Ho-Hum, The Cubs Are In The Playoffs Again

There are some teams -- the Yankees, the Braves, the A’s -- who, for long stretches of their histories, could be counted on to make the playoffs year in and year out.

Now Cubs fans know how it feels, with the team’s first back-to-back postseason appearances in 100 years. (And let’s not get ahead of ourselves, but you know what else happened for the last time 100 years ago …)

It feels pretty good. It feels like we have a real team. And it totally, seriously feels like an early bow-out is just not good enough.

By the way, I like what Lou’s doing with the lineup. Apparently there were some people crying that he had to play his starters for the integrity of the game.

But it’s not an all-or-nothing proposition, and he’s not treating it as such. You rest Aramis Ramirez and his gimpy knees a couple times. You rest Geo Soto because catcher is a grueling position (and next time, let’s try that BEFORE he gets hurt, Lou.) You get Kosuke Fukudome back in there and see if he can find his stroke again. You play Daryle Ward once so he can prove to his family that he really is on a big-league roster.

Lou’s first obligation is to the Chicago Cubs -- the players, the management and the fans, in that order -- not to baseball. Integrity of the game mandates that the guys on the field have to play their hardest, but it doesn’t mean you have to play the same guys 162 times. If anyone wants to complain about what someone else is doing or the last three games, ask them what they did for the first 159.