MONTCLAIR, N.J. — A Cubs fan approached Joe Maddon as he posed for photos during an appearance Friday night at the Yogi Berra Museum and Learning Center.

“You almost killed me when you put Chapman in the game,” the fan said, referring to the closer’s entrance in the seventh inning of Game 6 of the World Series with the Cubs leading, 7-2.

Without missing a beat, Maddon replied, “I promise you, you’re happy I did.”

Another fan told Maddon, “You guys killed us. It was so scary.”

Again, Maddon didn’t flinch.

“That’s the way it’s supposed to happen,” he said.

Later, during the formal part of the program, I sat down with Maddon and conducted a lengthy question-and-answer session for those attending the event.

Maddon answered every question I had about his strategic choices in Games 6 and 7, choices that remain a topic of conversation even in the afterglow of the Cubs’ first World Series triumph since 1908.

Audience members also asked questions, and Maddon’s answers to two of them provided greater insight into his thinking; I included them in this story.

We started with a softball, then got into the good stuff.

Q: What have the last few weeks been like since winning the World Series?

A: Pretty simple, actually. I’ve been hiding.

First of all, the parade. You all saw the parade. OK, we’re going to have a parade. Of course, that was necessary. They wanted to do it on Monday. We said, “No, no, no, it’s got to be Friday. We’ve got to get it out of town.”

They set it up on Friday — two days after we won. You go out to Wrigley, and our buses are lined up. Then the buses pull out, and they make that turn off of Clark onto Addison, and it was like, “You’ve got to be kidding me.” I’ve never seen so many people in my life.

We go down Addison, then get on Lake Shore to head downtown and eventually end up in Grant Park. I’m up on stage talking and out on the horizon there were people. I called it, “Cub-stock 2016.” I really thought before I got up there that that’s what Richie Havens saw at Woodstock back in the day. It was wall-to-wall people.

That was the first salvo. That’s when it hit you that these people are exactly what they had said. They were thirsty for this moment. You go down Michigan, and even the perpendicular streets, Chestnut or whatever, people were lined up way back on those streets just to catch a quick glance.

It began with that. We didn’t go out in Chicago after that. We just stayed in our apartment. President Obama gave me a phone call, talked about wanting us to go the White House. We (Maddon and his wife Jaye) got in our RV, drove all the way back to Tampa. We’ve been hiding out.

We went to the Lafayette-Lehigh football game about 10 days ago (Maddon is a 1976 graduate of Lafayette). We had a great time up there. That was pretty much our first exposure to people responding to the championship. And now we’re here. This is actually the second event we’ve done since the end of the season.

We’ve been hiding a bit. It was a pretty crazy year. We had very little down time. I don’t need to be fed by going to talk shows or giving speeches. I prefer trying to re-gather my momentum. This is just one year. For me, for us, it’s about next year and the years after that. I know if I take care of myself this offseason I’ll have a much better chance of doing a better job next year.

Q: Let’s talk about Games 6 and 7. Let’s start with Chapman, Game 6, 7-2 lead, seventh inning. Why did you bring him in?

A: They had two guys on and I did not like who was coming up to hit. I just wanted to make sure that we got through that with that same kind of lead. If you don’t – if I had brought someone else in and the lead diminished at all — I thought the number of pitches he would have had to throw later in the game would have been even more impactful against him.

There was no Game 8. There was no Game 7 at that point. It’s different, just a different situation compared to anything you would do in the regular season. We couldn’t afford to lose any more games.

And in the bullpen, some of our guys had been hurt at the end of the year, Stropey (Pedro Strop) with the bad knee and (Hector) Rondon with a bad triceps. Of course, there was C.J. (Edwards) and (Mike) Montgomery to utilize also. But we could not lose any more games. I thought by keeping the game in tow right there, if we were to add on, I could get (Chapman) out on the backside, try to do a reverse kind of thing.

I thought the moment was right. It was a meaty part of their batting order. (No. 3 hitter Francisco) Lindor hit the groundball to first base (to end the inning). And the next inning, I think the guy who really bothered me was (Jose) Ramirez. Ramirez, to me, is a really good player.

It was really a bad part of the batting order right there. I didn’t know and trust anybody else. I thought if we could at least hold serve there and move the needle in our favor that I would be more comfortable going with the other guys in the latter part of the game.

