Chicago Cubs Fall Hard to St. Louis; Fan's Take

I don't have to tell all you Chicago Cubs fans out there how frustrating this season has been. Then again, it's not like this is a new position the Cubs and their fans find themselves in. On July 30th, the Cubs proverbial car's wheels came off, the transmission went out, then they were t-boned by a truck - the St. Louis Cardinals.

After grabbing five runs early, the Cubs found themselves in front 5-2 after an inning. The game fell apart in the fifth inning with the Cardinals dropping eight runs, manager Mike Quade was tossed after arguing a controversial slide at second base by Matt Holliday, and from there, it just looked like a massacre.

I understand the Cubs were no pick to snatch the division, but good lord, 42-65, and still falling? Sorry, even I in my cautioned, realistic predictions of my team, I didn't have them this poor. What's been so staggering is the mediocrity across the board. Starting pitching, relief pitching, defense, offense; the whole shebang, everything has been relatively horrendous. Only the "we-are-in-major-rebuild-mode" Houston Astros are keeping the Cubs from having the worst record in the majors.

Questions are being brought up about Jim Hendry's and Mike Quade's managerial abilities and it's no mystery why. Combined with a solid chunk of payroll coming off the books next season and the Ricketts family's suspiciously quiet first couple of years, you can't help but wonder if major changes are in store for the Cubs organization. That's probably more a hopeful statement on my part than anything factually based; just a hunch.

Outfielder Kosuke Fukudome was shipped to the Cleveland Indians, but to this point not much else has happened concerning the Cubs. This is partially due to the fact that some of the players have contracts other teams don't want to touch (Alfonso Soriano, Carlos Zambrano) and the players that do have attainable contracts (Carlos Pena), other teams just don't want. While the non-waiver trade deadline is the 31st of July, I wouldn't be surprised to see a few moves post deadline concerning the Cubs as teams get a little more desperate as the playoff races tighten deeper into August.

Either way, in the perpetual chant of us Chicago Cubs fans, and one that we are relegated to claim once more; there's always next year.

Brian is a lifelong Chicago Cubs fan, having lived in Illinois his whole life. Follow him on Twitter here

Sources
Cubs/Cardinals Game 7/30/11