Gone But Not Forgotten: Chicago Cubs Pitching Staff of 2004

It was only five years ago that the Chicago Cubs were entering the 2004 MLB season with one of the most dominant staffs to ever exist. Entering the season, the Chicago Cubs boasted a staff headlined but ace fireballers Kerry Wood and Mark Prior, up and coming wild man Carlos Zambrano, talented incumbent Mark Clement, and finally the return of prodigal son, Greg Maddux. Everything was in place.

Then it all started to crumble. Wood and Prior develop arm injuries. Matt Clement can't string back to back successful starts together. The bullpen blew up on a nightly basis, and even Steve Stone, long-time cubs play-by-play analyst loses his job for criticizing the teams lack of focus, and the storybook ending the cubs were looking for vanishes quicker than cinderella's pumpkin carriage at midnight.

The few positives in Greg Maddux's revival after a lackluster '03 campaign and the emergence of future ace Carlos Zambrano, both go up in flames as Chicago loses six of their last eight and misses the playoffs.

Fast Forwarder: The year is now 2009. The Cubs are coming off back to back division titles for the first time in more than 50 years. The pitching staff is again seemingly just as dominate, however not as heralded in the historical sense.

Led by a group of veterans, the staff ace is now the aforementioned Carlos Zambrano. He is followed by two of the most consistent workhorses in Ryan Dempster and Ted Lilly. Mix in hired gun Rich Harden, a 2008 mid-season acquisition and young hurler Sean Marshall, and the Cubs are ready to dominate once again. Right?

The answer is a mumbled "i don't know." Fact is, Carlos Zambrano has flirted with serious arm problems and has become a glaring injury risk. Rich Harden has spent almost as much time on the DL as he has in uniform over the past four seasons.

Ted Lilly and Ryan Dempster are both solid, yet each have their own questionable histories (Dempster's being a part of that miserable bullpen in 2004 for the Cubs). And Sean Marshall? Well, let's just hope he doesn't exercise the same path as former young guns, Prior or Wood.

Fact remains, the Cubs have been strong enough to make the playoffs the past two years and should have made at least one appearance in the World Series. They are strong enough to make it once again, as none of the national league central opponents have made any major moves.

In addition, GM Jim Hendry has re-opened trade talks with San Diego for ace Jake Peavy. Cubs fans are again salivating at the mouth at the hopes for once again, a run at a world series berth.

Lets just hope the curse of the Billy goat doesn't get in the way!