It's hard to believe nearly 25 years have gone by since the Cubs went to San Diego needing only one win in three games to win the NLCS. As we all know, it didn't happen.
One of the things I've always wondered about is why the series got scheduled the way it did. First, let me explode a myth: the Cubs did NOT lose home field in the 1984 NLCS -- they were never scheduled to have it. Under the alternate-year rotation then in place, the NL East had home field in 1983, though the Phillies needed only two home games to win it. The Cubs would have lost home field in the World Series, but we'd have taken that just to get in, right?
In any case, after playing two day games in Chicago, the Cubs were forced to fly to San Diego and play the next night, instead of having the usual travel day. Whether jet-lagged or tired or both, the Cubs got blown out in game three and then got an off day. After that ...
Well, no need to rehash it. But the Padres are doing so tonight, having a "Padres 1984 NL Champions Celebration presented by San Diego County Toyota Dealers and brought to you by XX 1090 and The Walrus" promotional date. Gee, I wonder why they scheduled it this weekend? (And they need three sponsors to "present" and "bring" this event to fans?)
I hope Petco Park is filled with Cubs fans tonight who will boo the very appearance of Steve Garvey. The Padres fans that were there in 1984 -- and I can tell you this because I was there -- were among the worst I have ever seen. They went way beyond heckling; friends of mine had nails thrown at them. The '84 Padres fans seemed happier that our team lost than their team won. If you, for some reason (sort of like watching a train wreck), want to know where the 1984 Padres are now, check out this post from our SBN Padres site, Gaslamp Ball. I particularly like the description of what Terry Kennedy is up to these days.
Back to this year's Cubs: Bruce Miles says no to Soriano at 2B, although I'd like to see it at least tried, and also:The other day, I blogged that the Cubs had to do something with Rule 5 pick David Patton, the reliever who hasn't relieved since May 9. I maintained, and still do, that it's unfair for Patton to be sitting in the big leagues when he could be working on his craft in the minor leagues, even if it means sending him back to the Rockies organization. I suspect this will come to a head sooner rather than later, from what I'm being told. In an ideal world, the Cubs would either get Patton through waivers or bite the bullet and send him back to the Rockies. From there, they could call up Jake Fox from Iowa and go with 11 pitchers. All by themselves, the Cubs have proven what folly it is to carry 12. They have 12 on the roster, but they're using 11 without benefit of the extra position player.
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This is new ground for both of tonight's starting pitchers. Neither has faced tonight's opponent. Randy Wells has yet to allow a run in the major leagues in five appearances (two starts). Josh Geer has allowed seven home runs, all of them in his last three starts. If that isn't a recipe to get Cubs bats awakened, I don't know what is.
Caption for Josh Geer's photo: "You're taking my picture? You mean right now?"
Cable only tonight, in both the Chicago and San Diego areas. Maybe that's better. For today's other games see the MLB.com Mediacenter.
Baseball-reference.com game preview
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