As it turned out, that’s how it’s played. But it was one of those moments, I thought to myself to tell ‘Bos’ (pitching coach Chris Bosio) to get somebody ready in case we were to score a couple of runs. All of a sudden, Rizz (Anthony Rizzo) hits the (two-out, two-run) homer (in the ninth) and we’re scrambling to get Stropey ready. It was one hitter too late for me.

But otherwise, honestly, I really believe, and I think everybody who is a Cubs fan should be very happy that I brought Aroldis in at that moment and not save him.

Q: That was a question I was going to ask, too. With a 9-2 lead in the ninth, what happened there? It was just a scramble? You guys just weren’t prepared?

A: It happened so quickly. If it was a five-point lead, I was still considering leaving him in the game right there … The negligent part there was not having someone warm up in case we did add on. We did. And then we got him out after four pitches.

Q: OK, you win Game 6. Now it’s Game 7. What was the pitching plan going in?

A: Hendricks to Jonny (Lester) to Aroldis. That was it. I didn’t want to use anybody but those three guys. That was it. I talked to everyone before the game. I told (catcher) David Ross actually the day before. I called him into the office and told David, “Listen, this is what I’m going to do tomorrow. I want you to be aware of it in advance. And I want you to be the guy who goes down and warms Jonny up in the bullpen and brings him right into the game.”

Kyle had kind of a tough third inning, kind of an awkward third inning (facing six hitters, allowing one run). I didn’t know where he was quite frankly in that game that night. Kyle was so valuable for us. But he’s the kind of guy, it goes very quickly. You have to be prepared. Again, there is no Game 8. It’s just a different set of circumstances.

If the game is played in May or June, you can let it fly a little bit more. If it gets away and you lose that game, that’s OK. But you can’t lose this game. Because he had a tough third, we started Jonny’s clock. I didn’t want to get it going that early, but we did. Then Kyle has a nice fourth, and we get into the fifth. I know that I can’t keep Lester on the shelf too much longer. Otherwise, we would lose his ability to pitch in that game.

When a guy is coming out of the bullpen, you just can’t keep warming him up, warming him up, warming him up and then expect him to be good out there. I talked to David and said, “How does he look?” David said, “He looks fabulous. He’s really sharp.” That was his comment to me.

I was looking for Kyle to get out of the fifth. He had Santana up (with two outs, none out). He gets him to two strikes and all of a sudden it’s ball four.

Q: Bad call . . . (Hendricks had appeared to strike out Santana with a well-placed pitch in the lower third of the strike zone, but plate umpire Sam Holbrook called the pitch a ball).

A: I heard about that. I didn’t know that from the side. But then here comes (Jason) Kipnis, which I did not like at all. All of a sudden, it can go from 5-1 to 5-3, which it eventually did do, anyway. But I wanted Lester on Kipnis. And I wanted Lindor (a switch-hitter) hitting right-handed. If you watch Lindor play, you would much prefer him hitting right-handed over left-handed.

So, why wait? There’s no reason to wait. Jonny is ready. He’s very sharp. Here comes Kipnis. He had already done so much against Jake Arrieta (double, two-run homer) the day before. So to me, it was just the right time to do it. He gets the dribbler in front of the plate — that was beautiful (Ross made a throwing error, advancing the runners to second and third). And the wild pitch was unbelievable. It hits David in the mask. There is nothing you can do about that.

But for me, it was all about timing. It all worked out really well – until the point when (Rajai) Davis hit the home run.

Q: Before the game, you had said at the press conference that Jonny was only coming in at the start of an inning. You reportedly had told Theo (Epstein), “Don’t worry about it, start of an inning.” Obviously, the game starts, things happen …

A: I said I didn’t want to bring him into a dirty inning. What happened was, we had a four-run lead and Santana was on first base. To me, that’s as clean as it gets. There is no threat for him to run. He’s not going to run right there. When Jonny came in, I said, “That guy does not even exist. Just work on the hitter.”

With two outs and him on first and a four-point lead, I thought there was no issue. I felt really comfortable about Jonny coming in.

Q: Chapman in the eighth. One on, two outs, 6-3 lead. (Brandon) Guyer hits the (RBI) double, Davis the home run, ties the game. When that ball left the yard, were you thinking, “Uh-oh?”

