It Wasn't Supposed To End Like This At All

What the hell happened?

The team with the best record in the NL was not supposed to get swept -- let alone annihilated -- by the team with the worst record of all of the playoff entrants.

Yet there it was. This went beyond the Dodgers winning in 3 games. The Cubs and their mighty offense held the lead for a whopping 2 1/2 innings and had a scoreless streak of 13 innings between Games 1 and 2. Meanwhile, their vaunted starting pitching got rocked as they were outscored 20-6 for the series.

It's hard to say who was the biggest disappointment for the Cubs. At first glance, it seems to be Alfonso Soriano and his 1-for-14 performance. (Incidentally, if you wanted to prorate his annual salary per postseason hits this year, that would be like paying $17 million for each one.) Ryan Dempster is also a candidate, following his 14 wins at Wrigley by giving up seven walks and a grand slam to set the tone in Game 1.

But my vote actually goes to Aramis Ramirez, who went 2 for 11 with no RBI after a season in which he got a little buzz for league MVP. Soriano didn't have a particularly outstanding season, so his disappearance wasn't as suprising. Ramirez turning invisible was more akin to David Copperfield disposing of a 747 into thin air in front of a TV audience.

(I have to admit, though, that there was a certain poetry to Soriano ending the series by flailing helplessly at a pitch at his feet.)

There's actually plenty of blame to go around, as that mighty offense left a total of 23 runners on base in the three games. You can say it's unfortunate that the Dodgers scored two runs -- the margin of victory -- in the clincher on Saturday with two outs in an inning that included a very questionable safe call. But that doesn't excuse the Cubs from leaving all of nine runners on base in that game, six of them in the first four innings. They clearly had chances to take control of that game and at least extend the series, and instead were mystified by a guy who went 9-10 during the regular season.

So, what really happened is that the Cubs played scared. What they were scared of, I don't know -- perhaps it was the expectations -- but it was obvious. You could see it in each of the four errors committed in Game 2; you could see it in the pained expressions of batters sulking away from the plate all night Saturday. Rob Dibble insightfully noted that the Cubs tended to watch pitches go down the middle of the plate and swing at ones out of the strike zone. They were too scared to pick their spots and stick with them.

At any rate, this in unacceptable. Last year, the season was a success just because the Cubs made the playoffs. This year, they had the potential to win the National League and return to the World Series for the first time since 1945. And now all that's left for Cubs fans to do is hope the White Sox lose in three as well, so I don't get drunken 2 a.m. phone calls from their knucklehead fans.