The Chicago Cubs are 34-games into the 2017 season. A season which the greatest team in Cubs history should be poised to defend their World Series championship. But 34 games in, the Cubs are playing .500 ball with an 17-17 record.
Whether the Cubs themselves accept it, there is such a thing as a World Series hangover. It is hard to make the postseason after a championship, as only five of the last six winners would attest. It’s even harder for a team to repeat, as only one team has accomplished that feat in the last 20 years.
When asked, Joe Maddon had his reasoning for the Cubs woes.
“I sense sleep deprivation more than anything,” Maddon said, via ESPN. “Sleep deprivation has a lot to do with it. Right from the beginning of the year our schedule has been awkward. No one has had a chance to settle in.”
This has been especially true to over the course of the past two weeks. The Cubs have played 13-games over that span, with a 13-inning tilt against the Philadelphia Phillies and an 18-inning marathon against the Yankees.
If you think about it, from Sunday through Tuesday, the Cubs essentially played four games in those 36 innings.
But more than that, there’s been a ton of emotions in almost every game played. From opening day, to raising banners, to ring ceremonies. These events, if they’ll admit it or not, takes a toll. People, especially athletes, are creatures of habit. They are used to how and what happens on a daily basis. We all build routines, from tge time you jump in the shower to tge parking space you use. When there is a change in that routine, it upsets their rhythm and takes a little bit out of them.
The schedule and ceremonies aren’t the only things tiring them out. Most of these guys are getting the ’85 Bears treatment and everyone wants a piece of them. I mentioned this before, but their off days are filled with so many appointments, they don’t have time to rest.
Half the team has radio spots. Any given day you can find players signing autographs. They are recording commercials, and have constant endorsement meetings.
Pack all that with baseball!?
Baseball is an incredibly hard game, it is a zero sum game, and this gets ignored more than it should. If the team is tired, winning the 17 they’ve won is a big accomplishment.
