NEU » bs in five games, but passed on a G

For the younger generations of Chicago Cubs fans, reaching the postseason isnt quite the novelty it was for the generations before them. For all the years that have been tacked on to the teams epochal championship drought, the Cubs have more or less been steady crashers of the playoff party in recent years.Between the Cubs most recent World Series appearance in 1945 and their 1984 NL East title, they drew a big, fat goose egg when it came to playoff baseball. Thats why that 1984 team looms so large in the collective memory of North Siders and why players such as Rick Sutcliffe and Ryne Sandburg are now folk heroes.This season will mark the Cubs seventh playoff appearance since 1984. Its not the Yankees or Red Sox or Cardinals or Braves, but once every four or five years isnt bad. Still, all living generations of Cubs faithful are united by the title drought -- and they all hope this years postseason entrant will be different.Is it different? Of course, that remains to be seen. What we know now is that as a regular-season team, this Cubs bunch was good. As it turns out, with a couple turns of the statistical screw, they were very special indeed.As we wrote the other day, the Cubs have sported a run differential that,?translated to wins via the Pythagorean formula, marks them as a 108-win team. Their differential ranks in the top 25 all time in the modern era (since 1901). Thats 2,452 team seasons. However, the Cubs is only the fifth-best run differential (per 162 games) in franchise history. Four pre-1910 Cubs teams did better, including the only two Cubs teams to win the World Series and the 1906 team that established the big league record with 116 wins.If we are to compare the postseason worthiness of the Cubs teams that advanced past the regular season, we must do a couple things. What were trying to do is estimate how strong each team was compared to the league it was in. To a significant extent, run differential does this.The problem comes when trying to compare teams over different seasons and eras. Baseball was very different a century or so ago, especially in the decades before Jackie Robinson came along. Not only was the talent pool less than what it should have been, but also, in the pre-draft era, the talent major league teams allowed in was not distributed equitably. Those early-20th century Cubs teams might well have been the best of their day, but there was a reason they clustered so many overwhelming teams together.To account for this, we can look at the distribution of wins within each season and adjust that to be era-neutral. After we apply that adjustment to run differential, we should be able to better compare teams from different years. The three years with the widest distribution of run differential were 1909, 1906 and 1942, the year so many big leaguers entered into military service for World War II. The smallest distributions, which in theory are our years of greatest parity, were 1984, 1959 and 1986. This season ranks 89th of 116, so we are very much in an era of parity.Now we can rank the Cubs postseason teams. In case youre skimming, be aware that there is a little surprise at the end.Marquise Blair Womens Jersey . The injury bothered Bledsoe in the Suns victory over the Clippers on Monday and he sat out the teams home loss to Memphis on Thursday night. Chris Carson Youth Jersey . Two pressure cooker bombs exploded near the finish line of the April 15 race in an area packed with fans cheering the passing runners. Three people were killed and more than 260 injured, including at least 16 who lost limbs. http://www.seahawksfansofficial.com/d-k-metcalf-jersey/ . -- Jimmy Walkers first PGA Tour trophy came with a special gift tucked inside. Chris Carson Jersey . LUCIE, Fla. Marshawn Lynch Womens Jersey . Rousey will put her perfect 8-0 record and hardware on the line against another undefeated fighter, 7-0 Sara McMann in the main event of UFC 170, which will be held at the Mandalay Bay Events Center in Las Vegas Nevada on February 22nd.Game 1 went about as well as could possibly be expected for Cleveland. While Corey Kluber struck out batters at a World Series-record pace (eight of the first nine Cubs outs were via punchout), the Indians rattled Jon Lester for two runs in the first without hitting a ball hard. Although more runs crossed the plate later, the events of the first inning were really all the bullpen protection duo of Andrew Miller and Cody Allen needed, and it all made for a thrilling night for Cleveland sports fans.Its a cliché of course, but there a lot of wisdom to the maxim that a postseason series doesnt really started until the home team loses a game. The Indians simply held serve last night, in a game that saw them with quite possibly the highest implied win expectancy (50 percent) theyll see all series. However, it was a very meaningful hold of serve because its one thing to have a plan, its another thing to execute it. The Tribe have now demonstrated that, just like they did against the Red Sox and the Blue Jays, they can execute it against the Cubs as well.Our teaam of baseball handicappers is back for a look at Game 2.dddddddddddd. Last night Dave Tuley (1-1, -0.07 units) split his picks, missing on the Cubs, but scoring with the under. Joe Peta, while backing the Cubs for the series, took a pass on Game 1. Their thoughts on Game 2 follow.Westgate line: Cubs (Arrieta) -145 at (Bauer) +135 Over/under: 7 (-120 over)Game 2 PickCenter: 52 percent picking IndiansJoe Peta: Last night was something of a must-win for the Indians because they had full use of their strengths (Kluber, Miller and Allen), they had a seasons worth of basepath aggressiveness to exploit a Cubs vulnerability (Lester with runners on base) and they were at home. They delivered and they should be congratulated, but it wasnt entirely unexpected. I picked the Cubs in five games, but passed on a Game 1 wager, because, as I said in the series preview, lets give the Indians ... a win in one of the two games they face Lester.bs in five games, but passed on a G' ' '