60

Dodgers finally win a game against the Cardinals. Cubs are alone in first place once again. Off to Florida.

61

Cubs take another from the Astros, 12-3. Cubs offense has woken up and they now hope a plane to Miami for the Marlins this weekend.

62

Solid win today. Well's with 8 innings, 6 hits and 0 earned runs, excellent! Everyone, except Fuku, had a decent offensive day.

Cubs are back to 1st after dropping last night. Hopefully the Dodgers can learn to win again in St. Louis.

Update: Cards win off the Dodgers for a third time (what's up with that?), so Cubs are 1/2 game back again.

63

FONZY SLAMS IT!

CUBS WIN,
REMAIN IN FIRST PLACE!

Alright, let's lighten this up and begin to restore the faith. The Cubs are in first place in a hotly contested division with about 9 weeks to go. A lot say the NL Central is the weakest division in baseball, even 89 Cubs, but I fell that there's more competition in this division than others.

After talking to PlayoffBound in chat, I'm convinced the worst division in the NL and MLB is the NL East. All that's good and happening is the Phillies. Can one team's success against the rest of the terrible division (all 6.5+ games back) really mean that division is good? Nope. There is no competition. That's the worst division.

As for the 'Cubbie' injuries of recent. They are no worse than what we used to deal with. Not even close. Remember when we started the season without our two aces? Wood out for weeks and Prior gone for ... well... he was always injured in spring (couldn't handle the weather). Blame the curse or the Towel Toss. It was worse than today. I could go on to others, like sneezes, but don't feel like it.

This year, yes, some injuries. The Cubs played .500 ball, which is key. That keeps you in it. This team may not be the best we've seen (no 97 wins this year), but they are giving the Cubs a shot. That's all we need. Get to the playoffs, anything can happen. Go in as the best team in baseball and get swept. Come in as the least deserving, win it all.

Have Cubs fans, restore the faith! October baseball can be sweet!

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Time to send in some photos of you and fam in your Cubs gear, at Wrigley or whatever. Send to 2009@cubsmagicnumber.com with a little back story. We post the best during the final run.

64

The Cubs are in first place.

I'll repeat it in case you are rubbing your eyes in disbelief:

The Cubs are in first place.

Yes, this is difficult to believe. I understand. Last you really paid attention the Cubs were in 3rd or maybe 4th place. I understand. Last you read the paper Ramirez was on the DL indefinitely, Dempster had a "Cubbie" injury and Soriano couldn't hit above .240. I understand. Last you read this blog, you saw me say the Cubs Suck and weren't going to make the playoffs. I understand.

But folks, the standings don't lie. Keep in mind that the Cubs are playing in the weakest division on the NL, if not all of MLB. The Cubs truly do have a great chance of winning the division despite the Cardinals recent trade for Holliday in addition to having the best player in baseball, Pujos possibly having another career year.

All that needs to happen for something special to happen is for the Cubs to make the playoffs. Then as we've all been told repeatedly, anything can happen. Just ask the 2006 Cardinals, 2005 White Sox, etc. etc.... BUT, does this mean the Cubs can win one playoff game? I'm still not convinced, and I think judging by the lack of total craziness within Cubdom this year compared to last year, I'm not the only one.

Carol Slezak wrote a great column in Sunday's Sun Times that pretty much personifies what I believe most Cub fans, including this one, are thinking right now. That these Cubs just aren't that good and there are still have considerable issues: our best pitcher, Lilly on the DL for another mysterious injury that could last who-knows-how-long; Bradley, Soriano and the entire Cubs team showing a severe 1st half funk (although there have been signs of life since the All Star break, albeit against inferior competition); Mármol's inability to consistently throw a strike and so on.

Cubs fans have been down this road the past two seasons and as such, we continue to watch with a skeptical eye. We wait until October now to really become emotionally invested. As my good friend, a White Sox friend said in an email today: "Nice run by the Cubbies. As usual the May suicide party by Chicago fans proves to be unnecessary...now the October suicide party..."

In the mean time, if you're looking for baseball entertainment that doesn't involve becoming too emotionally involved with the Cubs, I encourage you to check out Steve Stone making an Ass of himself again. Here's a great recap of what I'm referring to.

64

CUBS WIN! CUBS WIN! CUBS WIN!

Holy Cow! The Cubs have taking first place in the division for the first time in a long time. (me think April). Where the team will go from here, who knows? Their such a strange team this year.

Astros are up next, hopefully some easy games. GO CUBS!

66

Ok. So the Cubs are 1/2 game out of first! Yes, re-read that last sentence.

69

Cardinals lose last night! Cubs are one game back!

Off day today for the Cubs but the Cards play. It's against the Nats so I think we will go back to 1.5. Who knows.

70

Cubs avoid the sweep in Philly with a 10-5 victory. Didn't catch the game, but watched a little gameday. I was nervous in the 8th.

Anyways, day off tomorrow for the 2nd place and 1.5 games back Cubs. The Cards could lose tonight and move us to 1. That'd be sweet! Cubs are then at home for a while starting with the Reds.

73

Hey! Hey! Cubs pull off a 4 game sweep and are nearing the longest winning streak of the year. One more win today and the calorie restricted fan gets to eat!

Off to Philly. Let's see if these Cubs have turned around and can beat a real team.

76

The Cubs, once again, beat a team they should beat easily, the Nationals. Good for them! 2 more games against them this weekend, so hopefully I can add 2 more "Good for them!" posts.

(yes, I'm doing my part to save the environment by recycling my posts)

77

The Cubs beat a team they should beat easily, the Nationals. Good for them! 3 more games against them this weekend, so hopefully I can add 3 more "Good for them!" posts.

78

A bit behind on the number. Great to see the Cubs winning games against the first place Cards. Let's go Cubbies in the night game!
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Cubs lose. Time to stretch.

82

We've reached the half way point of the season and the magic number is half way to 0 from 163 (just about). There is still a lot of baseball to be played, especially for the Cubs who have had some rainouts rescheduled for the second half.

Huge series this weekend for the Cubs, 4 games in 3 days against the first place Cardinals. Let's hope they can hold Pujoles back and take at least 3.

Today's game may not happen due to incoming storms. Stay tuned...

83

Cubs take the first game against Atlanta. This Wells pitcher is something. What a relief to have a pitcher be consistent and win 4 straight.

84

First of all, congrats to Ted Lilly on being a 2009 Allstar. Second, cubs win the series against the Brewers. And third, things are looking up for the Cubs with A-Ram, Reed Johnson and Angel Guzman returning. I wonder what they will do with Jake Fox who has putting up some great numbers. Stay tuned...

Cubs set to face Atlanta beginning tonight for a three game set at the Friendly Confines.

86

Another good win by the Cubs! They're pulling through at the right times, like Fukudome's throw to the plate that kept the game tied.

Cards are on top of the central and Cubs are 2.5 back. Keep the winning streak going, guys!

88

Cubs put up big numbers against the Brewers. 9 runs in just 4 innings was enough. Let's hope this wasn't a fluke.

Cubs have 3 more games in this set with the first place Brewers.

90

Cubs Win! Cubs Win! Cubs Win!

Brewers lose, Cubs win. That's the way it should be most the season. We took a series on the road (rare). 4 game set with the crew starting tomorrow.