Come to Think of It...Boon or Swoon?: We'll Learn Much about the Cubs in June

The June swoon. Remember that phrase? It used to symbolize the time of year that the Cubbies would fall hopelessly out of the race and begin chants of "wait 'till next year." 

While this year's club is too good for that to happen, there is some cause for trepidation, if not all-out concern. That's because the Cubs will now embark upon the part of their schedule where they play 23 of their next 32 games on the road. And the road has not been as friendly a place as the Friendly Confines, where they are 26-8 on the season.

The Cubs are currently 10-13 on the road, and while starting with the woeful Padres is certainly helpful, it is no guarantee of continued success.

Now, this is not something that is unique just to the Cubs. Many teams are enjoying great success at home, including, among others, the Red Sox, Tampa Bay and the dreaded Cardinals. Likewise, many teams are struggling on the road, prompting much speculation about why, with the hypothesis ranging from young players being more comfortable at home to simple coincidence.

And those damn Cardinals keep breathing down our necks. As good as the Cubs have been, they must continue to keep playing well as long as the red-birds are on our tail.

Here's hoping the Cards take it right up their Pujols.

And now back to our regularly scheduled article. As we know, the Cubs are indeed a very good team. Solid defense, timely hitting, patience at the plate, a decent rotation and excellent bullpen leave the baby bears with the best record in all of baseball to this point. But to be fair, they have played the greatest percentage of home games of all teams.

So now, as they embark upon this journey, let's hope that the team becomes road warriors as opposed to home heroes.

For once they get by this rough stretch of suitcase blues, we should all learn what this team is truly made of. Lou said it, DeRosa said it, and I'll say it: this will define what kind of team we truly have here. I mean, we know it's good, but just how good? 100 win good? Dare we say, world series contenders or NL Central pretenders?

In 1977, the Cubs were 22 games over the .500 mark on July 1st, losing eight of their last nine games enroute to a 81-81 record at season's end. They suffered from a .432 winning percentage on the road. That team wasn't as talented as this one. Still, it puts things in perspective.

Another useful statistic is this is the first time in over 100 years that the Cubs have had the best record in all of baseball in June.

Come to think of it, I like that second stat much better.