The 102nd Year?

1908 was a good year for fans of the Chicago Cubs. The Cubs had won their first World Series the year prior. Headed by team leaders like Mordecai "Three Finger" Brown (who tossed a mean curve because of his namesake), the Northsiders made quick work of the teams they played prior to the Fall Classic. With infielder Frank Chance acting as manager, the Cubs were the most dominant team in baseball. Unfortunately, this success wouldn't last. The Cubs would never again become World Series champions.

Though not blessed with victory in the Fall Classic, the Cubs would continue to win pennants. This National League success would continue until 1945, when the Cubs would appear in (and lose) their final World Series. The Cubbies have not returned to the World Series since.

As 1908 was a good year for the Chicago Cubs, so 2009 was a good year for the author of this blog. In the year prior I won my first "World Series", and the prize was my beautiful wife. The next year the team of our family was blessed with the number one draft pick of my firstborn son. Our "Cub" quickly won our hearts, and I became his #1 fan. Because I work nights and take a full-time load of college courses online, I am now able to stay home and care for Cub five days a week.

2010 will be yet another year of firsts. It will be the first full baseball season since I have been a fan of the Cubs, the first baseball season of my son's life, and the first season we share together. Aided by my Birthday and Christmas gift (a pricey subscription to MLB-TV), the Cub and I will spend our days with the Boys in Blue, watching every game that we can squeeze in.

Will the 102nd year be the year? Will the Cubs find the magic of 1908 somewhere deep down, in the chamber of the heart where dreams still live? Will they catch the spirit of the Red Sox, who reversed their own curse in 2004? Will Ted Lilly or Carlos Zambrano lose a couple of fingers so they can throw a curve like Three Finger Brown?

Win or Lose, through diapers both fair and foul, the Cub and I will find out. Spring Training games begin in under a week. Here's to Spring!