Sometimes mainstream media members like to write things just to rile up the internet folks, and this posting by Steve Rosenbloom (Let’s Play Odds Ball: Sox are in, Cubs are Out) is no exception. It is an obvious bait that Cubs and Sox fans took in an effort to get people to slam each other (see the nearly 200 comments made, or roughly 180 more than a normal blog post gets).
The basic premise of his blog post is that the Sox are a lock for the playoffs because “almost two-thirds of the teams that lead their divisions on the Memorial Day weekend go on to win them.” Also, since 1/3 of the teams who DO lead on Memorial Day will ultimately lose the division, the Cubs and Tampa Rays are the most likely candidates to be the 1/3 that DOESN’T win the division. The article has no factual support and makes little sense, and contrary to Rosenbloom’s poorly written blog post, here’s why the Cubs WILL win the division.
1. The Cubs are the only team in Major League Baseball that has not lost more than 3 games in a row this season.
To borrow Joe Morgan’s favorite word, the Cubs are consistently consistent. They have had two six-game winning streaks, a four-game winning streak, and have yet to lose more than 3 straight 52 games into the season. Not too shabby, and it speaks to the ability of the club to turn the page after tough losses (especially this week after blowing two winnable games in Pittsburgh and rebounding to sweep the Dodgers).
2. The Cubs win at home and are excelling against a relatively tough schedule.
The Cubs are already 22-8 at home this season (ridiculous .733 winning percentage), and last year’s 2007 NL Division Champions all had strong home winning percentages (D-backs at .617, Cubs at .543 and the Phillies at .580). In addition, the Cubs have played the ninth-toughest schedule in MLB according to ESPN.com. Although critics will argue that the Cubs are 9-3 against the Pirates, who usually suck, the Pirates have a better record this season than 11 other teams and are 24-26, only one game worse than the NY Yankees.
Coming off a 3-game sweep of the undermanned Dodgers, it looks like the Cubs are for real. June should be an interesting month though, as the Cubs will play the White Sox six times and play 13 of their first 17 games in June on the road. Regardless of the tough road stretch, I hope we get to keep hearing this song:
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