A: Yeah. Of course. Whenever you’re working a game as a manager, you always have these preconceived thoughts of how it’s going to work. When it doesn’t, it kind of blows up for a minute. You’re anticipating a positive result. I felt really good about it. Then all of a sudden it goes the other way.

The first thing I asked (bench coach) Davey Martinez was, “Who do we have coming up?” I had to focus on the next inning immediately. It’s definitely a shot to the chin, man. It staggers you a bit, no question. Anybody who says otherwise is not telling the truth.

It definitely is a blow. But you gather yourself as quickly as you can. For me, that was, “What are we doing next offensively?” It was awkward. It was unusual. It was one of those things you did not expect to see. But it happened. It just put us back a little bit.

I hate team meetings. I think it’s a regurgitation of the same bullcrap … But I had three meetings during the course of the season – a meeting before the season, a meeting after the All-Star break, a meeting before the first playoff game. Going into the first playoff game, the one thing I wanted them to understand and know was that something bad is going to happen. And when something bad happens, we have to keep our wits about us.

My experience has been that in playoff games, when you’re in the dugout, watching the other team, you can see it in their eyes when you’ve got ‘em. You can see it in their eyes. You can see how they look at the dirt, how they’re not focusing, how they’ve lost the energy. I didn’t want us to ever be that group. I wanted them to understand that. Before the playoffs began, I said, “We cannot be that group of people. You have to expect something bad is going to happen. And how we react to that is going to set us apart.”

We talked about all that. And eventually Jason Heyward calls a team meeting after the home run. I wasn’t even involved, which I absolutely love. Jason gets them together after that awful moment. I guess it was probably the most (important) 15-minute rain delay in the history of baseball.

(Crew chief) Joe West told me it shouldn’t be long. I’m thinking to myself, that’s fine. But you just see how it permitted us to regroup, not only individually, but as a group. To have an opportunity to have one of your guys call a meeting and re-focus them in that particular moment – that’s really unusual. It probably never happened, I would imagine.

That was the perfect storm, I guess.

 

Q: Chapman, in an underrated part of the game, pitched a 1-2-3 ninth. He ends up throwing 97 pitches combined in Games 5, 6 and 7. Do you think he wore down?

A: Honestly, I don’t. In Game 5, he threw (42), then he had his day off. And then it was 20 in Game 6. We really tried to limit the number of pitches he threw prior to that.

At the end of the season, you remember we played it like spring training the last 15 days. He did not throw that much. We tried to keep him on an every-third-day schedule to throw. And even before that, I didn’t use him one-plus. I tried it early on, but it didn’t work out really well, so I got away from that, kept him at one inning, did a lot of 15-to-20 pitch gigs. And at the end he was on a really structured program.

In the playoffs, he wasn’t overwhelmed, either. We thought by the time we got to the end, that’s what he was there for, man. He was there to be that horse. He’d come in and have conversations all the time in my office. We’d talk through this before every game. What are you capable of? What can you do? What can you not do? The conversation was pretty much going on throughout the entire playoffs.

Q (from the audience): Why was Aroldis throwing fastballs to Rajai Davis?

A: Here’s part of that whole deal, too. The game started with Willson Contreras catching. One of my concerns with the whole setup was that once I brought David (Ross) in, Willie was out. Then when Aroldis came in, it was going to be David.

I like catching Willson with Aroldis. David Ross is fabulous. But I think a lot of it was the fact that David had not caught Aroldis as much as Willson had, or even Miggy. You saw when Aroldis went out to pitch the ninth inning (after Montero replaced Ross), he threw a lot more sliders that inning. It wasn’t because he wasn’t feeling his fastball. It was just a different philosophy with the catcher.

It’s just the way it works. When everything is going on, and everything is spinning very quickly, sometimes the pitcher is just going to go solely with what the catcher says and not shake him off to do something else. If Willy was catching, you would have seen more sliders right there.

Q (from the audience): Do you call Chapman’s pitches for him?

A: No. I’m just saying before the game began, we did talk a lot about throwing sliders and more breaking pitches, not just right there, but in general. I think he threw 14 or 15 straight fastballs with David back there in that moment. If he had just thrown one or two sliders, it’s different.

