Cubs set sights on repeat
Confident champs turn page on historic title
ST. LOUIS It was a sight few people on this earth have ever witnessed, with even middle-aged folks wondering if they’d live long enough to see the day.
The Chicago Cubs, for the first time in 109 years, stepped onto the field Sunday at Busch Stadi- um as defending World Series champions.
It was amid great fanfare: Ceremonial bunting draped Busch Stadium, the Clydesdales ready to prance around the warning
track, distinguished Hall of Famers waiting to be taken around the stadium and a sellout crowd waiting to cheer until their lungs burned.
The spectacle was designed for the St. Louis Cardinals, who are commemorating their 125-year anniversary of existence while reveling in the news of All-Star catcher Yadier Molina’s three-year contract extension.
Yet judging by the legion of Cubs fans who trekked into town, you’d think it was a 2017 inauguration party, celebrating the Cubs’ first game after their historic World Series triumph.
The Cubs had the winter of their lives, even as the world shifted around them.
We elected a new president. Witnessed another epic Tom Brady comeback. Observed the beginnings of the J-Lo and A-Rod relationship. Even watched our favorite chicken joint, Popeye’s, get bought out by Burger King.
And now, as the 2017 season begins, everyone will be watching to see whether the Cubs can put their stamp on history, becoming only the second National League franchise in the last 95 years to repeat as World Series champs and the first in baseball since the 2000 New York Yankees.
“We got the big one out of the way, so in our minds, we will be more prepared,” Cubs first baseman Anthony Rizzo says. “We can keep out all of the noise and just play our game. We know what we have to do.
“But we won’t be relaxed, I guarantee you that. You’ve got to stay on top of your game. If not, you get Wally Pipped.”
Perhaps it’s the baseball gods looking out for the Cubs already, believing it would only benefit them by opening the season against their bitter rivals, in a hostile environment, on Sunday night’s ESPN game.
Why not immediately face the biggest obstacle in the way of the Cubs seizing their third consecutive postseason berth for the first time since the glory days of 1906-08?
“We understand how important it is to get our minds right from the beginning and not to assume anything,” manager Joe Maddon says.
Maddon, the first manager to win a Cubs title since Frank Chance of Tinker-to-Evers-to-Chance fame, spewed his speech to his team in rapid fire, as if the faster he spoke, the quicker last year’s memory would fade.
“Turn the page,” he said. “Last year is over. The World Series is over. It was wonderful. It was great. And we learned some things.
“Let’s try to apply what we learned but not rely on what happened in the past and believe we are just going to replace that. Turn the page. Keep it moving forward. Let’s see what happens.”
Oh, and just in case they needed a subtle reminder Sunday that this is a new year, all they had to do was look at the familiar guy in the strange uniform. He was once the heart and soul of their clubhouse. Now, Dexter Fowler is the enemy, playing for the Cardinals.
“It’s going to look so strange seeing him in a different uniform,” Cubs infielder Javier Baez says. “But it’s something we’ve got to get used to. Things have changed.
“Just like this year. Everybody kept talking last year about 108 years and all of that. Now, people can just treat us like any other team and ask if we can win the World Series.
“Hey, we proved we can win it once. So why can’t we do it again?”
The Cubs, with a prized nucleus of position players 27 or younger, think their window will be open until their kids hit free agency in 2021. Well, at least until Theo Epstein becomes publicly elected to a presidency with greater power than even the Cubs’. Then again, at the end of this season, starting pitchers Jake Arrieta and John Lackey will be free agents, along with closer Wade Davis. If the Cubs are going to win again, now is the time.
“That’s the goal, man, and we’ve got the crew to do it,” Arrieta says.
The mission started in enemy territory, in a city that has hosted 19 World Series.
“We already left our mark in Chicago,” Cubs shortstop Addison Russell says. “Now we have the potential to leave our mark on all of baseball.
“How can you not be excited to be part of a team that is stacked from top to bottom?
“So let’s do it again.”