Wait TIll Next Year Rant Comes Early

Another spring is upon us. In the baseball world, the saying goes that spring breeds optimism. That is unless you are a Cubs fan, of which sadly I am. You see there is no hope for us this year and it doesn’t take Nostradamus to see this team is going to crash and burn.

They say that those who ignore history are doomed to repeat it. For three years now, all we have heard about is Wood and Prior. Well, it has been seen time and again that these guys cannot be trusted. Wood, with his unorthodox delivery, which he refuses to change, has had more injuries then Jackie Chan. In 1998 he burst onto the scene with a twenty-strikeout game to fan the flames of hope in Cub nation. Well, in the eight years that have taken place since then Wood has 70 career wins. That is less then ten a year.

Sure he has shown signs of brilliance and dominance. However, he has never won more then 14 games in any season. To think Greg Maddux went sixteen consecutive years winning fifteen or more games. And Maddux didn’t have an over-powering fastball. He knew how to pitch which sadly Wood will never learn. He has shown that he is as hard headed as they come and refuses to change a thing. He keeps throwing that fastball as hard as he can. So, as we wait for Wood to again rehab an aching right arm we know how this will end.

Wood, will rehab and start some games in May. Then sometime in July he will be warming up when he will feel a twinge in his elbow, shoulder, forearm, or eyebrow and he will be on the D.L. again. Still, Baker, Hendry and the rest of Cubdom keeps believing in the myth of that kid that struck out twenty during the Clinton administration. It is telling that Kerry Wood is the only member of that 98 team still with the Cubs.

As for Prior it is almost the same sad story. He burst onto the scene in 2002 as a twenty-two year old rookie. Then in 2003 he went 18-6 with a 2.43 ERA. The sky was the limit. However, since then it has been one injury after another. Yes, a lot of them have been of the freakish nature but he keeps getting hurt. This spring Prior had yet to pitch in cactus league game and the Cubs were nursing him along. All along the Cubs kept insisting that he wasn’t hurt. Then word came yesterday that he was experiencing shoulder pain and was shut down. Now, the worst is feared, that he has a tear, which would mean he is out for the year.

It seems that every spring it is the same old story with this guy. We keep babying him and every time he threw a pitch every Cub fan held their breath. Even when we do nurse him back to health he has not been that dominant kid we once saw. Since that magical 2003 season Prior has gone 17-11 and had an ERA of 3.80. Not bad, but not exactly Tom Seaver numbers.

So, just like the last two years Cub management has tied their hopes on the right arms of these two talented but brittle young men. All off-season I as many Cub fans were screaming for them to sign another starter as an insurance policy. When they finally did they signed Wade Miller who you guessed it was coming off an arm surgery. The Cubs flirted with signing Furcal and trading for Tejada and instead gave us Jacque Jones who hit .249 last year and struck out 120 times. Only at Clark and Addison could that kind of a season be rewarded with a three-year deal worth fifteen million.

So forgive me if I am not full of optimism with the upcoming season. On top of everything I already said, I didn’t even get into my annual Dusty Baker rant. I guarantee he will find a way to get Nefi Perez into the lineup at the cost of Cedeno. The Cubs have handed this kid the shortstop position and they need to exhibit patience. If he gets off to a slow start Dusty cannot shake his confidence by throwing the weak hitting Perez out there. However, I have no faith in Baker to do the right thing. He has been consistently out-managed in big games and he knows less about pitching then any manager I have ever scene don the blue pinstripes and that includes the clueless Don Bayor. Maybe I am wrong and maybe the Cubs will shock me and contend all year. I would love to be wrong and that is one meal of crow I would love to eat. However, if the last 95 years are any indicator I am probably right in my assessment.