World Series or bust? Not so, says Lou
Lou was on fire this morning. For some reason, it seems stuck in his craw that the public would like for the Cubs to win the World Series one of these years. Don't know why that would be. The guy that hired Lou, former team president John McDonough, made it the organization's singular goal when he took over after the disastrous 2006 season.
The Cubs are spending about $125 million this year on top of it. But here's Lou's take:
"You know, the amazing part about it is, I hear all these things about, 'This team is built to win the World Series.' Well, which team isn't built to win the World Series? Is this the only team in baseball that's built to win the World Series? I don't think so. All teams, when they are put together, are built to win the World Series. Some get a chance to, and some don't."
It gets even better, with Lou throwing in a word we can't quite print in full:
"To hear all this talk of, 'Well if you guys don't win the division and you don't win a World Series, it's a lost year.' That's a bunch of bull****. That's just the way I feel."
Never mind that Cubs fans have been waiting 100 years.
"I know, but it's not fair. It's not fair to put all the expectations of all the past failures here and all the past successes here on the 2008 team. You let this team stand on its own merit, and you let them do what can do as well as they can do and let them go as far as they can. I tell you this. This team has played hard all year. They've treated the people in Chicago to a damn good season of baseball, and believe me, they all want to win as much as I do. But the problem is, there's only one team that can win. For people to say that this team is built for the World Series, and if it doesn't win the World Series, it's not a successful year, I just don't buy that. Period."
I was standing about 14 inches from Lou, and I reminded that the Cubs brought him in and paid him millions to deliver that World Series trophy.
"I'm trying the best I can," he said. "And if I don't win it, there will be somebody else here that you'll be talking about. And if I do win it, there will be somebody else here anyway, so what's the difference? What's the difference? Everybody that puts on a uniform wants to do it. But it doesn't happen. It's not an easy thing to go. You talk to these players, they play hard all year. You talk to the other teams in contention. They tell you the same thing. I understand it's been a long, long, long time here. I understand it. I really do. I can empathize. But at the same time, this is the 2008 team. Period. This is not the 1968 team, the 1943 team. This is not the 1918 team. This is the 2008 team, and these kids have played as well as they possibly can for as long as they possibly can. We'll go out there, and give it all we've got. But that's all we can do. Nothing more and nothing lesss.
So what do you think? Is it win the World Series or bust?
You had a blast tonight, will look for all the good stuff in the am.. Maybe you should take Fukodome out on the town tonight...Show him just what this is all about, the Cubs will need him..
Bruce, you brought it up, so now will Theroit get some time off ? I know Lou hates Cedeno, but he looked so tired today.. You dont want to take guys out of their rythum, but now you can rest some legs..Theroit, DeRosa, Lee, and Ramirez have played almost everygame..And Soto has to sit for a few, he has the "Rookie of the year" locked ..
And are there any other pitchers that in the last few days do you see getting some time?
One last question, did anyone ask why Lilly threw a 3-1 pitch to Glaus with 1st base open?
Lou said he was well aware of Theriot's struggles. He said he was going to play the lineup that got the Cubs here and not make radical changes now. That said, Theriot is likely to get a couple days off this week.
I like Lou's take on keep this in perspective, this is only step one. Enjoy, but they really havent won anything just yet. Liily looked great til the 6th, if the pitching can continue , they will be tough to beat...But the offense shut down again after scoring 5 runs..If you get complacent, youre doomed..Celebrate of course, now get back to work...
You shouldve just dived in and poured some bubbly on Piniellas head.
He was already drenched when I got to him. Now it begins again. It'll be fun to see how they line things up on the road this coming week.
There is only one successful team in MLB each year, the World Series winner. You may have good season, you may have great season, one that is viewed as moving you along to the goal but unless you win it is not a successful season. That having been said other than the September losing streak, I have thoroughly enjoyed this season.
How much champagne did you get on you?
I've learned to dodge the drops pretty well, in '98, '03, '07 and '08 with the Cubs and '05 with the Sox through three rounds.
Wow, can't believe no one has addressed Lou's comments yet.
My first reaction is that I'm kind of offended by his comments as a long suffering fan. While my dad at least got to see a pennant winner in 1945, he also suffered through the next 39 years of being in the desert. I've been lucky to see four playoff teams (hopefully five), but have also had my fair share of suffering (as I'm sure all of you have too).
But then on second thought, could this just be a calculated misdirection attempt by Lou to take some of the focus off of the team?
And just a few weeks ago he had the same ERA as Jason Marquis.
Heck, I'd think about it.
It's been a while since I've seen anyone pitch as dominantly as Harden in a Cubs uniform.
But right now, they've got Zambrano, Lilly and Dempster as 1-2-3.
What'd the Cubs go out and get Harden for, if not for the playoffs?
Lou says now he won't set the playoff rotation until late next week.
But Lou has had this rotation set up since Cincinnati, when we first wrote about it, two weeks ago.
Soriano, LF
Theriot, SS
Lee, 1B
Ramirez, 3B
Edmonds, CF
Soto, C
DeRosa, 2B
Fukudome, RF
Lilly, P
Lou says he knows Theriot has struggled this month, with his OBP at .377 right now, down from its .400 territory. Lou said something about if we know this, so does he. Theriot might get a day or two after the clincher.
Reliever Chad Gaudin will rejoin the team tomorrow. The Cubs are desperate for middle relief, so they'll see how Gaudin's back is.