Reflections: Game 3

My wife said I should do a quick blog post the day after each World Series game to kind of recap my feelings since there's no documentary crew following me around as the Cubs go for their first championship since 1908. So here we go on Game 3.

This season, the Cubs are 8-1 when they've scored at least one run in the game. Obviously they've lost every game in which they failed to score. Well, Friday night, the Cubs failed to score, falling 1-0 in the game and now trailing the series two games to one.

As many of you know, I do freelance reporting for the newspaper here, typically during the Fall when they need extra people to cover all the high school football games in the county. But the beauty of being a freelance writer is I can say I'm not available if I want to. Well, last night I was unavailable to cover a game as the Cubs were hosting the first World Series game in Wrigley Field since they lost Game 7 in 1945.

I settled in to my recliner, turned on the game and was expecting a high scoring game as the wind was blowing out, which is usually a precursor to a lot of runs. Instead, both pitchers pitched great with the only run coming on an RBI single.

It was a frustrating evening to say the least. Baseball isn't a lot of fun when you don't score and last night, we didn't score. I'm not quite in panic mode, yet, but I'd be lying if I said I wasn't close. The bad news is we have to win three of the next five games to win the World Series. The good news is that, over the course of the season, the Cubs essentially won three out of every five games they played. Granted, it wasn't against the best team in the American League all year, but three out of five is what we've done and it's what we need now. It just means the Cubs won't be able to win the series at home, but after 108 years, I don't think Cubs fans will care if they win it all somewhere else.

As for tonight's game, I'm certainly anxious. I'm still struggling to truly enjoy the experience, but I think I've given up on that. I'm just a nervous fan and I'm going to be ok with that. I've got faith than an offense that has been so good all year will eventually find their rhythm. I just need it to be sooner rather than later.