I go back to that two-week period when we had clinched and Aroldis was pitching every third day just to get ready for the playoffs, he threw tons of sliders really well, and effectively. You’re right. It’s pitch selection and location, not just pounding fastballs. A slider might have been a better pitch right there. But when you switch catchers up like that, that can be part of the issue.

Q: The Baez bunt. 3-2 pitch, one out, Heyward on third with the score tied in the ninth. What was your thinking there? (Baez struck out after fouling off the bunt attempt).

A: Javy strikes out over 80 percent of the time on a full count. He’s going to chase. (Bryan Shaw) could have thrown him anything. Jason Heyward is one of our best base-runners. If Javy puts that ball down anywhere … there were two things I thought he had a chance of doing. Making contact on a bunt and getting a ball he might actually take.

He normally swings on a full count. That’s just his M.O. The ball has to practically almost him for him not to swing. When he hit that home run off (Johnny) Cueto (in Game 1 of the Division Series), it was a full count. But for the most part when he gets to a full count, it’s not normally good. And Cleveland’s good at scouting. They know all this stuff. They’re very bright. And Javy is probably our best bunter in that situation.

Those were the reasons. I thought there was a better chance of him moving the baseball right there (with a bunt), as opposed to swing away.

(Baez actually struck out 18 times in 41 at-bats on 3-2 counts during the regular season, 43.9 percent. He had not struck out in his five previous postseason at-bats on 3-2, going 3-for-5 with the home run off Cueto).

 

Q: You mentioned the meeting with Heyward. When it was going on, were you aware of it?

A: Yes. All the guys were peeling off into the weight room. Davey said the guys were having a meeting. I said, “Good. Go for it.” They go down there, have their meeting. I go upstairs, I’m talking to (GM) Jed (Hoyer). The umpires had called, telling us how long it was going to take.

I’m up there, looking at my iPad, checking out the weather map. And that’s when I grabbed my dad’s hat. My dad passed away in 2002. He wore an Angels hat, the one with the big wing on it – I think it was the 1999 version. I have that hat with me everywhere I go. I took the hat out of my backpack, put it in the back of my pants. I had my hoodie on.

The rain delay permitted me to get my dad’s hat. I went back in the dugout, it was kind of a comforting, reassuring feeling knowing he was back there. I had my dad behind me there when Schwarber gets the knock (leading off the 10th), tags up, Zorilla (Ben Zobrist) with the ball down the line (for the go-ahead double). And who even talks about Miggy? (Miguel Montero). That was a big knock there by Miggy (to make it 8-6), a huge knock.

Q: None of us knows exactly what was said in the meeting, other than the players themselves.

A: I didn’t even know myself.

Q: Do you think they were upset with you?

A: I don’t think so. I don’t think so.

Q: Because of all that happened …

A: What happened was that Davis hit a home run. That’s all that happened. For me, it’s kind of interesting. Andrew Miller had (dominated) all the rest of the world, and we beat him up on that particular day.

It’s an easy narrative to say Aroldis was tired, and that’s why he got hit. He got hit because he threw a fastball down and in to Davis where he could get to it. If the fastball is located away or elevated at all, that play could not have happened.

It’s not unlike David (Ross) hitting a home run to dead center against Andrew Miller (in the sixth). It’s so unlikely that would happen also. It wasn’t an issue of velocity for Chapman. It was just where the pitch was thrown.

Q: Last question. Do you have a favorite memory from the whole experience?

A: Game 4 against the Giants (in the Division Series). I really believe if we don’t win that game, we don’t do what we did.

I thought Cueto had a really good chance of shutting us down back at Wrigley. Game 4, all the manipulations that permitted us to win the game, Javy’s knock, (Willson) Contreras’ knock, that’s what stands out to me as being the biggest part of the postseason. Beating San Francisco there in that game. If it goes to Game 5, we might not be celebrating.

That was it for me. I’m sitting in the dugout, all I could think about was Cueto the whole game. Cueto against us at home, we beat him 1-0 on a homer. But if you look at our numbers against him … it’s awful. We just don’t hit this guy. I know we had Jonny Lester to pitch, absolutely that’s cool. But coming back at home with Cueto pitching, I don’t know if we could have advanced.

