What Really Beat The Chicago Cubs

Over a week ago, when the National League playoff bracket was set, the Cubs appeared to be the favorite to advance to the World Series.

Why wouldn't they be the favorite? They had the best pitching in the NL playoff bracket, with Ryan Dempster, Carlos Zambrano, Rich Harden, and Ted Lilly. They had six hitters who held averages over .280 during the regular season, and five who hit twenty or more home runs. Oh, and they were playing the Los Angeles Dodgers in the first round.

There is no way to know for sure what kinds of thoughts were going through the Cubs heads, but they certainly did not have a first-round exit in sight.

Joe Torre's Dodgers were on an eight game losing streak and 4.5 games out of first place on August 29. Since then, his team got hot, and won enough games to finish in first place in the less-than-mediocre NL West. Despite being in first place, the Dodgers only finished six games above the .500 mark.

If you are the Cubs, you see that you finished thirteen games above the Dodgers, you see how strong your team is, and you probably begin to overlook your opponent.

After all is said and done in this kind of upset, the players from the losing side never admit to taking their opponent lightly.

The Dodgers were able to sweep this series because they were overlooked, and they came in knowing they were the underdog with nothing to lose. Torre's boys played their own game because they didn't feel any pressure.

By the sixth inning of last night's series finale, the Cubs seemed to have accepted their fate. Derrek Lee, generally very composed, struck out, threw his bat, and slammed his helmet into the ground.

Alfonso Soriano, who was expected to lead the Cubs offense, went 1-14 in the series, and sat glumly on the bench while his team had nine more outs to score three runs. In general, the Cubs were unenthusiastic. It is a shame that the Cubs will have to wait another year to end the curse, but they brought their fate upon themselves.

A word of advice to the Phillies: Don't take the Dodgers lightly.