Monday, September 1

My name is Morgan Hawk. I’m a senior at the University of Iowa. I have been a Chicago Cubs fan for as long as I can remember. I will be blogging about the Chicago Cubs push to the Major League Baseball playoffs and their hopes of winning their first World Series championship since 1908.

The month of September has begun, and for baseball fans that means the final month of the regular season. After the past three days some Chicago Cubs fans, me included, have gotten a little nervous. The Cubs have lost 3 home games in a row for the first time all year.

Yes, I know the Cubs currently hold a 4.5 game lead over second-place Milwaukee.

Yes, I know two of those losses were to the strong offensive lineup of the pennant chasing Philadelphia Phillies.

Yes, I know the Cubs still own baseball’s best record.

However, I’m a Cubs fans and that’s why I’m concerned.

I mean it’s been a hundred years.

All you have to do is think back to the 2007 Mets, or the 2004 Cubs for that matter. Both teams lost leads in the final week of the season.

Carlos Zambrano has a “dead arm.” Yeah I understand this happens around this time of the season, but the Cubs organization hasn’t always handled injured pitchers perfectly over the years. ( Mark Prior )

Hopefully, a few days of rest will improve this “dead arm”, but only Cubs fans may understand why I’m concerned.

Another reason for concern: the dreaded September schedule. Cub fans have looked at this with disregard since opening day.

25 Total Games, 16 on the Road, including trips to St. Louis, New York, and Milwaukee to close out the season. The home schedule is no cakewalk either with a big home stand versus the Brew crew and the Redbirds in the middle of the month.

The other three home games are against the Astros and we’ve already lost the first one that series.

I’m not concerned about missing the playoffs. I think we have that wrapped up with roughly a 9 game cushion with the Wild Card in the mix. ( I hope) But, we need to win the division. I don’t know anyone who would dispute that.

The Cubs need home-field advantage, especially in that first round series which looks like could be against the three headed monster of Webb, Haren, and Johnson of the Diamondbacks.

I sound like it’s the end of the world.

Isn’t it nice to be concerned about the first place Cubs? I mean we could be Pirates or the lowly Nats.

Cub fans are never satisfied.

We’ve waited too long to be satisfied.

---Morgan Hawk