I can’t think of a year in my life when I’ve followed the baseball season more closely.  With the Cubs World victory last fall, I’ve been hooked on the little, round stitched-ball, anxious to find out if they can actually repeat the accomplishment.  i went to a spring training game, the All-Star games, watched the action in several new stadiums, added to my baseball card collection, reported my experiences in this blog, and followed the M.L.B. Network religiously.  I’m ready for the Post Season to start, but four teams, including the Cubs, have yet to cross the regular season finish line.  The Cubs have 8 more games to play with a Magic Number of 4, striving for that 90 victory mark.  I admit to being a fanatic!

The Cubs at Brewers series has been some of the most exciting baseball I’ve ever watched.  Three straight 10-inning games to determine a Central Division Champ.  The Brew Crew finally broke through with a walk-off victory yesterday and are now posed to tie the series.  The third challenger, the Cardinals, were on a second-wind run, knowing that they have four home games against the Cubs starting tomorrow.  The Cards had won four straight until last night’s loss against the Pirates, so they have once again slipped behind the pace of the Brewers.  The Rockies continue to hold on to the final Wild Card spot, knowing that the Cubs, Brewers, and Cardinals will continue to play each other as the season comes to a close.  The Brewers end their schedule with 3 critical games in St. Louis, while the Rockies have their final six games at home, even though the Dodgers loom as their finale foe.

All the Cubs have to do is patiently continue tying or winning each series, as they have most of September, with the miserable exception of the Brewers sweep at Wrigley.  The I-90 season series is even at 9 games each, with today’s outcome to determine the better team.  The Brewers were dominant the first half of the season, taking a five-game Central Division lead into the Break, but the Cubs now hold a 4.5 game lead over Milwaukee and 5 games above St. Louis.  Wade Davis had a tough day yesterday at the end of a back-and-forth one-run battle.  He entered the game in the bottom of the ninth to do what he’s done all year without fail – save another victory for the Cubs.  He not only failed for the first time this season in that inning, but also blew the lead and game in the bottom of the tenth.  He’s been a bit overused in this critical series, so I suspect that his delivery was a bit off, and will not appear again in today’s finale that should be another nail-biter.

If the Cards had won again last night, I would be even more worried today.  They were in a position to pull off another Playoff-run miracle, as they did back in 2011, and maybe last night’s loss was only a small set-back.  If they are somehow able to win all four games against the Cubs at Busch next week, a couple of fateful twists could lead to a Division Championship or at least a Wildcard spot.  The Cardinals are not dead yet, and the Brewers were given new life in this time of Magic Numbers, late game heroics, and miracles.  It’s not even the Playoffs, but it sure feels like it!