For those of you who will be reading this on Sunday and not Saturday you will undoubtedly be more wide awake than you were for the last few days due to the fact that you could finally get some sleep after the game last night. Here is a note of perspective: If the Cubs win today they will have won or split something like 11 of their last 12 series. They stand four games up on the Brewers and worst case scenario 8.5 games ahead of the Phillies for the wild card. You might not know this from the way people have been talking over the past few days but the Cubs percentage odds of making the playoffs has not sunk lower than 99 percent over the past week.

Which might be a good time for a history lesson. When I was a kid (I was born in 1976) I would always hear about the devastating Cubs collapse of 1969. I have heard much talk about it lately as well. Many, including some on this site, have foretold that the Cubs would blow it this year, just as they did during that season. For many years I would hear about this and I began to build the scenario in my mind. I figured that the Cubs must have been up like five games going into the final week and lost like seven in a row and did not make the playoffs. That would be a major collapse. However, the truth is that the Cubs were not even close to winning that division. They did own an 8.5 game lead in the middle of August but they wound up losing the division by 8 games. That is a sixteen game swing, which is unbelievable with only two months to go. But who thinks a division race is over in mid-August? No one does…at least no one who knows baseball does. The team obviously collapsed. But they did not almost make the playoffs. This team has almost made the playoffs. It would be a choke if they did not. Yet, it will not be like 1969…and I am afraid to say they will make the playoffs.

This brings up an interesting discussion that I have often heard on radio in Chicago. Would it be a failure if we did not win the World Series this year? I have heard the argument that since your goal is to win a championship that it is always a failure if you do not. The thought is that even though the Yankees, for example, have made the playoffs like 12 years in a row that they do not consider it a success unless they win the World Series. What do you think? I think payroll and team development need to be considered in the answer, but how do you feel?

I have mentioned it before but in the 2003 season the Cubs were fighting for the division in the final weeks. They were back and forth I don’t remember if it was with the Astros or Cardinals or both. They had gone down pretty much to a four man rotation using days off for rest. But there came a point when there was a really important game that they needed to win in Cincinnati and they would need their number five starter Shawn Estes to pitch the game. He came out and threw a great game and the Cubs won it. It was critical to winning the division and it was clutch. Tonight Jason Marquis was clutch. He pitched a really good game and we should now put a moratorium on Marquis bashing for a good while. His numbers were better than they look on paper. He left in the eighth inning leading 11-1. He pitched out of some jams and kept the team in the game until the bats woke up big after the fifth inning.

Soriano had one of those games that he has. He hit three home runs including a three run home run to give the team a good cushion. Mark DeRosa also had a three run home run that became more important after the Reds did some damage on Jeff Samardzija later in the game. (Samardzija might have been worn out after watching the roller coaster ride that was the Notre Dame football team being taken to the wall by the vaunted San Diego State Aztecs. I get sick watching the biased NBC coverage of ND football. The team were talked about as heroes for coming back. Not as tremendous underachievers for even being close at that time of the game.) By the way, does Bob Howry make your playoff roster? D Lee also had four hits tonight including a bases loaded hit in the ninth inning. Jason Marquis hit a few balls really hard tonight and had a solo home run in the eighth inning. Also do you take Daryle Ward to the playoffs or one of your younger guys?

Len and Bob mentioned that there was a mascot wiffle ball game before the game tonight. They showed some clips of local mascots hitting the ball and running. One time I was at a DePaul game and they had a mascot basketball game. It was the greatest. The home Run Inn Pizza mascot was greatly intimidating at first because he was like nine feet tall. but as he ran his head swung back and forth and he was no longer intimidating once you realized that his head was three feet of air. The Goose Island brewery mascot was a goose who would have been the last person chosen on the playground because his arms were not long enough to catch or hold the ball. Unfortunately, this was not realized by the mascots until three errant passes fell to the ground and sat there because no mascot could really bend down enough to pick up the ball. The final score after ten minutes of game time: 2-0.

The Reds started Johnny Cueto tonight which is ridiculous because everyone knows he is hurting and the team is out of it. However, Dusty Baker says that he wants his young guys to have experience pitching in September in case they are competitive next year. Brilliant!!! Undoubtedly, these extra innings of work for a young guy who is over extended and hurting will help you in the long run. In Dusty we…Vomity.

This was the week where we found out that Koyie Hill had a couple fingers cut off and reattached in the off season. I also heard that once his playing career is over he will need to have his fingers removed again. How hard would it be to choose to have your fingers removed once you had lost them and gotten them back?

Finally think about the roller coaster ride of the last seven days. One week ago the Cubs were in a long winning streak and cruising and everyone was talking about potential World Series pitching rotations. One bad week and people are wondering if we are even going to make the playoffs. People please breathe easier. We have three weeks left.