Are you guys more worried about....

[cubsmann]

It would surprise the hell out of me if anyone can beat the Cubs this year. The Dodgers are not going to beat the Cubs, the Nationals aren't, the Cardinals aren't even going to be there, the Giants have sucked in the second half. Im expecting an NL pennant this year. The WS is a toss up. The Cubs should be able to beat any AL team. The Rangers, the Red Sox, the Indians can all be beaten. This is next year guys!!

 

[FrankieLyrical]

With all this winning (which I LOVE, this year and last have been fucking incredible) comes expectation. I've tried to tame it, but I can't. I want a WS ring.


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But I'm nervous as hell for October

 

[Diehardfan]

With all this winning (which I LOVE, this year and last have been fucking incredible) comes expectation. I've tried to tame it, but I can't. I want a WS ring.


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But I'm nervous as hell for October

Frankie..when you get your ring please let me borrow it to get a few pics.

 

[FrankieLyrical]

Frankie..when you get your ring please let me borrow it to get a few pics.

Lol you know what I mean ******

 

[DJMoore_is_fat]

We're the best team in baseball but whoever gets rolling at the right time will win.

Hope it's us!!


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[hyatt151]

Yeah, it's funny. For all the "Wait til next year" stupid cliche, I have rarely, if ever, felt at the end of a season I can't wait for next year.

1970, 1985!! Not so much in 2004.

 

[hyatt151]

It would surprise the hell out of me if anyone can beat the Cubs this year. The Dodgers are not going to beat the Cubs, the Nationals aren't, the Cardinals aren't even going to be there, the Giants have sucked in the second half. Im expecting an NL pennant this year. The WS is a toss up. The Cubs should be able to beat any AL team. The Rangers, the Red Sox, the Indians can all be beaten. This is next year guys!!

Past history makes me fear the Muts the most.

 

[TC in Mississippi]

Past history makes me fear the Muts the most.

I'm not really concerned about anyone but at this point the Mets look to be the best matchup possibility. Matz and deGrom are hurt and while they are coming back neither will pitch without pain this year. Unless they take all the way to the end for a WC spot you have to figure that Syndergaard will pitch the WC game which probably mean that Bartolo Colon pitches game 1 of the NLDS. I'll take that matchup.

 

[cubsmann]

Past history makes me fear the Muts the most.

Yeah but you know the post season is when the best teams play. The Mets can be beaten and we will beat them handily with our starters pitching the way they have been all year and with how well the team has been hitting. I saw bring on the Mets and the Nationals because we will beat both of them then no one can say the Cubs won the easy way. I actually want to play the Mets because they knocked us out last year. This team is far better than last year's team and we won't have to tire out starters down the stretch because after we've locked up home field advantage, the team is going to be able to be rested for at least 1 1/2 weeks.

 

[TC in Mississippi]

I don't how many of you have read the Tom Verducci piece in SI from earlier this week but it's worth a read. http://www.si.com/mlb/2016/09/06/chicago-cubs-record-postseason-world-series

One of the key takeaways is just how much better the Cubs are than the rest of the field and how that has traditionally impacted outcome. In the Divisional era only one team with as much separation from the pack as the Cubs have has failed to at least make the World Series and that was the 2000 Mariners. Here is the data:

2001 Mariners +14 Lost ALCS
1986 Mets +12 Won World Series
1975 Reds +10 Won World Series
2016 Cubs +9 (projected) ?
1969 Orioles +9 Lost World Series
1967 Cardinals +9 Won World Series
1998 Yankees +8 Won World Series
1990 Athletics +8 Lost World Series
1984 Tigers +8 Won World Series
2009 Yankees +6 Won World Series
1989 Athletics +6 Won World Series
1970 Orioles +6 Won World Series
1968 Tigers +6 Won World Series

Things like this have me less and less worried by the day.

 

[cubsmann]

Yeah I read that article and it makes me more certain that the Cubs are going to win the WS this year. If they don't baseball is fixed!!!

