A completely unsurprising news story come across my computer this morning. Mark Prior, the one-time savior of my beloved Chicago Cubs is out for the year. Again. This is no surprise to anybody who follows the Cubs (or baseball). Ever since the magical/utterly soul crushing 2003 playoffs, Prior has been MLB's version of Mr. Glass, sneezing and breaking his collarbone every couple of months. The promise of young Mr. Prior has "forced" the Cubs to repeatedly pay him too much. And now that he is damaged goods, his price tag (along with that 5-star attitude) make him impossible to move.
This is, of course, verse two of the same song. He joins another savior-turned-overpaid-one-armed-man Kerry Wood. Cubs fans had been playing the, "If we get them both healthy, we'll be spectacular" game for about three years as we bemoan the absence of milk from the Cubs training table and the ongoing legacy of Dusty "Pitch 'Em 'Till They Break" Baker. There was always that glimmer of hope...maybe they'd get better.
Well, that's over now. There were still a couple of us naively hanging on. It's over. There is nothing left but to watch the injury/recovery cycle like a replay of a train wreck. Nothing to do but embrace the fact that they are impossible to trade and weigh down the payroll and roster like cement shoes. The Cubs are 8-13 and looking completely inept in a division where the Brewers are in first. Yeah, you heard me. The Brewers.
Combine this morning's same old same old with the Royals (7-14, last place) and the Rockies (9-13, last place) and..well...this has been a hard Spring to be a baseball fan.
In the real world, that is.
This has been a spectacular Spring for the last bastion of the Cubs fan, the magical world of pretend. My fantasy baseball team currently resides in first and the (previously mentioned) "Virtual Cubs" have 53 wins and it isn't even July in "Bizzaro World" yet. Mark Prior was traded to the Mariners for Ichiro (suckers!). Kerry Wood was packaged with Michael Barrett and Jacque Jones and promptly exchanged for Bartolo Colon and Francisco Rodriguez of the Angels (chumps!). Ted Lilly's got a 1.57 ERA, leads the league in strikeouts, and is the current favorite for the Cy Young. Alfonso Soriano has 98 RBI in late June.
And so it has been one lights-out Spring in the land of denial. PS2 has been my techno-fiddle as the baseball world burns around me...and left me wondering what other ways I could supplement reality.
I searched the Best Buy website this morning. Unfortunately my searches for "Church Administrator 2007: Attack of the Budget!!!" and "Extreme Yard Care: Dandelion Avenger" came up empty. A guy can hope, though. A guy can hope.
3 comments:
Poor Cubbies can't catch a break! Somehow someone got to my blog via yours, so thought I would drop a note of "howdy." Big A's fan here!
Scotty, what game or you playing, MLB 2007?
I miss the Techmo Bowl days in Campbell man.
I've got absolutely no problem with the Athletics. They took some of the more beloved Royals a few years back...but whaddaya gonna do? Al least they can rise up and beat the Yankees and Red Sox of this world once and a while.
Scott...good to hear from you! I miss Tecmo more than words can say. I am currently playing Major League Baseball 2K7 (I'm a year behind...so I got an even better steal for Wood and Prior). I used to play the MLB series...but the 2K7 blew me away. Good stuff.
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