Cubs Clinch Central

By Benjy Lipsman in News on Sep 29, 2007 6:30PM

The Cubs have clinched the NL Central crown -- and with two games to spare! Following a three game sweep at the hands of the Florida Marlins, things were looking sketchy, but the Brewers kept on losing, too. When the Cubs returned to the win column in Cincinnati on Friday night, and Milwaukee lost yet again, the final two games were subtracted from the magic number and the Cubs earned a berth in the postseason for the first time since 2003.

The playoff match-ups are still up in the air since the other National League races are even tighter than the Central's. As of this morning, it looked like the Cubs would face the Arizona Diamondbacks in the first round, with the NL East winner -- the Philadelphia Phillies now hold a one-game lead over the NY Mets -- facing the San Diego Padres. But with the NL West and NL East races both still mathematically open, as is the wild card, anything's still possible.

With the Cubs playing in October for the first time since '03, we can only imagine the concern that Cubs fans have about Steve Bartman and whether he'll try to attend any more playoff games. And how long before the media tries to hunt him down for some reminiscing, or some "where are they now" feature? If we were Bartman, we'd think about taking a nice vacation and hope the Cubs have secured a World Series bid before he returns.

Photo by AP Photo/David Kohl