GAME 5… Its 60 degrees and cloudy in Chicago today. Typical for that city in late September. Here in Vegas it's still in the 90's and sunny every day but there's more sunshine and warmth in Chicago right now than probably anywhere in the world,… maybe a little more on a beach in Brazil, but I'm telling you, the Cubs are one game in first place ahead of the Astros and for at least 24 hours the seven million plus Chicagoans and I can tell you millions more around the world that are die-hard Cubs fans we get to silently cheer, afraid Billy Samanis from Billy Goat's Tavern, might hear us cheering from Wrigley Field and bring his goddamn goat back there and renew the curse. I get to break out my old blue baseball hat with the red "C" and wear it to bed tonight, I might even go out to breakfast and wear it, I got until 7:30 tomorrow night when they could loose to the Reds and the Astros might beat the Giants and it's '98 and '96 and '89 and '86 and '84 and need I remind us all '69. Watching the game in Cincinnati there were twice as many fans wearing Cubs blue than wearing the Reds red. It never ceases to amaze me that wherever the Cubs go they never fail to give the home crowd a good go for their vocal chords, and I'll bet for the Budweiser concessions too.. Kerry Wood threw a 3 hitter as the Cubs beat the Reds 6-0 and the Giants beat the Astros 10-3 to help the Cubs' cause (cause they fucking need all the help they can get) The White Sox are done in their loss today so we can dispense with the yearly dribble about subway world series. If you've ever gotten off the subway at 35th St. and walked to Comisky Park (screw you guys, it's still Comisky) you ain't gonna be taking the subway there for a second game anyway. If the Cubs blow the game tomorrow to the lowly Cincinnati Reds who've managed to lose almost 100 games, I'll stick my Cubs hat back behind the passenger seat and put my old blue Brooklyn Dodger's cap back on until next year.

GAME 4 …Wednesday afternoon, the Giants play the Astros in the early game. Is it too damn much to ask to put your best team on the field, clinch or not? The Astros going ahead 2-1 from a 1-0 deficit in the 9th inning Barry who is chasing Willie Mays gets to come up cold facing a 100 mph. fastball in the top of the 9th from Billy Wagner couldn't manage more than a foul ball in his feeble strike out attempt. This is obviously payback to Dusty Baker who left the yearly playoff bound Giants to spend a lovely steamy Chicago summer listening to the moans and groans as well as the belches from the annual wining Cubs fans, (me being the proudest although the least belchiest since I quit drinking beer somewhere in my 30's.) And yet somehow Dusty managed to bring this lowly day-team to the brink of a Chicago folk-lore hero along side the likes of Al Capone, Ernie Banks, and Shoeless Joe Jackson. Yet somehow the Cubbies come up and precede to beet the living shit out of the Reds to keep their one game lead thanks to a 6 run 3rd inning thanks to Sammy's homer to start which ties him for 10th most home runs with Mickey Mantle. And now in the bottom of the 7th inning in Cincinnati as they sing "Take Me Out To The Ballgame" where they finish the song "For it's root, root, root for the home team." Here in Cincinnati they actually finished the song, as they do in Wrigley Field and a few other cities where there's actually more Cubs fans than home team fans they finished the song "For it's root, root, root for the CUBBIES, if they don't win it's a shame." And they stand up in pride with their blue and red "C" hats, and even the Cincinnati fans can't help but give a clap for the Cubs. Like Rod Dibble, the announcer for ESPN said. "Like true baseball fans everywhere who would all tell you the same thing, if my team can't win it, let the Cubs win. There's no other team in baseball that would get such a landslide vote from fans all over as the Cubs. Ah hell, now I'm tearing up like a proud daddy. But we still got one game left with the Reds then close it out at home in Wrigley Field with the Pirates who always give the Cubs trouble. But with the Cubs up one game with three left, it's in their hands, if they don't lose a game the Astros can't beat them. Can you imagine the excitement in Wrigley on those last games? This is going to be an impossible ticket to get in Chicago. All I can say is…BRING IT ON.!

