A Thousand Words

I had a big speech planned, but this unaltered image capture from before the final pitch of Sunday's game pretty much sums up how I feel after another increasingly spectacular loss, the Cubs' 23rd in their last 28 games.



(Editor's note: Okay, okay, the kid's index finger merely slipped off the bill of his helmet for a couple of frames, but hey, what's the electronic media without a little creative license being taken?)

What else can you say when you come back from six runs down in the 6th and get four in bottom of the 9th to send it to extra innings, only to have a sky-high popup bonk off of your third-baseman's head and put you on the business end of a fifth series sweep just in the month of May? Incidentally, as the saying goes, one more biscuit for breakfast and Aramis Ramirez' warning track fly out in the tenth reaches the basket and wins the game, and there's no 11th inning for him to Canseco that popup.

Still, there were good signs. First and foremost, the repeated comebacks. They didn't roll over and die this time when they were down several runs. It was unusual to see only two Cubs strike out, including pitcher Jae Kuk Ryu, while 18 Braves failed to make contact. When your team hits eight home runs everyone wants a piece of the action, but at least you can say Cub pitchers kept the ball in the zone, even if they did set a club record for a 130-year-old franchise.

But who knows? Not too long ago we saw a week go by with fewer runs scoring than the Cubs put up Sunday, and making regular contact gets runners on, over and in. Maybe the beginning of air-conditioning season in Chicago has sparked something. It was right about this time in 1998 that the Cubs got hot.

And maybe Tony Womack will be part of that spark. He's made an immediate impact with five singles in seven trips over two games. He's been on five playoff teams in the last seven seasons and in two of the last five World Series, which is the right kind of fresh blood to have in the clubhouse. Think Kenny Lofton.

With Womack playing five positions and adding another stolen base threat, that means there'll be another odd man out when trade season rolls around. Perhaps Neifi Perez's three-run triple and game-tying run scored in the bottom of the ninth is a sign of a man who knows his job is on the line. Are you listening, Jerry Hairston?

So what do we do now? Sit back, have some holiday barbecue and, like the old rallying cry for Ryne Sandberg, pretend it's June a little early.