The Bears Who Knew? Outside Analysis 11/17

I'm not going out on a limb and saying the Bears are going to make the playoffs but no one in the city thought they'd even be anywhere near .500. I went into the game swearing the Bears would be foolish not to draft an NFL Ready quarterback next year. In every game Cutler has bobbled a snap (regardless who is the center) and thrown an interception. That is until the faced the Rams. This Langford kid they drafted out of Michigan State and Kadeem Carey seem like our future. We already know half these guys are going to be gone within the next couple years so we wonder what our team will look like and let me say I hope Adam Gase is our head coach in waiting. If they let him go anywhere I will stop watching Bears football. The coordinators we have on offense and defense are working some serious wonders  which is why I'm willing to think that the Bears can beat Denver to reach .500. And by going .500 the rest of the way we might be in the conversation for the playoffs. Strangely enough I picked this team to go 7-9 even if we had all the talent in the world based upon the difficulty of our schedule. I'm not sure what to make of this team with the spit and glue lathered on this bunch. Football is a game of time. It takes time to get a player where he needs to be and time to turn a team around. But does one have the time in his career to do what he was picked to do especially with all of these head injuries that seem to pop up every week? I've heard it said that the reason we have these injuries is because the equipment keeps getting better so people are willing to take risks. Maddening as it seems there have been some high profile crimes involving former players and the topic of head injuries came up. I have friends who are starting their kids in tackle football and I wonder if they would have any second thoughts with the reports coming out now. And do we have time to sit around and wait to see what a winning Bears football team looks like? And for all of you who are looking at Jay Cutler and thinking about this new kinder gentler signal caller who can heal quickly and make some good throws as our future realize the man is playing for once to save his skin. He's not playing for the good of the team he's auditioning for the next team who might trade for him or pick him up in free agency. The current crop of college players cannot be so bad that we are afraid to draft one of them. I know how touchy it is to pick a qb and have him turn into Johnny Manziel in the blink of an eye. Almost like picking a pitcher who never makes it out of the minors. The difference being we don't have to watch him stink it up every five days.

Epic Fail - Outside Analysis 11/12/15

There is nothing to connect these baby bears to previous Cub teams who have choked. No connection to the 2003, 2007 and 2008 teams. The 1984 team or the 1969 team. These kids weren't even alive in '84 and truly babies when the Cubs choked in 2003. They were built to go into the post season and defeat the best of the best like they did in Pittsburgh, (even though we knew they were better than the Pirates to begin with) and St. Louis. To face the Metropolitans and not even put up a fight put these baby bears into the conversation about the curse. These kids weren't cursed. They know nothing about the goat or hardly any history of this franchise at all. There was no one to whisper in their ears about what usually is the eventuality of this franchise. They're in it now. They've had a taste of losing and losing badly which is something they didn't have to face this year at all even when they were no hit by the Phillies. They didn't put their heads down and cry about it they just turned around and did it to another playoff team the Dodgers.

They are off on their search for pitching talent and possibly another center fielder in case Dexter Fowler doesn't come back. But now having gone through this experience why should we sit through another possible 98 win season, though I would say probably another maybe 90 win season, to see if they'll only choke again. I don't see the fire in them that the Royals had in getting back to the World Series and winning it. Truly I put all of this on the manager. He may have had them ready in the previous rounds against Pittsburgh and ST. Louis but when they were really supposed to shine the pulled a “Casey at the Bat” and struck out big time.

I'm not mad that they got swept. I'm upset still which is why it took me so long to write this. I'm mad that they didn't show up to play at all. No matter how bad the pitching was and certainly the only other team who had a hotter second half were the Mets but this version of the bash brothers shouldn't have even blinked. Once again I'm not mad they got swept I'm mad they didn't act like they belonged. They swept the Mets during the season regardless so this was not a team they hadn't seen.

Even though we took two of three over several months because of weather against the Royals it was obviously their time. It didn't matter who the Royals faced they would have won the series. I am happy for them as I picked them to be the American League representative against the Cubs and with the Cubs ability to win on the road and truly built like an American league team it would have, should have been on hell of a series. Now these boys know what it is to be a Cub and fail in an epic way. Theo Epsteins teams in Boston won multiple championships though they had to lose epically their first real shot at it then barely get past the Yankees, I sure hope this group of baby bears don't have to go a similar route to win it all.

