Still going strong

A week ago, the Cubbies might have been down, on the verge of going out. In fact, it felt like the latter half of 2007 all over again: Milwaukee (with CC Sabathia their latest acquisiton - how sweet of a deal is that?) & St. Louis competing with the Cubs for the top spot in the division. Eventually, the bottom fell out for St. Louis & it was a two-horse race between the Brewers & Chicago from then forward.

But now, saving any late season suspense, the Cubs are once again at the top of the NL Central's perch & loving every minute of their stay there. And after a four-game sweep of the Brewers @ Milwaukee (!!), they deserve to be loving life as their division's leaders. The next question is, can they sustain their momentum for the remainder of 2008?

Of course they can. Like last season has shown, Chicago has been in this position before & they know what's at stake. They've known what it's like to be in an offensive funk & hoping they could get out of it just in time for a key 3/4 game stint against, say, St. Lou or Milwaukee. They know firsthand that their hold on the division is a precarious one. Just ask their crosstown nemesis, the White Sox (who BTW are a half-game behind Minnesota in the AL Central).

But at the same time, the Cubbies have the offensive firepower to put any pitching corps to sleep early. And as far as their own pitching goes, with Zambrano & Dempster leading the way, how can you go wrong? The key for Chicago at this juncture on both ends of the field is to keep playing disciplined baseball - not to rest on their laurels, not to get complacent, just keep playing smart, no-nonsense baseball. It's not beyond them. A few games ahead of Milwaukee, one only hopes that Chicago not solely stays the course; one also hopes that the Cubbies keep playing up to their usual potential - in a word, that would be awesome.