In the major leagues in the past two seasons, there were two positively, unequivocally incredulous occurrences, the hard-ball equivalent of the cow jumping over the moon, of Martians lining up to order lattes at Starbucks. One of them was enough to stun fandom; the second, on the very heels of the first, was sufficient for people to wonder if this was simply a coincidence for the ages or evidence of an invisible celestial hand.
Two of the three franchises in baseball that had gone the longest without winning a World Series won them: the Boston Red Sox in 2004, after an 86-year-drought, and the Chicago White Sox in 2005, after a fallow and frustrating 88 years.
As in a weird game of musical chairs, that leaves only the Chicago Cubs standing, or staggering. Forlorn but not forgotten. And if ever the cliche "hope springs eternal" applies to anyone, it is to the Cubbies, spring after spring after spring, for nearly 100 of them, all the way back to 1908, their last World Series championship.
PHOTO: AP
This spring is no exception. As the Cubs begin their spring training endeavors, what happened in Boston two years ago and what transpired last October with their South Side rivals have not been lost on them.
"I like the trend," said Kerry Wood, one of the Cubs' top pitchers, when he isn't hurt. "But there's no added pressure on us because of it. There's plenty of pressure in this profession, period -- pressure to win, the pressure you put on yourself to perform."
Dusty Baker, the Cubs' manager, said, "One thing for sure, the law of averages is on our side."
"It's got to happen," he added. "This team has to win it one of these days. And I'd like to be here when it happens."
Baker, whose team finished fourth in its division last season, with a 79-83 record, spoke about "overcoming a century of negativity," not a new refrain for Baker, now in his fourth season as the Cubs' manager.
"We have to try to eliminate the `Oh no's!' when we get close to winning," he said. "We can't always be asking, `What went wrong?' We need a few breaks, too."
It would help if Wood and his fellow right-hander Mark Prior could remain in one piece for an entire season; if the future Hall of Famer Greg Maddux, nearing age 40, could return to at least semi-Hall of Fame form; if the bullpen could shape up. It would help, too, if the newly acquired Juan Pierre could be the daily catalyst as the Cubs' leadoff man and center fielder.
Pierre fulfilled that role for the Florida Marlins in 2003 when they beat the Cubs in the National League Championship Series, the Cubs just five measly, but monumental, outs from going to the World Series when everything fell apart in Game 6.
"I'm a newcomer here, and I can feel the history," said Pierre, sitting in front of his locker at Fitch Park here. "I was with the Marlins and Rockies, relatively new teams in baseball, and never felt the sense of urgency to win that I do here. And I think the White Sox winning put Cub fans on edge. But if we win, and I think we have the talent, what better place to do it than in Chicago? The loyalty of the Cub fans has been amazing. The team loses and there's still 40,000 fans filling up the park for every game. They really deserve a winner."
Maddux said that the success of the White Sox last season was not an incentive for the Cubs. "We don't need an incentive to win, that started here 50 years ago," he said. He was referring to the last time the Cubs appeared in a World Series -- actually 61 years ago -- in 1945, losing in seven games to the Detroit Tigers. "What we need is good pitching and good defense. That's what wins. Look at the White Sox. Their lineup wasn't any better than anyone else's. But their pitching and defense was better."
Gary Matthews, the Cubs' batting coach, said: "Guys here aren't thinking about the White Sox. We're concerned with the North Side."
Maybe so, but "I wouldn't call it jealous," said Baker, referring to the White Sox. "I mean, it was great for the city of Chicago, but you just wish it was you."
In Arizona, the White Sox, appropriately enough, have a training camp south of the Cubs, in Tucson. At the entrance to Electric Park, a sign reads: "2005 World Series Champions. Grinder Ball #71. If at first you succeed, repeat." It is accompanied by a photo of the World Series trophy and White Sox players on the field celebrating their victory.
Do the White Sox players, well, feel sorry for the Cubs' plight, since they themselves had suffered through a similar one?
"Did they feel sorry for us?" asked Sox pitcher Jon Garland. Hardly, said his expression.
"Let them win it one year," said catcher A.J. Pierzynski, "but not next year or the following year or the year after that." He smiled. "Those are our repeat years."
Jim Thome, the White Sox's new free-agent slugger and first baseman, grew up in Peoria, Illinois, and still lives there. He was a Cubs fan as a boy, following players like Bill Buckner and Dave Kingman. "I'm only worrying about our chances," he said. "I'm only focusing on this club."
Kevin Hickey, the former White Sox pitcher who is now the team's batting-practice pitcher, grew up on Chicago's South Side as a White Sox fan. "I don't know if you would say that White Sox fans hate Cubs fans, and vice versa," he said with long-term perspective. "There is definitely a longstanding rivalry, of course, and there is, uh, a very strong disagreement between the two. So, would I like to see the Cubs ever win?" He paused in contemplation, but only for a moment.
"Absolutely not," he said, with a kind of smile.
Jerry Reinsdorf, the chairman of the White Sox, said, "I've always felt that our hard-core fans are as happy when the Cubs lose as when the Sox win. I'm sure it's still true in many instances, but so many fans turned out in our World Series celebrations in Chicago that I realized a lot of them just root for Chicago teams."
As for the chances of the White Sox this year, manager Ozzie Guillen, never, ever at a loss for words, said: "I think we have a stronger unit than last season. We weren't sure about our pitching before last season. We have a lot more confidence in it this year. And Thome adds power from the left side of the plate."
Back up north in Mesa, one is reminded of Baker's surmise that the Cubs winning a World Series has "gotta happen."
Perhaps, but there are people with canes and walkers in Chicago who have been saying the same thing their entire lives.
Japanese pitcher Shinji Mori barely speaks a word of English. He still has everyone talking at the Tampa Bay Devil Rays' spring training camp.
The right-hander who was signed during the offseason was a five-time All Star in Japan and is in the running to be the Devil Rays' closer.
Mori, who's competing with Chad Orvella and Dan Miceli among others for the role, made a big impression on teammates Aubrey Huff and Toby Hall on Thursday. Mori pitched 15 minutes of batting practice and immediately allowed two long homers to Huff, but then loosened up and began to mix in some forkballs that were nearly unhittable.
"It just falls off the table," Huff said. "It was like one of those Bugs Bunny moments when I was just spinning around. The sad thing is, I knew it was coming."
Mori has an average fastball, but it is the forkball that earned him a reputation as one of the most feared relievers in Japan.
He struck out 60 in 49 innings for Seibu last year. He worked mostly as a setup man, but said through an interpreter that he wants the closer job with the Devil Rays.
"Watch for me on opening day," he said.
The job opened when Major League Baseball All-Star closer Danys Baez was traded, along with former All-Star closer Lance Carter, to the Los Angeles Dodgers for pitching prospects in the offseason.
While Orvella and Jesus Colome have publicly campaigned for the closer's job, Mori is going about his job quietly with an air of mystery about him.
He is one of the most gregarious players in camp when he's with the Japanese media, and seems to be trying to fit in despite the language barrier, but so far he is letting his forkball do the talking.
"He's unhittable when he throws that thing," Hall said. "It's nasty."
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