I agree with all of it but one thing: This Cubs team cannot be better than any Epstein team in Boston until they bring home a title.  No title means this team is not better than the RedSox team down 3-0 against the Skankees to rally in game 4 down one run, to steal an extra inning game, and then complete a 4 game in a row comeback against the Skanks.  I really like this Cubs team.  They now have gone as far as any Cubs team in my lifetime.  But to be better than the 84 Cubs and 03 Cubs who were one game away, or even 5 outs away, means that they need to win the NLCS to be considered better than those two Cub clubs.  Just my 10 cents...

Next Year Is Now Godfrey Logan Outside Analysis 10/14/15

Next Year is now Cub fans. It is understood that no team is promised anything in the post season but this team that beat a 100 win team in the St. Louis Cardinals prove that this is their year. Of the Three teams with the longest world series drout, the Red Sox, White Sox and Cubs two of the three have exorcised their demons and one of them more than once. It’s been ten years since the rival White Sox won their championship and the city has been waiting for the Cubs to do the same thing. What took them so long. Sure it hasn’t happened yet but this team is better than any team Theo Epstein fielded in Boston. There is no reliance on any one single player to do the heavy lifting. Joe Maddon has proved that no player on this team is above the other no matter how long they’ve been in Chicago and how many losing seasons they faced to get here. Had we stopped at Kris Bryant this team wouldn’t have gotten past Pittsburgh much less made the playoffs. Kyle Schwarber is the truth. In my opinion the rookie of the year though I am afraid pitchers will have figured him out next year and his numbers will fall but this is not next year and who knows his numbers might actually improve over time in Joe Maddon’s capable hands.
It has been said that no team can be an all or nothing team. But the Cubs scare the hell out of opposing pitchers because anyone of them could hit a moon shot. This is not a small ball team by any means. You;re not going to have a lot of stolen bases among these players. And they still struggle with men in scoring position but one the flip side they are the best road team in baseball. I can imagine Cardinal fans laughing at the 4-0 game one shutout in Busch Stadium. That must have had them saying this is the real Cubs team and just like most seasons their dreams would end there. Considering these two teams have never met in the playoffs these Cubs will never be taken lightly as long as Theo is running the show.
Taking into consideration the teams that are left the Cubs could still use some fortune on their side. I can say I am more afraid of the Dodgers than I am of the Mets. The Cubs swept the season series against the Mets including a four game series. But these aren’t those same Mets. Or are they? The Dodgers are desperate and they’re playing like they’re ready to get the season over there. With the next game for the Cubs not to be played until at least Saturday likely the Cubs have time for a few more magic shows and slumber parties put on by Joe Maddon to keep his boys loose. Maybe another petting zoo. But to be serious for a moment fans. If the Cubs win it all this year, wonderful but Theo won three with Boston. This team being as talented as they are should surpass that number for all of this to be worth it. The White Sox have been languishing near mediocre since 2005. With only a single playoff appearance since then and a manager walking away from the team with the season still not over because of his mouth and the fans tiring of him. Sure we had the same with Lou Piniella but he had the best three year span of any manager for the Cubs in a long time. This may be the year but if it stops there it means nothing. Even the biggest Sox fan of them all is jumping on the bandwagon. Sorry POTUS but we don’t want you. We don’t need anyone else jumping on where there already is no room. Leave it to the long sufferers to enjoy over and over again. The Bulls won six and still they’re behind the ’85 Bears as the most prolific team in the city and they only won once in the Super Bowl era. I don’t want to be like them where we haven’t beaten New England more than once since that white wash in ’86. This city and their fans deserve to see this for at least five championships before we’re happy and once again the best baseball team in the city and they’re talking about us like the Cardinals. I want to see two more presidents in office before we’re done.Go Cubs Go and don’t ever stop.

So the Bears for a moment showed fight and two ways to look at it is 15 more game to improve or this might be the best of it. A lot of accolade throughout the broadcast for Cutlers control of the flow of the game then he is excoriated when he throws a late pick.

The most positive sign of improvement was on the defensive side of the ball until late in the second half. It could be said they looked competent. Would I go out on a limb and say the surpass their record from last year? I'd say only by a couple of games on the low end and by maybe four games on the high end which would make them a playoff team. Considering they won only five games last year.

