There Is a Mountain

There has been only one story this week about the Cubs -- we're doomed!

Doomed!

[deep breath] DOOOOOOOOOMMMMMMMMEEEEDDDDDDD!

Well, maybe we are. But weren't we doomed from day one of training camp? Hell, some pundits had us pegged as doomed day one of last year's training camp.

As much as I hate to agree with the half-witted Rick Morrissey, I have to give him some credit for this:

If you already have said the patient is dead, as most observers had said about the team before the season even began, what's the point of declaring him even deader now? Without the services of Wood and Prior, optimism already had been at trace levels.

There were only a few of us who thought the Cubs were realistic contenders. So to turn around and blame the baseball gods or a billy goat for the Cubs' problems would be cheap, not to mention just plain illogical.

I'll give Morrissey a pass on his use of the word "us" for now. But he's right – [poop] happens.

So what next? The immediate future seems to be a Walker/Mabry combo at first, with Mike Restovich taking on some of Mabry's bench role.

There has been gab about a trade for another first baseman, but who's out there that's even worth the bother? Doug Mientkiewicz' name keeps coming up, to which I say no, no, a thousand times no! Also mentioned are Carlos Pena, Eric Hinske, and Hee Seop Choi.

There are three problems with making a trade for any first baseman at this point. How much are we willing to pay for a stopgap? Will any of the trade possibilities provide be enough of an upgrade over Walker/Mabry/Restovich to make a trade feasible? And what are we going to do with the guy when Lee comes back?

I don't think any of the available guys is worth the bother. And even if a top-tier (or even second-tier) first baseman was available now, the cost would be too dear.

Dr. Phil gets the award for dumbest suggestion of the week with this:

Personally, I would applaud [Jacques] Jones if he showed up with a first baseman's mitt for early work on Friday in Saint Louis, and give Baker a ton of credit if he was willing to experiment with Joes at first, if only for a few days.

Dr. Phil has an ulterior motive. He's hot for the Cubs to recall Felix Pie and install him in right field. With this perspective, it makes sense to advocate for moving Jones to first. In the short term, it opens right field for Pie. In the long term, it opens right field for Pie, because Jones will probably get killed while getting on the job training at first.

Idiocy aside, there are two ways Cub Fan (and the Cubs, if any of them are reading) can go about their business. We can wallow in self-pity. Or we can suck it up and keep going forward.

My Page-a-Day Zen calendar came up with this nugget of joy yesterday, from poet Daniel Ignatow:

I should be content to look at a mountain for what it is, and not as a comment on my life.

Lee's injury is a mountain that we have no choice but to overcome. As long as we keep our heads up and don't cash in, it won't be a scathing commentary.