Saturday, September 20, 2008

Cubs Clinch NL Central

The Chicago Cubs beat the St. Louis Cardinals 5-4 to clinch their second consecutive National League Division Title. It is their second playoff appearance under manager Lou Piniella.

In 2007, the Cubs were ousted in the National League Division Series by the Arizona Diamondbacks. This year the Cubs will face the NL Wild Card winner in the NLDS. They could face one of four teams - the Milwaukee Brewers, Philadelphia Phillies, New York Mets and even the Florida Marlins. Cubs fans don't have fond memories of the Marlins. Especially during Game 6 of the 2003 NLCS when with five outs away from going to their first World Series since 1945 Cubs fan Steve Bartman appeared to have interfered with Moises Alou catching a fly ball off the bat of Luis Castillo. Of course, Bartman wasn't at fault as the ball was in the stands but Alou's reaction created a chain reaction and the Marlins rallied to comeback and win that game as well as Game 7 before going on to win the World Series.

Needless to say I'm rooting for the Cubs as they have not won the World Series in exactly 100 years. I will only root against them if they face the Red Sox in the World Series.

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