CHICAGO (AP) – There are no billy goats this time. No more lovable losers, either.
A year after their historic World Series run, the Cubs are back in the playoffs for the third straight season. For some Chicago toddlers, with names like Addison, Clark and Wrigley, this is all they have ever known – an almost unfathomable notion for generations of Cubs fans.
But unlike last year, when the Cubs’ run to their first championship since 1908 captivated the country, they are just another playoff team this time around. Cody Bellinger and the Los Angeles Dodgers rolled to a major league-high 104 wins. Cleveland and Houston also won 100-plus games, and the Nationals have Bryce Harper back for the best-of-five NL Division Series against Chicago, starting Friday in Washington.
That’s just fine with Anthony Rizzo and company.
“It doesn’t really matter to me, to be honest,” Rizzo said. “In my opinion we’re the favorites to win it all again. In Bryce Harper’s opinion, they’re the favorites. In Bellinger’s opinion, they’re the favorites, with the Dodgers. So everyone’s the favorites. You’ve just got to go out and play.”