... it's an off day, and that leads to an idle mind, and you know what they say about idle minds...
Hey! Get YOUR mind out of the gutter! I'm thinking Cubs baseball, of course!
The Cubs have twenty-three games until the All-Star break. They don't break down very favorably: seventeen on the road, only six at home.
On the other hand, the Cubs have played well on the road: 15-13. Only two other NL clubs, the Cardinals (20-12) and Diamondbacks (17-16), have winning road records as of this morning.
I'd like to see the Cubs go at least 14-9 over those 23 games. There are seven series: five three-game series and two four-game series (both on the road, at Milwaukee and at Atlanta). Going 14-9 would require winning two games in each of the seven series, or maybe sweeping one of them to allow some wiggle room.
That would get the Cubs to the break at 48-39, and likely leading the wild-card race or close. Here's how recent Cub playoff teams have hit the break:
- 1984: 48-36 (finished 96-65, after break 48-31)
- 1989: 47-39 (finished 93-69, after break 46-30)
- 1998: 48-39 (finished 90-73, after break 42-34)
- 2003: 47-47 (finished 88-74, after break 41-27)
Oh, what the heck, even though it's an off-day: discuss amongst yourselves.