As he left Wrigley Field last week following the Los Angeles Dodgers’ defeat of the Chicago Cubs in the National League Championship Series, Cubs broadcaster and Glencoe native Len Kasper took a moment for reflection.
“It dawned on me that the last three National League pennants were clinched at Wrigley Field, which is pretty wild,” Kasper said in an email. “The Dodgers were the better team, so I don’t feel like there were any regrets from how it played out. You tip your cap, take a breath and reflect on what was a pretty darn good year for the Chicago Cubs.
“Three consecutive trips to the League Championship Series and one World Series title is pretty special.”
Kasper said he thought the Cubs experienced a “hangover” from the excitement of the 2016 season and their first world championship in 108 years.
“The physical and mental grind the Cubs went through in 2016 was real,” Kasper said. “It takes every ounce of energy to win a World Series, and then to come back after a short off season and do it again? Very challenging. In that respect, I chalk up 2017 as a big success.
“The Cubs won their division again, beat a very talented Washington club and played for three extra weeks. Not bad.”
For North Shore Cubs fans who were at the Glencoe Golf Club on Oct. 20 – the day after the final NLCS game – the NLCS loss didn’t appear to produce much anger or sadness. Instead, there was resignation and appreciation.
“It is what happens in baseball. You get hot, you get cold,” said Highland Park’s Harvey Lerner, who said he attended Game 5 of the NLCS. “They just didn’t have the right mix this year.”
John Rice of Wilmette thought the tense five-game series against the Washington Nationals, plus the Cubs’ delayed flight from Washington, D.C. to Los Angeles for the NLCS, may have hurt the team.
“I think they ran out of gas a bit and their backs were against the wall,” Rice said. “The Dodgers were well-rested at the end of the season and breezed through the first round (against Arizona), so it was somewhat understandable. The Dodgers had a better team, as it turned out.”
Glencoe’s Cody Scheyer said he turned off what would be a Los Angeles 11-1 win in the final NLCS game, and wasn’t surprised by what happened in the series.
“I didn’t think (the Cubs) deserved to win the series before. (They) were outplayed and didn’t have the bullpen,” Scheyer said. “The (Dodgers) had a couple of players that were like kryptonite.”
Some fans pointed to how far the Cubs have come in the past generation, making the “Lovable Losers” concept a thing of the past.
“So the last three years we are playing for the pennant,” Wilmette’s Jim Breen said. “We won the World Series, and we don’t get there the other two times. We have a great young team. Getting beat 4-1 stinks, but taking a step back, what a great problem to have for anyone who has been here 30, 40 years.”
Deerfield’s Danny Haughney added, “I’m disappointed that they didn’t get to the World Series again, but the future is still bright and we have last year that we can still celebrate.”
Pete Wentz of Wilmette acknowledged the Cubs had some issues to address – namely the lack of clutch hitting and a bullpen he thought was “shaky” – but thought the team was taking unfair criticism on talk radio.
“They wound up being one of the top four teams in baseball,” Wentz said. “If you have lived with the Cubs all these years and they are one of the top four teams, you have to take some pride and comfort in that. This is the Dodgers’ year, like last year was the Cubs’ year.
Highland Park’s Harvey expressed hope that 2018 will have a better conclusion, as he thinks Theo Epstein and the rest of management will make the right calls.
“They are going to be great for years to come. They have the best executive in baseball, they will be right back at it,” Harvey said. “They need to make some crucial moves, but they will be right back there next year.”
Daniel I. Dorfman is a freelancer for Pioneer Press.
