve enjoyed every day of this season and I’m looking forward to enjoying October even more!

Now if I just get tickets to the NLCS…………….

My father turned 81 yesterday, 63 years ago he was going to Loyola U in Chicago via the old North Shore RR and was able to attend a number of WS games.

We talked about this team since he later became a Am. Legion Manager and I played to HS. we both lamented that Judge Prentice Marshall was not alive for he was also big Cub fan and once the competitor for Commissioner of Baseball.

This year’s club has by all aspects enveloped the personality and approach to the game from their Manager and Bench Coach. Both Piniella and Trammell played the game correctly, pitch by pitch and situation by situation. This is why they suddenly changed their offensive make up to the plate and walked—-taking pitches and attempting to gain a situational advantage both at the plate and game on.

Trammell played one of the steadiest gloves at SS the club defensively for the most part does that. What people fail to really understand is that getting an out is so big and giving another team 4 or 5 outs in an inning is killer. What the club added when they got Edmonds and Johnson were two gloves in the OF and also two guys that complimented each other. I have to say that Theriot is not Ozzie but he sure holds his own.

As for pitching we both agreed that if Dad were the manager that the Cubs need to win on the mound especially against the Dodgers. Dempster will do well, and Piniella will have a quick hook with Z…..Marquis will be ready early. We will not see Howry unless there is a real blowout either way, what we will see is a lot of Samardz, Cotts, Marmol and Wood, they throw strikes and get outs.

We both agreed when challenged this year situational situations this team responded. In fact look for DLee and Ramirez to have big games unlike last year. We both agreed Lee wore down and another rest will move his warning track power to over the wall.

Also figure that Edmonds might have a couple big contributions thumbing his nose at the Cards and Padres.

This team should make it to the WS—-period and Piniella’s no nonsense will prevail. Finally the guy who might be a situation hero could be Fontenot who is a better hitter than Walker every was.

It’s almost my favorite month of the year, (October), my birthday, the leaves are changing, MLB post season, FB getting into full swing… This is going to be a great year. Bring on the Dodgers! Don’t worry about Manny, they can pitch around that fool. I hope they make him try to field his position. Soriano is a not a good OFer, but Manny isn’t much better, he doesn’t have the arm that Soriano has. The only one thing I don’t like is that the Brewers are the Wild Card. It doesn’t bother me, I didn’t care if they played the Dodgers or the Mets. It’s the NLCS I’m concerned about. If the Cubs have to face the Brewers in the NLCS, it will be unfair, the Cubs beat them in 161 games, (162 for the Brewers), and then they would have to face them again, just because they were the best SECOND PLACE TEAM! Does anyone really think that either the Mets or the Brewers deserved to be in the post season- they are both poor teams, who are incomplete, held together by band aids. Please MLB, get rid of the Wild Card now.

Another part of me doesn’t want the beginning of the end to this great season to start. It’s sorta like how I felt about Christmas when I was younger. Half the fun was the build up to that day.

I believe I will enjoy this Monday and Tuesday.

…that the Mets and Brewers played an entire season and were exactly tied until the 8th inning of their respective games. People talk about football as a game of inches. But baseball seems to be the same.

“Wake me up when September Ends” describes my mood right now perfectly. I can’t wait until Wednesday.

Best Cubs team in my lifetime and a season filled with great memories. This is the first time going into the playoffs that I feel pretty confident about our chances. Let’s fly that W flag a lot this month.

Last postseason I really had few expectations, and felt nothing we the Cubs laid an egg. I guess I felt as emotional as the team looked at the time, completely dead. This season of course is different, expectations are high. To me, WED night is key, if the Cubs can win game one, I think everyone takes a deep breath and they roll on through.

Last year 1-8 essentially went AWOL, especially Rammy. The big boys need to show up this year. Capitolizing on opportunities (man on 3rd/less than 2 out) will be essential to Cub success. That and starters going 7.

the best Cubs team in my lifetime. I’m also very grateful to be able to recognize and appreciate all the different aspects of the team that make it so special. As I went to bed last night I started to for the first time this postseason feel a little anxiety about the Cubs first game. I can’t imagine what it will feel like on Wednesday.

Is he gonna be good to go Wednesday?

I haven’t done this much math since I graduated from college in 2007, but I saw the Dodgers lead the Cubs in team ERA and wondered if this was true of the starters also. I just grabbed the four playoff starters since those are the ones that matter.

Cubs: Dempster, Harden, Zambrano, Lilly combined ERA of 3.33

Dodgers: Lowe, Billingsley, Kershaw, Maddux combined ERA of 3.94

Also, most every baseball person knows Dodger Stadium is a pitcher’s park. Just thought these numbers were interesting. Hopefully this holds true!

Already prolly mentioned, but one more link to it can’t hurt.

All 5 “experts” pick the Cubs.

… I think the liquor store down the street just painted in a ‘reserved space’ for me. Awfully nice of them.

The Raiders coach obviously doesn’t care about his job anymore. He tried a 76-yard FG yesterday.

Looks like their middle reliever lefty, Kuo (2.14 erac), will miss the NLDS