Ever wonder why the Cubs haven’t won a world series in 100 years? If so, do yourself a favor and go watch the replay of last night’s Cubs/Dodgers game. We’ll start with the 8th inning. Bobby Scales works a fantastic at-bat, turning an 0-2 hole into a full count and eventually depositing the ball into the LF bleachers for his 2nd major league homerun, pulling the Cubs to within a run. Enter Ramon Trancoso. Jake Fox hammers a single back up the middle, nearly taking off Trancoso’s head. Scales and Fox look like the Cubs’ best hitters right now. Kosuke Fukudome does his thing and draws a walk. The job of your all-star player here is to at least drive in the tying run, and he’s at the dish. Instead, Alfonso Soriano takes a fastball right down the pipe and flails away at 2 breaking balls no where near the plate. Ryan Theriot follows by promptly chasing the first pitch and hitting into an inning-ending 4-6-3 double play.

Skip ahead to the bottom of the 9th. This is where good teams take advantage: Dodgers closer Jonathon Broxton was unavailable due to a long outing the previous night so Trancoso, who the Cubs hit pretty hard in the 8th, stayed in. Milton Bradley and Derrek Lee hit back to back singles, and Reed Johnson moves them over on a weak ground out. An intentional walk to Geovany Soto loads the bases. Here is the defining moment. ANY…. and I mean ANY other team in major league baseball wins this game at home, or at least ties it. Heck, if it were against the Cubs, they’d probably lose 6-2, walking in the tying run and surrendering a grand slam to a .189 utility infielder. And it doesn’t matter that Carlos Marmol would be on the mound, or that the wind is blowing in at 30 MPH, or that this fella has never hit a major league homerun, it’s just the way the Cubs are. So Bobby Scales and Jake Fox, who just an inning ago looked like the best hitters on the team, both chase breaking balls out of the zone and fail to even make contact. Cubs lose 2-1. Its moments such as these that remind us as Cubs fans why this team hasn’t won a world series since 1908 and until they start winning these types of games, the wait will continue.

Mike