Opinion: Not a Cubs curse, just a collapse

CHICAGO -- Don’t you dare blame a billy goat, black cat or a beleaguered fan for the Chicago Cubs’ latest misfortune. 

This one falls solely on the Cubs, every bit of it. One lousy, mental meltdown of an inning, and their postseason futility is all but ensured of being extended for yet another year. 

Sure, there are still four games left in the best-of-seven National League Championship Series against the New York Mets. But Chicago would have to pull off a sweep after the Mets went up 3-0 with their 5-2 win Tuesday night, and it doesn’t look like a team capable of doing that. 

Not when the Cubs blow a game the way they did in the sixth inning.

“They've done little things well and they've taken advantage of us in different moments,” manager Joe Maddon said. “We've not been able to overcome that because we're not hitting the ball like we normally can.”

Despite losing the first two games in New York, the Cubs came back to Chicago brimming with optimism. They were home, and the game-time temperature Tuesday night was about 30 degrees warmer than it had been in New York. 

In fact, it was the swing in conditions that convinced Maddon to stick with Jorge Soler, who had just one hit in four NLCS at-bats. Sure enough, after Daniel Murphy did what Daniel Murphy does to give the Mets a 2-1 lead, Soler matched him with his own bomb to center. 

And then the wheels came off. Not in a “It’s just a flat tire, put a patch on it,” way. No, this was a flaming car wreck with bits of rubber flying everywhere. 

Yoenis Cespedes led off the sixth with a single, moved to second on Lucas Duda’s sacrifice bunt and stole third while Travis d’Arnaud was at the plate. But d’Arnaud grounded out, meaning all reliever Trevor Cahill had to do was retire Michael Conforto – he of the .100 batting average this postseason – and the Cubs would be out of the jam. 

Oh no. Cahill threw not one, not two, but three sinkers in a row in the dirt. Miguel Montero managed to dig out the first two to keep Cespedes at third, but asking him to do it three times in a row was simply too much.  

Conforto went down swinging on the last one, but the ball skittered past Montero and back toward the backstop. Even a turtle could have scored standing up by the time Montero was able to grab the ball, and Cespedes is the opposite of a turtle. 

“We got him on two strikes and tried to get him to chase, which he did,” Montero said. “If you look at it, it wasn’t an easy block. I’ve got to do a better job than that.” 

With Conforto on first, Soler misjudged Wilmer Flores’ liner to right and fell to the ground as the ball dropped behind him. In the only break the Cubs got – even karma occasionally has a heart – the ball rolled into the ivy, not to be seen again until March, if then. 

Though Conforto easily could have scored from first, Wrigley Field rules say a ball in the ivy is worth two bases. Mets manager Terry Collins was livid about it but, as any 8-year-old can tell you, your house, your rules. 

Conforto trotted back out to third, and Cahill finally retired Mets pitcher Jacob deGrom to end the debacle. 

Cubs fans will surely moan and groan about being cursed, but that’s just nonsense. The billy goat and the black cat have been exorcised so many times in the last 45 years it’s a wonder their entire species aren’t extinct.  

As for Bartman, just stop. Had Alex Gonzalez not booted a double-play ball, had Moises Alou and Mark Prior kept their cool, had the Cubs oh, I don’t know, won the next game, Chicago would have made the World Series in 2003 and we’d all be enamored of some other poor suffering team now. 

But no. 

Truth is, the Cubs have been walking a fine line all season what with Kyle Schwarber’s shaky defense, playing “Where’s Waldo?” with Kris Bryant, and counting on a bullpen made up of misfit toys to lock down games. Those gambles largely paid off during the season, but they all played a part in this latest, very costly loss to the Mets. 

The good news is the Cubs have at least one more game. Better yet, they have next year. As disappointing as losing this series would be, the Cubs were always a year ahead of schedule. This experience, no matter how it ends, will pay dividends in the long run. 

The Cubs aren’t cursed. They’re just young, inexperienced and up against a Mets team that will make them pay for every mistake.