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No fans, with the possible exception of those in Boston, are more aware of the bottom line than are Cubs fans. Talk as much as you want about improvements, hopes for the future, the fact that the team was in first place for much of the year. At the end of the day, the only thing that will matter to the fans in Chicago is that the Cubs failed, yet again, to bring home a title. Never mind that this team didn't appear to have the talent to compete, that few picked them to finish above .500 at the start of the season, that really they overachieved all season long. The fact is, once again the team got the fans' hopes up, and failed to deliver.
Best Pitcher: What a tremendous pitcher Jon Lieber has turned out to be. The best pinpoint control this side of Greg Maddux, Lieber also showed the stamina to pitch 480-plus innings over the course of two seasons. He's simply one of the most consistent pitchers in the majors; The 20-game winner allowed more than four earned runs in a game just five times this season. Fact is, if Lieber were to improve at all, he'd be one of the true elite pitchers in the game.
Best position player: Nowhere in baseball is this more of a no-brainer. Sammy Sosa (.328-64-160) was everything for the Cubs this season. Not only did he become the first player ever to hit 60 home runs in three different seasons, but he single-handedly kept the team in the playoff chase until late September. He hit a startling 47 homers more than any other player on the team (Matt Stairs and Rondell While had 17 apiece), drove in a rediculous 94 runs more than the Cubs' second highest run producer (Ricky Gutierrez, 66), and also posted a career-high batting average (.328). Simply said, Sammy rules.
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Cubs 2000-01 comparison
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2000
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2001
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W-L
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65-97
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88-74
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HR leader
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Sosa, 50
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Sosa, 64
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BA leader
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Sosa, .320
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Sosa, .328
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ERA
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Lieber, 4.41
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Wood, 3.36
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Grading The Manager: Don Baylor deserves high marks for this season. Undoubtedly that will be marred by the controversial decision to fire pitching coach Oscar Acosta at the end of the season, which led to Acosta's resignation. A personality conflict was behind the decision, which was not completely popular given that Acosta helped the Cubs pitching staff overachieve this season, finishing fourth in the league with a 4.04 ERA. Still, Baylor managed a team which seemed to have just about no non-Sosa offense all year to a near-playoff berth.
Most Improved: Talk about a stark improvement. Righty reliever Kyle Farnsworth went from a hard-throwing guy with major control issues in 2000 (50 BB, 74 K in 77 IP, 6.43 ERA) to a totally dominant setup man who helped the Cubs set the NL record for strikeouts in a season (29 BB, 107 K in 82 IP, 2.74 ERA). He did not thrive closing games in the late absence of Flash Gordon, but if Gordon's late-season injury hinders his chances of reclaiming his job next year, don't be surprised if Farnsworth inherits it.
Biggest Weakness: Oh, that offense. Even after acquiring Fred McGriff to bat behind Sosa, this team struggled mightily to score runs, and eventually that made it impossible to keep up with the Houstons and St. Louises of the NL Central. The two guys the Cubs acquired during the offseason, Stairs and Todd Hundley, both struggled, especially Hundley. The .187 average and 12 homers is less of the story than his 89 strikeouts in 246 at-bats. Sadly, CF Corey Patterson (.221with 4 HR in 131 AB) is looking less and less like a solution.
Gaining Momentum: Drawing immediate comparisons to Pedro Martinez is usually the kiss of death for a young pitcher. No so for Juan Cruz. He'd never pitched above Double-A before being called up to fill in for Kerry Wood in late August. With a 3.22 ERA and 39 strikeouts in 44 2/3 innings, he looks like a keeper, and is expected to be part of the Cubs rotation in 2002.
Kicked Off The Island: Here's the problem with Julian Tavarez: He's a talented pitcher, but tends to break down after five innings. His 8.50 ERA (21 ER in 24.1 IP) from the sixth inning on proved to be his undoing many, many times this season. It may be time to cut bait with the effusive hurler. Otherwise, the Cubs don't expect to re-sign Eric Young, and have a decision to make about the oft-injured Rondell White.
Bill Konigsberg is an assistant editor at ESPN.com.
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