Come To Think of It...Dempster to Start Cubs' Playoff Opener at Wrigley Field

Does the picture of the Cubs World Series tickets jinx the Cubs? I don't think so. And hopefully, the starting pitching won't either.

In a not-so-surprising move, Cubs manager Lou Piniella announced that Ryan Dempster, and not Carlos Zambrano, would open the first round of the playoffs for the Cubs. Not that Dempster doesn't deserve it, he's had a great season. And he's been especially good at home. But isn't Big Z supposed to be the ace? Doesn't he make $17+ million per year to lead big games like these?

Well, even Zambrano seems fine with the decision, which scares me even more. If his shoulder was sound, I would imagine he'd be fighting for that largely ceremonial distinction. And again, while it may be viewed as largely ceremonial in nature, it does mean only Dempster is likely to pitch more than once in the series if needed.

Look, there's no argument from me here. Dempster has the better record and Zambrano has been wildly inconsistent, especially of late. His two starts since the no-hitter have been awful.

And while we're at it, where's the dominating Rich Harden that we saw earlier in the season? He's still achieving results, but his fastball is topping out at 91 mph lately. And he hardly threw any breaking balls in yesterday's start against the Mets.

Cubs TV analyst Bob Brenly speculated that perhaps Harden is trying to set up the Mets, knowing he might face them in the playoffs, if they beat out Milwaukee for the wild card. But I don't know if I buy what he's selling here.

Hey, maybe Dempster and Ted Lilly will pitch lights out and a less-than-full-effective Zambrano and Harden will be enough to get us by. But I wouldn't count on that. Especially not for the entire postseason run.

It's clear to me that the Cubs will need both to be very good, and possibly at their best, for the team to have any chance of going to the Series this year. Lilly has never been a big-time pitcher, and we all recall how he pitched poorly, then lost his cool against Arizona last year, throwing his glove to the ground in a Zambrano-like mini-meltdown.

And even though Dempster has had a terrific year, a new season is starting, one that he has had no experience with. I like his competitiveness, moxie, and grit, but let's face it, he's unproven in these situations. Who knows what we'll get.

So I show you the Cubs' World Series tickets because that is the goal, and we shouldn't shy away from it. And I also do it to show you that we shouldn't be concerned about black cats, Bartman, or billy goats. Jinxes do not exist; bad players and lousy management has done in the Cubs all these years.

But this year seems different, it really does. Maybe I'm drinking the Cubs' kool-aid, but I like this team's chances. But only if Zambrano and Harden are up to the task.

Come to think of it, strap it on, it's going to be a wild ride.