Come To Think of It...September Distress Equals October Success

I know how tough it has been for Cubs fans to experience this recent losing streak, because I am a Cubs fan myself. Yes, they have lost seven out of eight, but I'm here to tell you why it's not time to head out onto the ledge just yet.

Recent championship teams have experienced rough Septembers, too, and they have gone on to win the World Series.

Consider (courtesy of BleedCubbieBlue.com):

2007 Red Sox: Had a seven-game lead on Sept. 4. Then, they lost eight of 12 and saw their lead drop to one game on Sept. 19. They finished the season 6-3 to win the AL East by two games and had an 11-3 record in the postseason.

2006 Cardinals: Had a seven-game lead on September 19. Then, they lost seven in a row and eight of nine to see the lead drop to a half game, with three games left. They won two of the three and clinched on the season's last day, even though they lost. Had an 11-5 record in the postseason.

2005 White Sox: Had a nine-game lead on Sept. 7. Then, they lost 10 of 14, including two in extra innings. The lead dropped to 1.5 games on Sept. 22 (and would have gone to 0.5 games if Grady Sizemore hadn't lost a ball in the sun vs. the Royals). After that, they won eight of their last 10 regular-season games and went 11-1 in the postseason.

2004 Red Sox: Went 7-8 between Sept. 9 and 24, but they still won the wild card (by five games) and went 11-3 in the postseason.

2003 Marlins: Not to be discussed in polite company.

2002 Angels: Lost eight of their last 13 regular-season games, but won the wild card by six games and went 11-5 in the postseason.

2001 Diamondbacks: Went 10-11 in September and saw a 4.5-game lead dwindle to 1.5 games. They won four of their last six regular-season games and went 11-6 in the postseason.

2000 Yankees: Stumbled into the postseason by losing six in a row, winning two, then losing their final seven regular-season games (overall, losing 13 out of their last 15!) and seeing a nine-game lead on Sept. 13 shrink to 2.5 at season's end, winning the AL East only because the Red Sox couldn't play better than .500 ball in September.

They had a mediocre 87-74 record (the worst of any of the 2000 postseason entrants) but went 11-5 in the postseason.

Yep, all eight of these teams struggled in the month of September, like the Cubs are doing now, and all went on to greater heights, like the Cubs will (hopefully).

I actually heard Jim Memelo of WGN Radio talk about this during his Sports Central show over the weekend, but I chose BleedCubbieBlue because they did a good job of running through each team and how they did. And let's face it; it was easy to copy and paste.

So does this guarantee a WS for our Cubs this year? Of course not. But it should make us feel better. Come to think of it, the Brewers lost again on Monday, putting the Cubs up four-and-a-half games in the division. That makes us feel real good.