Butterflies...

“This is what we’ve waited for. This is it, boys, this is war…”

I haven’t been all that nervous about the upcoming playoffs over the past couple of weeks, but with the hours ticking down to the first pitch I’m starting to get butterflies.

I’ve let my Cub-fan-ness get in the way of objective reasoning in the past when going into a playoff series. With the Cubs being in the postseason for the second time in a row, and a reasonable expectation that the Cubs can make regular October appearances, it’s different this time around. The novelty of just getting there is gone.

It’s not unreasonable to expect that the team with the National League’s best record should march right through, but still, let’s take it one series at a time.

The Dodgers, by most indicators, are the weakest of the four NL playoff teams. They have the fewest wins, the fewest run scored and the lowest run differential, and they’re the only NL playoff team below .500 on the road. They led the NL in ERA, but in one of the best pitcher’s parks in the game with a schedule weighted with three division rivals finishing 14 or more games below .500. Apart from Manny Ramirez’ performance over the past two months, I’m not all that impressed.

The Cubs meanwhile enter the postseason with the league’s best home record and scored 56 more runs than any other team in the NL. Their home record is six games better than the #2 Brewers, and if the series goes five games, the Dodgers would see Ryan Dempster, who went 14-3 at Wrigley, twice at Wrigley. That has to be a daunting statistic to a team that went 36-45 on the road, once again, in a schedule laden with 88+ loss teams.

I feel good. It’s going to be chilly tonight, and that can’t be good for L.A.

And just as an aside, I think it sucks that the entire series, as well as the next one, will be on cable. I’ll be the guy at the bar wearing the Walkman…

Less than ninety minutes to go. Brace yourselves, folks!