Off Wing Opinion

Kerry Wood can't believe it. And neither can the Cubs faithful.

UPDATE: Some reactions from Cubs fans around the Blogosphere:

The Cub Reporter heads to Europe, but promises to be back, as he's created a pretty neat little community of fans -- one of the nice side effects of successful blogging.

Brian Carstens is finding the silver lining.

The bottom line is that I'm proud to be a Cubs fan tonight. When Kerry Wood hit his homer to tie the game in the second, I got to feel, at that moment, the pure joy that postseason baseball can bring, the first time I can say that as a Cubs fan. I'll always remember that, even if it is tempered by the fact that they lost. Similarly, I'll always remember Aramis Ramirez's first inning grand slam in game 4, and Sammy's massive homer over the camera shed in game 2. And beating the Braves was absolutely wonderful.

Jason Steffens:

To The 2003 Chicago National League Base Ball Club:

Thank you. I have fun watching you every year. This year, I had a little more fun.

There's some bitterness at Let's Play Two:

Lord knows I'm happy for the 13 or 14 Marlins fans out there, and I'm sure they're grateful that they only had to wait 6 years between World Series appearances.

Out In The Bleachers is channeling the Governor-Elect of California:

We'll be back.

We came so close we could taste it, and had it slip through our fingers. I don't have it in me to write much about tonight's game. Suffice to say that, much like the rest of the year, this team never laid down. From Kerry's incredible home run to the spectacular at-bat Aramis had in the ninth, the whole team played their hearts out even when the odds were against them.

There are few feelings emptier for a fan than the aftermath of seeing your team get knocked out of the playoffs. And when you're dealing with baseball, the feeling is emptier still. While purists may complain about the Wild Card playoff expansion, baseball still invites the fewest number of teams to its postseason party.

In hockey, basketball and football, teams can reasonably expect to have another shot at the postseason as early as next year. But in baseball, where futility is measured in decades, the chances are fewer and far between. And as time passes, one begins to understand that chances to win it all are precious, and you need to make the most of it because you may never pass this way again.

In the immediate aftermath of the Mets loss to the Dodgers in Game Seven of the 1988 NLCS, I can remember thinking that there wasn't any way that particular Mets team wouldn't get back to the postseason.

But then, in a little more than 2 seasons, it all fell apart. There would be no dynasty, and the memories of 1986 became all that more precious.

Sure, we all say wait till next year, but as we age, in our hearts and minds we know better. An opportunity was lost, most likely forever, and we can't help but hurt.

This entry was posted on Thursday, October 16th, 2003 at 7:32 am by Eric McErlain and is filed under Baseball. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.