Old Dog, Same Trick

Before the baseball season I engaged in many spirited debates with other sports fans about the National League Central. The only two teams that got any air time in our discussions were the defending champ Cubs and the Astros with their new look pitching staff. I was a major defender of the Cubs on the grounds that they are, hands down, the most talented young staff ever to be assembled. Then something happened: former Atlanta ace and veteran righthander Greg Maddux signed with the club. Well now I'm thinking the National League pennant has been decided, but that was before the sluggers from St. Louis put their two cents in. The Cardinals were 7 games in front of the Cubs at the All-Star break, but with Wood returning, Prior with no elbow damage, Maddux heating up, trade rumors for Nomar and Unit swirling, and the 'Stros teetering at five-hundred, the Cubs are well positioned to make a run at the red hot Red Birds. The most recent sign of life was Greg Maddux's complete game shut out of the Milwaukee Brewers in which he beat Ben Sheets. The Hall of Famer returned to form by throwing an 85 mile an hour fastball that jammed many Beer Makers, and mixing speeds with great success. Perhaps the most Maddux-of-ten-years-ago-like was nibbling the corners with two strikes and punching guys out looking. Whether or not Maddux's first complete game shutout in exactly two years was the beginning of a miraculous, curse breaking, second half rally or just one good outing,  it provides much needed momentum for the injury-plagued North Siders if the are to undertake the nearly unimaginable endeavor of catching the Cardinals.