Wait 'Til Next Year

About 8 or 10 years ago Baseball Tonight ran an ad featuring a Cubs Bobblehead with a voiceover intoning over and over again, “This is our year…we’re going all the way this time…this year for sure…watch out World Series, here we come…we sure do look good this year...” and the whole time the bobblehead’s beard kept getting longer and longer until eventually the head fell off entirely and rolled out of the camera’s view.

As a Dodger fan that commercial terrified me then and it still scares the hell out of me now. It’s been 20 years since the Dodgers have tasted the fruits of victory and if the current season is any indication, it’ll be at least 21 before we find ourselves deep in the post season again. What did Chicagoans think in 1928 when it had been two decades since The North Siders had captured the Fall Classic? Did they have any idea they were in for another eight decades of disappointment? To think that the Cubs' 100 seasons of futility (even though they look damn good so far this year) started innocently enough before snowballing into something of truly historic proportions means it can happen to your team too.

It can happen because draft picks don’t pan out. It can happen because the wrong free agents are signed. It can happen because bad trades are made. It can happen when runners are left on base. It can happen because of injuries. It can happen because of superior competition. It can happen because of fate.

Don't think I'm going to stop watching, there's still plenty of reasons to pay attention --Billingsley's emergence, Kershaw's debut, Russ Mart--but in all likelihood it's another case of wait 'til next year.

WEST	W	L	PCT	GB	HOME	ROAD	STRK	L10
Arizona	32	28	.533	-	21-12	11-16	Lost 3	2-8
LA Dodgers	28	32	.467	4	16-14	12-18	Lost 3	2-8
San Francisco	25	35	.417	7	13-19	12-16	Lost 2	5-5
San Diego	25	37	.403	8	15-17	10-20	Won 2	6-4
Colorado	22	38	.367	10	12-14	10-24	Won 2	2-8