The Bell Lap

This is not a drill.

The Cubs are in first place with nine games left after a stunning series win against the Reds, not exactly blowing out the competition but still taking two of three in dramatic come-from-behind fashion.

This time the Cubs have a real leader at the helm, a guy who’s been there before and won it all. Going into this season, the Cubs had been managed by a World Series winner for exactly one game in my lifetime, an interim game managed by Joe Altobelli. Jim Frey didn’t win one, losing to his future Cub boss in 1980. Don Zimmer came up empty, as did Jim Riggleman and Dusty Baker.

Even though Lou Piniella’s 116-win Mariners team didn’t take the cake, his 1990 Reds stunned Tony LaRussa’s A’s, so I figure the Cubs would be in pretty good shape as far as leadership, going into the playoffs as an underdog.

And heroes, can we get even more heroes? While everyone’s talking about Carlos Zambrano, Ted Lilly notched his 20th quality start last night, keeping the Cubs close enough for late-inning heroics. Mark DeRosa hit Reds pitching like it was batting practice, boosting his 2007 numbers against Cincy to 24-for-45 (.533, and that's a batting average, folks, not a slugging percentage). Matt Murton delivered a clutch RBI (and yes, despite the umpire’s ruling the ball was caught, and Ryan Theriot tagged up just to be sure anyway). More solid bullpen work, this time from Bob Howry. Geovany Soto is giving us hopefully a taste of things to come for years down the road.

So while this isn’t a team that relies solely on marquee players to get the job done, even the guys who are there for their bats are coming up with sparkling defense. For a guy who used to be known as a defensive liability, Alfonso Soriano gunned down one of the league’s fastest runners at the plate by a good 20 feet. For a guy who used to be known as a defensive liability, Aramis Ramirez leaped and stabbed a line drive in mid-flight at third last night as if he’d been studying game films of Brooks Robinson from the 1970 World Series.

When on any given day you don’t know which guy is going to come up with that game-breaking hit or game-saving play, or which bullpen pitcher is going to slam the door, the opposition is on edge for all 27 outs on both sides of the ball.

Still, it’s not going to be that simple. The Cubs have an easy remaining schedule at first glance, but against teams that have given them trouble this year. The Brewers finish the season with two series at home, where they dominate, but head to Atlanta for four this weekend – which could break the race wide open – and close against the Padres, who are fighting for a playoff spot themselves.

Like Lou says, one series at a time. Keep winning series and the rest will take care of itself. They didn't get down when Aaron Harang shut them down Tuesday, and ugly or not, the Cubs managed to win two out of three in a series when they were outplayed. In a historical context, it didn't matter that the 1960 Pirates were outscored 55-27 in seven games against the Yankees, just like it didn't matter to the 1984 Padres (yeah, I said it...) that they lost Game 1 to the Cubs 13-0. Put those losses behind you and go out there trying to win more games than the other guys, and good things happen.

After 153 games, the Cubs are going into the bell lap in first place. They don’t have the record of the other division leaders, but first place is first place and as recent history shows, it’s not just a cliché that anything can happen in the playoffs.

I don’t want to hear talk about a goal of being division champs. Division champs are footnotes. It’s time for a World Championship. And looking at this team, how many of them will be back next year, how many young players are making an impact and are still on the upswing in their careers, this is only the beginning.