The New York Mets have put the Chicago Cubs in a 0-2 hole, and the daunting task of climbing out of that hole lies on the shoulders of Kyle Hendricks, Jason Hammel, and a Cubs offense that has floundered so far in the NLCS.
While we hear in the media, “22 of 25 teams have won a series after taking a commanding would games to none lead,” there have been teams that have comeback from that deficit. While yes, the Cubs backs are against the wall, but this is the time the coaches in the clubhouse create that “us against the world” mantra and recreate the big-picture message of, “we are here to win a World Series.”
Once the team mindset is reset, which a visit to cozy Wrigley Field can help with, the team can begin to scratch and claw their way back into this series.
But that whole 22 of 25 teams thing… yes, that is there, but in just these playoffs we’ve seen the Toronto Blue Jays come back from 0-2 to win their Divisional Series against the Texas Rangers. While sure the LDS is a best of five series, Toronto’s back was every bit against the wall as the Cubs. And although that 22 of 25 thing exists, that stat is since the Divisional Series games in this format, and doesn’t include the teams that have accomplished this feat before the LDS format.
In 1955 the then Brooklyn Dodgers beat the New York Yankees after dropping the first two games in the World Series. The next season the Yankees returned the favor, beating the Dodgers after they lost the first two games of the series. Then in 1958 the Yankees lost three of the first four games (including the first two games) to rally against the Milwaukee Braves. Minnesota shocked the world in 1965, beating Don Drysdale and Sandy Koufax (similarly the Mets shockingly beat Jon Lester and Jake Arrieta, perhaps not as impressive however but still something many thought wouldn’t happen) and then lost the World Series to the LA Dodgers. In ’71 Pittsburgh over Baltimore, ’78 Yankees did it against the Dodgers, ’81 the Dodgers returned the favor.
In 1985 it happened THREE TIMES in one playoff, St Louis rallied against the Dodgers, while Kansas City did the same against Toronto, and then the Royals did it again in the World Series to beat the Cardinals. It happened again in 1986, then again in 1996.
If you want to look for teams that have done this before, look no further than the Chicago clubhouse. Manager Joe Maddon forced a Game 5 against the Texas Rangers in the 2010 ALDS.
“We’ve been in this boat in the past and we’ve forced Game 5s in those situations, also.”
He knows how to create the message, how to pull the right strings. While right now isn’t the time to blame external things like umpire strike zones, or how the team did against 97 MPH fastballs throughout the season.
What works in this team’s favor is, they are young, they are a bit naive, they very well might not understand that they are in a hole. Jon Lester agrees, and even said as much earlier in the season.
“This is going to sound really bad, but I’ve always been a big believer in playing stupid,” Lester said. “Being naive. I’ve seen it with the Rays in 2008. They were naïve to the situation. They had nothing to lose. We have nothing to lose. We’re not supposed to win. We’re supposedly in the rebuilding stages. If we make the playoffs, it’s just an added bonus.
So I like that. I like having that to where we’re not really the underdog, but we’re not really expected to do anything, so we come into situations like this. It’s a little harder (playing) division (opponents), because you play them so much. You don’t take division games lightly. But when you play other teams outside the division, that’s when we can really pounce on the situation and take advantage of that. Maybe sneak attack guys and take two of three before they knew what happened.”
That sounds a little familiar, right? Maybe a lot like the 2004 Boston Red Sox “idiots” team that won a World Series. What’s the significance of that Boston Red Sox team?
They were the only team to comeback from a 0-3 deficit to win a League Championship Series, and just so happened to have young naive Jon Lester. Oh, and they went on to win the World Series.
Just have faith Cubs fans, this thing isn’t over yet.
