Chicago Cubs

This article was originally published at TheDailyCub.com, your place for all things Chicago Cubs.  The Daily Cub also boasts B/R writers Bob Warja and Pat De Marco.

It’s Easter, and the Cubs will be playing today in the rubber match against the Brew Crew.

Fresh off of a Blackhawks shutout over the Detroit Red Wings (I had to watch hockey today with my family), the Cubs will try to add another win for Chicago tonight.

You say the name Dusty Baker in Chicago, and you’re bound to get a reaction...and it’s probably not going to be a good one.

Cubs closer Kevin Gregg imploded in the ninth inning, first giving up a game-tying double, then the winning run on an infield hit in a 4-3 loss to the Brewers Friday.

You know, this was a conversation that I hoped would go away for awhile—at least until the trade deadline. I mean, in a town that could tolerate Joe Borowski, Latroy Hawkins, and Ryan Dempster as closers, Gregg seemed almost like an upgrade.

And yet, he's seemed so especially...feckless in this first week of the season that I'm certain the Cubs will be second-guessing this decision into the weekend.

The first hit by a Milwaukee Brewers batter since the fourth inning turned out to be a disastrous one, as a Rickie Weeks double over the head of Alfonso Soriano scored the tying run and led to an eventual Brewers victory over the Cubs on Friday afternoon.

Kevin Gregg, who had the most blown saves last year, showed why, as he blew his very first opportunity in a Cubs uniform, resulting in a 4-3 Milwaukee win.

Gregg was the sixth Cubs pitcher to enter the game with two outs in the eighth. He survived that inning, but wasn't so fortunate in the ninth.

The Chicago Cubs opened a three-game homestand in Wrigley North with a 4-3 loss to last year’s Wild Card squad, the Milwaukee Brewers.

With one swing of the lumber, Koyie Hill provided Rich Harden with his first lead of the game via a two-run, sixth-inning bomb.

Milton Bradley got his first hit of the season, a solo jack to lead off the fourth inning. While Bradley has gotten off to a slow start hitting wise, it hasn’t been for lack of good at-bats.

It would be nice to see the Cubs get back to the place where they belong.

Ok, so they have not been to the World Series since my great great grandpa watched Ty Cobb lace them up.

But with opening up of the $1.5 Billion House-that-A-Rod-financed-through-Public- Steroids a.k.a. the new Yankee Stadium, and the Cubs making a cameo in April, I think it only fitting the Wrigley wonders and new digs be home to the 2009 World Series.

Now there's an image to get you pumped up for the 2009 season, eh? Am I right? Bueller?

I admit it.

As Cubs fans, we're a bit spoiled now. The close call in 2003 and the division titles in the last two seasons have only whetted our appetite for more.

Making the playoffs just won't satisfy many of us Cubs fans any longer. We want to win a championship and finally shed that "lovable losers" tag, once and for all!

I believe that's a good thing. While the Cubs success has made it more difficult to get good seats at Wrigley Field, and has led to the occasional booing of our own players, I think it's more healthy that we want to win.

I was asked to appear on a national overnight sports radio program last night, and was asked to dissect the NL Central division.

Of course, on paper, the Cubs are the obvious favorites. But we all know that titles aren't won on paper. Yet if you look at what the other teams in the division have done this offseason, you certainly have to like the Cubbies chances to three-peat this year.

Now, I recently wrote an NL Central preview for this site, so I won't go into detail. But in reviewing the challengers to the Cubs throne, two candidates emerge above the others.