During the game I started to miss Brandon Marsall. It was pretty obvious that Cutler missed him as well because there were a number of times when he'd just throw the ball where no one was in the hopes Marshall would appear out of nowhere and grab it. The reality of what Coach Fox has to work with was on display for the league and the fan base to see. And it was pretty ugly at times. I am not completely sold on John Fox either. He might have done well in Denver but let's not forget he had one of the Manning brothers at QB and still got rolled by Seattle in a Superbowl and could never beat New England. If you cannot win the big game how can you beat a division foe like Green Bay. The rest of league would have you think they're better than aforementioned teams but the reality is the have a really good quarterback and that's it.

I trust Fox's coordinators more than I trust Fox where the ownership is treating him like the next Mike Ditka. Frankly what I saw was the next Mark Trestman. And I fear by mid season there will be a mutiny on the offensive side because everyone will start to wonder when Fox will bench Cutler. Granted we have nothing at back up but RG 3 might be a better option. I'm sure he'd be more than happy to get out of Washington. And we might be crazy enough to bring back Mccown if even for the sake of familiarity. I wouldn't be surprised that Cutler wants out of Chicago as much as Chicago wants him out. The offense looks serviceable enough to surprise some people if we had another quarterback. Matt Forte is finally looking like he;s worthy of not only another contract but the praise for all the numbers he's put up. He's not in the conversation with Walter Payton but we'll be forgetting any other running back we've had since sweetness. But we can do without using Forte as our red zone weapon when it comes to passing. This is where Marshall was automatic. All in all the Bears are a “C” level team and they played like it on Sunday.

Outsideanalysis.com Godfrey Logan 9/18/15

This Could Be It September 13, 2015 Godfrey Logan

Two thing Chicago Cub fans have in common with Kansas City Royals fans is long suffering and a better than above average chance to not only make the World Series but win it. 2014 the Royals made it on the strength of their pitching and this year combined with their improved hitting as well as pitching it’s possible that the Royals make it back to the World Series and their opponent could be the Chicago Cubs. Call me crazy for this one but this team is far better than the Dusty Baker led team in 2003. Full of veterans most of them coming over in mid season trades but a far better pitching staff in ’03 than now. This years team will not be able to rely on their pitching unless Jake Arrieta pitches every game. But I am willing to go out on a limb and say that the Cubs could very well not only make the 2015 World Series with their band of rookies but win it because of said rookies. Now some of these guys may be having the best years that they will ever have and then turn into the Washington Nationals: plenty of hype and not much else. The expectation is that this club will compete for years to come and win multiple championships like the Boston Red Sox under Theo Epstein. Unless Epstein is able to do what the Blackhawks have done and maintain a solid core and add to it for the next several years then expect the Nationals scenario to play out and for things to get ugly quickly. Once the smell of a winner starts to pervade the north side of Chicago you’re treated like liars if you cannot make it hold up. Not to mention the influx of rats that have taken over the neighborhood with the construction on the ball park. Some nest having been disturbed all in the name of progress and of course money. It isn’t just the nature of the Cubs that is being changed it is also the upgrade in housing pricing people out of an already over priced part of town. But sports is never a static situation. The Cubs will never be the Yankees without enough fingers and toes to count their championships. The Cubs will eventually as all teams do come up short somewhere and depending what they’ve done up until then and if they cannot pick themselves up the neighborhood will again become a ghost town. Though many have said that if the Cubs do win it all it means the end of the world and all that building will be for naught.
Some might say a K.C. V.S. Chicago world Series might be boring and only seen by their faithfuls but you’d be watching two teams with fantastic records but what will stand out the most to me is whether the souped up pitching staff of the Cubs can handle the Royals hitters. And whether the Cubs will have to out hit their own pitching to win. I propose that if the Cubs are the road team in this scenario they have the edge with Kyle Schwarber hitting dh. This kid has the hottest bat of of any of the rookies on the Cubs. His loud shots will keep the Cubs in it and take it to a game 7 if the pitching can hold on and once again Jake Arrietta will have to pitch probably three of the games in the series. But you heard it from me the Cubs can and possibly will make the World Series in 2015.

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