After the Chicago Cubs dropped the first two games of the NLCS against the New York Mets, manager Joe Maddon was left rummaging through his bag of tricks to keep his young stars from being infected by the franchise’s century-old losing mentality.
[fusion_tagline_box backgroundcolor=”#fafafa” shadow=”yes” shadowopacity=”0.5″ border=”” bordercolor=”transparent” highlightposition=”top” link=”” linktarget=”” buttoncolor=”” button=”” title=”“We’re all about one-game winning streaks. I know it’s psychobabble 101, but it actually works.”” description=”— Joe Maddon, on the Chicago Cubs mentality” animation_type=”slide” animation_direction=”left” animation_speed=””][/fusion_tagline_box]
After Sunday’s 4-1 loss, Maddon freely admitted to resorting to psychobabble to keep his team looking on the bright side. It turns out that Maddon’s efforts are not the first time someone has attempted to reverse the Cubs’ fortunes using psychology.
[fusion_title size=”4″]YOU CAN’T WIN ‘EM ALL[/fusion_title]
The “You Can’t Win ‘Em All” episode of The Bob Newhart Show first aired on February, 24, 1973. At the time, the comedy series was concluding a successful inaugural season which saw it finish as the 16th highest ranked program in the Nielsen ratings.
In the baseball-themed episode, Bob Newhart, playing fictional Chicago-based psychologist Bob Hartley, treats Cubs pitcher Phil Bender (Julian Christopher) who’s been struggling from the mound. Bender pitches a five-hit shutout in his next game, then credits Dr. Hartley for the turnaround in his postgame interview.
Soon, Cubs catcher Moose Washburn (Vern Rowe) also seeks Dr. Hartley’s help to get out of a prolonged batting slump. Predictably, things don’t go as smoothly as they did with Bender.
[fusion_title size=”4″]1973 CHICAGO CUBS[/fusion_title]
The real-life Cubs finished the 1973 season in fifth place in the National League East with a 77-84 record. Interestingly, 1973 was the only season between 1945 and 1984 in which the Cubs were still in contention on the last day of the regular season.
While there wasn’t a Phil Bender on the pitching roster, Ferguson “Fergie” Jenkins led the team with a 14-16 record (3.89 ERA, 170 Ks).
[fusion_title size=”4″]2015 CHICAGO CUBS[/fusion_title]
If Maddon can successfully guide the Cubs back to win the NLCS and go on to claim their first World Series in 107 years, one prominent fan has mixed feelings about the implications for the city of Chicago and its fans. Bill Murray, in full make up, shared his feelings last night with Jimmy Kimmel.
Leave A Comment