There’s nothing particularly significant about early June in relation to Major League Baseball.  By now teams have revealed themselves either as contenders or pretenders.  A little over sixty games have gone by, but it still feels like spring training.  Kind of like thirty-two cars slowly circling a track waiting for the checkered flag to come down.

Sure, they get the front page on sports sections, but it feels like filler below larger issues like  the NBA, Spygate, Tiger, or the NHL playoffs (well, maybe not the NHL) 

But as the colors of spring begin to wilt and dry, baseball is predictably pushed into the arid spotlight like a stage mother shoving her eager to please yet still green ingenue onto the Apollo stage after a few decent stabs at a Christina Aguilera song during family karaoke.

And as we meet our season head on, we find the usual suspects begin their surge.  Boston, amused by the Rays adorable success, have picked them up, placed them at the children’s table where they belong, and sat back down to stare down the Yankees.  The Phillies, Diamondbacks, and Angels, all preseason favorites, have grabbed first place by the throat in their divisions.

And the Cubbies, whose shirtless fans surround the friendly confines like soused Buddha's, have watched with nervous joy their team actually live up to expectations and take the lead in the N.L. Central.

But just as the Cubs stepped out of the garden path carved through spring flowers and took their first step into the Sahara Desert that is July and August, they found their mission in jeopardy as Alfonso Soriano went down with a broken finger.

The Cubs went 9-5 with Soriano out of the lineup earlier this year when he sat out with a calf sprain.  But there’s a difference between losing a player in the spring than the summer.  In the spring, players are still finding their groove.  Soriano was slumping when he went on the DL in April, yet his injury last night came as Soriano was beginning to hit his stride at the plate and in the outfield.

While he can run on a treadmill for the next six weeks, he won’t be able to take any swings, so count on a few weeks after the injury before he becomes an asset again.

The good news for the Cubs is that Albert Pujols is also on the mend for the streaking Cardinals, who seem to be the only adversary in the NL Central. 

People are saying this could be the year for the Cubs.  And Soriano’s injury might be a test from the baseball God’s to see how bad they want it.  Remember Shilling’s injury, or Trent Green’s season ending injury before the Rams went on to win a Super Bowl.   It’ll be interesting to see if the Cubs can lean on character aside from their farm system during the next few months.  If they pass, expect large pale bellies smelling of Budweiser and cake batter to be jiggling down Waveland Avenue come October.   


- Posted on June 12, 2008