Column: Cubs didn't really choke

By JJ Stankevitz
Oct. 7, 2008

The Cubs came into the playoffs with 97 wins, the best record in the National League. They beat the Dodgers five times in the regular season, including an impressive three-game sweep at Wrigley Field earlier in the year.

But all it took was three games for the Dodgers to kick, maim and then throw the Cubs' World Series hopes in a river with cement shoes. Cubs fans feel like their team choked - but they throw the "C" word around too easily. Yes, Alfonso Soriano went an awful 1-for-15. Yes, Derrek Lee and Aramis Ramirez didn't come up with a big hit all series. Yes, the Cubs didn't hold a lead in the series after James Loney's grand slam in game one. And, yes, perhaps the best Cubs team in the last 100 years was swept out of the playoffs by a team that had a whopping 84 wins in the regular season.

I know that saying this won't comfort Cubs fans, but I'll say it anyway: The Los Angeles Dodgers are a very, very good team. Yes, they went on an eight-game losing streak as early as Aug. 22-29, but immediately following that, they went on an eight-game winning streak. They ended up winning 17 games in September, flying past the Arizona Diamondbacks to win the division.

It's no fluke that this team not only made the playoffs, but also performed well in them. Never count out a team in October that is managed by Joe Torre, who had his team playing like a 90-win team in the playoffs. They played fundamental baseball. They did some hit and runs. They got timely hits. They pitched the heck out of the ball. But, most importantly, they played with a swagger that was lacking for the Cubs.

When Derek Lowe gave up a wind-aided home run to Mark DeRosa in game one, he just kept doing what he does best: pound the strike zone with one of the best sinkers in the game. He kept the Dodgers in the game long enough for Loney to nail his go-ahead grand slam, and after that, he kept cruising along to a victory.

Chad Billingsley, who started game two, showed off some incredible breaking pitches in his start. Again, you can say the Cubs offense choked, but I say Billingsley was great. He was hitting the corners, changing speeds, and keeping the Cub hitters off-balance throughout the game. I'm not sure many offenses could have hit Billingsley that night.

Then, in game three, Hiroki Kuroda's sinker turned out to be too much for the Cubs, much like Lowe's was in game one. The first 11 outs the Cubs made came on ground balls, and the Dodgers took advantage of a few bad pitches by Rich Harden to jump out to an early lead that they never gave back, thanks in part to some excellent relief work by Cory Wade and Jonathan Broxton, who had pinpoint control with a 99 mph fastball that also had movement. Nobody was going to hit that.

I came away from this series feeling like the Dodgers played some of the best baseball you can in the postseason. I would be shocked if they didn't make the World Series at this point. With Torre and Manny Ramirez leading the charge, this team has all the confidence in the world.

Nothing was going to stop them. Not even the Cubs.

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Column: Cubs didn't really choke

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