Red October

A few days ago I suggested that the Cubs should "Kruschev" their Wild Card competition. The allusion was to the famous statement by Soviet Premier Nikita Kruschev's statement of, "We will bury you." At that time, the Cubs looked poised to run off about 8 wins in 9 games. Since then, the Cubs have lost 3 of 4. And the analogy may have been dead on.

Kruschev and the command economy did not bury the US. In fact, the central planning model simply faded into the ether. Outside of North Korea, anyway. Russian/Soviet economics simply could not compete with the economics of capitalism and maintain a military superpower. A certain baseball team, who also happens to have a bear as a logo, may be having a similar problem.

It may be time to admit that the 2004 Chicago Cubs are just not able to compete and play "We will bury you" baseball over 162 games.

The holes on this team may just be too much to overcome to ever expect an 8 game win streak and winning 12 out of 15. Inconsistent play from all three outfield positions, several of its starting pitchers and tis bullpen is enough to prevent such a high level of performance.

This does not mean that the 2004 Cubs are dead and hopeless. They still have a great shot at a playoff spot. And, should the pitching come October 2004 resemble that of October 2003, anything is possible.

But, like last year, this team may be incapable of burying anyone. And the playoff chase will go down to the final week.

The Possibilities

There is something wrong with Mark Prior and I think it’s one of these three things/

1) He’s still hurt. I don’t think he is. The speed guns show his fastball still in the low to mid 90’s and his breaking stuff is still breaking sharply. That doesn’t smell like an injury.

2) He’s lost it. It is possible, but I don’t think so. His location is clearly off. Now, it is possible, that, for whatever reason, his control is gone. That doesn’t make a lot of sense. One Rick Ankiel per generation seems to be about the right percentage.

3) He’s afraid of 1 and 2 above. Now this seems the most likely to me. I think he’s afraid that he’s still hurt and, as such, is nibbling at the edges. He’s afraid to bring his tough stuff and challenge the hitters because he thinks it’s not so tough.

What’s the cure? Probably an off-season and time. Hopefully, he can right the ship in the next 10 days, because a Mark Prior who gives you a quality start only every other outing, doesn’t help this team win a playoff spot this year.