Game 3…TAKE IT AWAY!! I told ya, the Cubs drop an easy game when they blow an easy lead in the last game with the Reds. They had the sweep, they would be at least 1 ˝ games in the lead but they give up four runs in the sixth and end up losing the game 7 to 6. The Astros won an easy decision against the Giants second hand team and now the Cubs drop the 1 game lead and are tied for the lead in the Central division. I told you it was too good to be true. Now every Chicagoan that knows I'm writing this column that even whispered of winning the division will blame me for the mention and for the Cubs ultimately losing by at least one game.

Game 3 ˝ …I always was a second-hand Brewers fan since I grew up only 90 miles from Milwaukee. When I was 16 I used to drive up with my buddies to the Milwaukee games as well as Summer fest which was the original lake-front music and food festival. When I hit 18 we all drove up to Wisconsin to drink beer since it was the only state with an 18 yr. old beer state, and George Webb was the great little hamburger joint opened 24 hours after twenty or so beers, so when the Brewers kicked the shit out of the Astros today I was just about to break out my Brewers hat for the first time I can remember, except I don't own a Brewers hat, but if I did own a Brewers hat, well, you get it.

But Chicago fans aren't happy. For the 33,000 plus that bought tickets for today's final home stand against the Pittsburgh Pirates were rained out. The Cubs decided to play it as a double header tomorrow. That's not great since people came from all over the country to see today's game and Mother Nature turned them out. But all doesn't have to be lost since they could play a day-night double header starting the first game at noon and the second game at 5 or 6pm. That way the people that had tickets for today's game could use the tickets for the day game and the people that had tickets for tomorrow's game could use those for the night game. But somehow Mr. McPhail who owns the Cubs decided to play it as a double day header with the people who had tickets for tomorrows game gets to see two games and the people who had tickets for today's game are shit-out-0f-luck. They can either turn them in for the face value, which I can tell you there ain't many people that paid face value for these games. Or they can use it for a game next year when the closest they might ever be to first place is sometime in late March. THAT'S FUCKING BRILLIANT McPHAIL.

Game 2…It's Saturday, the fate of the Cubs are in their own hands. With a half game lead and three games left if they can win the next two games, today's two games, they can clinch the division. A feat they haven't accomplished since 1989. Wrigley Field wasn't just a sell out; they packed every fan in every possible piece of cement the old field could hold. Almost 34,000 hopeful, preying fans packed into the 87 year old ball park. They prayers went up with the wafting smell of Vienna Red Hots and Budweiser beer. In the first game they edged the Pirates 4-2 behind Mark Pryor's 10 strikeout effort. Sosa's homer today puts him ahead of Mickey Mantle for home runs. But not before they had to endure two walks in the top of the 9th up two runs until they got the ground out they needed for the first win. Now the test would come for all of us loyal Cubs fans. Could our hearts stand the Cubs losing this next game? Not that they'll lose, but if they did, could we even tune in tomorrow to watch the final outcome? I know I couldn't and so this would be my last game of the regular season as far as I was concerned. The fans as well as the Cubs saw the score go up on the center field scoreboard that Milwaukee was beating the Astros. The cheers went up and didn't stop throughout the win. In the second inning the Cubs pushed 6 runs across the plate and their great pitching staff didn't let the team down as the Cubs limited the Pirates to 2 runs.

This is only the Cubs fourth trip to the post season since 1945, the last year they made it to the World Series. They won the National League East in '84 and '89 and a wild card in '98 , but of course lost all three times in the first playoff series. It's the first time they clinched in Wrigley Field since 1932 when they beat the same Pittsburgh Pirates.

So now they have to face the Atlanta Braves, and almost impossible task since the Braves have the best pitching staff in the league as well as some of the strongest hitters in the league. The Cubs have great pitching but not great offense and they haven't had a great record against the Braves, worse than that, the Braves rarely lose at home, and they never lose in the first series of their playoffs. But as any true Cubs fan will tell ya come October… "HEY, SHUT THE FUCK UP AND PASS ME A BEER, DA BEARS GAME'S ON."

Ken Pearlman