I’ll be the first to admit the fact that Cubs fans have been extremely spoiled for the past three seasons. They have the best record in baseball since 2015 (332-221), have been to the NLCS for three straight seasons, and of course, won it all in 2016. All of that success has been a revelation for true Cubs fans but it has also been a curse as well.
Not THAT type of curse.
There’s no doubt the team gained a large amount of fans following the 2016 World Series win, which is always a great thing when a fan base grows. However, these “2016 fans” were so brainwashed with the success of 2016 that they’ve unfairly placed those expectations on every player, every team, and every single game. The “2016 fans,” as I like to call them, never saw the team struggle previous to 2016 and only appreciate the Cubs recent success but don’t understand the struggle it took to get there.
There is not a day that goes by that I don’t read a dumbass tweet complaining about the Cubs losing a game, a pitcher not pitching well, or making some outlandish claim that makes absolute zero sense. Look, it’s OK to get frustrated with the team but when we start demanding a former MVP and leader in OBP, OPS, hits, and WAR be demoted to AAA Iowa, we need to pump the brakes just a bit.
He is so bad.. it might be time to go Iowa
— Jason Walek (@JasonWalek) June 18, 2018
I’ve been a Cubs fan my entire life and even I’ll admit that the Cubs recent success has slightly skewed my perception of the team. I’ve been with them through the good (1989, 2003, 2008) the bad (1995, 2000, 2006) and the ugly (2002, 2011, 2013) and believe it or not, these last three years have turned into the “golden age” of Cubs baseball. That’s a weird sentiment to think about when you realize how bad the team was only four years ago.
Every fan knows the tides began to turn going into the 2015 season with the hiring of Joe Maddon, the signing of Jon Lester, and the MLB debuts of a handful of the Cubs young talent they acquired via trade or the draft. That 2015 Wild Card-winning team was the catalyst to an age of baseball where Cubs fans EXPECTED the team to win every single game and based on the aforementioned three-year record of the Cubs, they won — and won a lot.
All of that winning has been taken for granted by a good amount of fans. These fans do not realize how hard it is to win a baseball game, win a division, or even GET to the postseason so the fact that the Cubs have done all of these things since 2015, it’s a pretty remarkable feat.
Even more remarkable is the amount of wins they’ve piled up at Wrigley since 2015. Going into last night’s rained out game against the LA Dodgers, the Cubs were 173-102 at the Friendly Confines, yet despite this impressive record, last night would have been the first time in a little over two years that the team would play a game at Wrigley as an underdog (according to Vegas).
September 9, 2015
•Cubs last opened as a home underdog prior to tonight.
•Travis Wood started against Michael Wacha.
•Tonight is the 10th time in total under Joe Maddon the Cubs have opened as a home underdog (won 5 of last 6). https://t.co/5L9Ny52k4o
— Evan Abrams (@EvanHAbrams) June 18, 2018
When you really think about the fact that the Cubs have opened as a home underdog in only ten times in three years, it’s pretty goddamned impressive. There have been some GOOD baseball teams to come through Wrigley since 2015 but the Cubs consistent dominance wouldn’t allow the odds makers in Vegas to label them as the underdog.
I understand Vegas odds are not the end all be all of judging how great a team has been but looking at the Cubs resume since 2015, it would definitely be a team that I wouldn’t bet against.