 

[brett05]

I don't how many of you have read the Tom Verducci piece in SI from earlier this week but it's worth a read. http://www.si.com/mlb/2016/09/06/chicago-cubs-record-postseason-world-series

One of the key takeaways is just how much better the Cubs are than the rest of the field and how that has traditionally impacted outcome. In the Divisional era only one team with as much separation from the pack as the Cubs have has failed to at least make the World Series and that was the 2000 Mariners. Here is the data:

2001 Mariners +14 Lost ALCS
1986 Mets +12 Won World Series
1975 Reds +10 Won World Series
2016 Cubs +9 (projected) ?
1969 Orioles +9 Lost World Series
1967 Cardinals +9 Won World Series
1998 Yankees +8 Won World Series
1990 Athletics +8 Lost World Series
1984 Tigers +8 Won World Series
2009 Yankees +6 Won World Series
1989 Athletics +6 Won World Series
1970 Orioles +6 Won World Series
1968 Tigers +6 Won World Series

Things like this have me less and less worried by the day.

Seems coincidental. Does Verducci take in the fact of the weakness of the opponents?

 

[85Bears]

Yeah I read that article and it makes me more certain that the Cubs are going to win the WS this year. If they don't baseball is fixed!!!

I appreciate your youthful optimism, but you do realize that there's still approximately a 75% chance the Cubs will NOT win the WS this particular year, right? Right?

I would bet money they will win it sometime within the next 5 years, but too much randomness can happen in the playoffs. That's the difference between Theo's Cubs and Cubs playoff teams of the past. This team is built for sustained success knowing that that the best way to ensure a WS victory is to make the playoffs year after year and then one year you get lucky.

If you think this process will be a failure if they don't win *this year*, then prepare for disappointment.

 

[Parade_Rain]

As of today, 538 gives the Cubs a 22% chance to win the WS.

 

[SilenceS]

Seems coincidental. Does Verducci take in the fact of the weakness of the opponents?

Yes, he also breaks down what the hitters did against teams over .500 and teams under .500.

 

[TC in Mississippi]

As of today, 538 gives the Cubs a 22% chance to win the WS.

That's down a little from around 25% a few weeks back but it's still 8 points higher than the next most likely in Boston and one of the highest percentage odds in recent memory. By all the mathematics you can muster the Cubs should win the WS. Now it's down to the human factor and the element of chance. I feel much better after the 5 game NLDS.

 

[Parade_Rain]

That's down a little from around 25% a few weeks back but it's still 8 points higher than the next most likely in Boston and one of the highest percentage odds in recent memory. By all the mathematics you can muster the Cubs should win the WS. Now it's down to the human factor and the element of chance. I feel much better after the 5 game NLDS.

I think anything less than getting to the WS will be a huge disappointment to me.

 

[TC in Mississippi]

Seems coincidental. Does Verducci take in the fact of the weakness of the opponents?

That really should make a lot less of a difference than you think it does. That said I'd like to see this same exercise using Pythagorean expectations but they don't go back quite that far at least in what's available online.

 

[TC in Mississippi]

I think anything less than getting to the WS will be a huge disappointment to me.

Agree 100%. Like I've said before though I really don't see any team in this field that I really would fear in a 7 game series, even Boston who I think will get there. The larger the sample size the more I believe. The NLDS is too random for my liking.

 

[85Bears]

That's down a little from around 25% a few weeks back but it's still 8 points higher than the next most likely in Boston and one of the highest percentage odds in recent memory. By all the mathematics you can muster the Cubs should win the WS. Now it's down to the human factor and the element of chance. I feel much better after the 5 game NLDS.

I completely agree the Cubs have a markedly better chance of winning the WS this year than any other playoff team. But 22% means there's a 78% chance it will not happen this year. I think it will happen sometime within the next 5 years though, and there's a lot of awfully good baseball to be watched until it does.

I used to be like Cubsmann when I was younger. I would have seen this team and thought there was just no way they could fail. Then if they did I'd be crushed and in tears. As I've aged, I've tempered that a bit and learned to just appreciate the ride. And as long as that ride ends one season in the near future with the Cubs winning their final playoff game, I'm good. :yep: