The fate of the Chicago Cubs in the National League Championship Series would appear to be all but a formality heading into Game 4 on Wednesday night. Of the 35 times in MLB history to fall into a 3-0 deficit, only the 2004 Boston Red Sox came back to win the series.
The Cubs trailed the Los Angeles Dodgers, 2-1, in last year’s NLCS, and were down 3-1 to the Cleveland Indians in the World Series. The end result was Chicago winning their first championship since 1908.
It’s perhaps with that experience the Cubs don’t feel the walls closing in on them. “I’ve got the little wristband on, we never quit,” manager Joe Maddon said after his club’s third straight loss.
“I don’t go out of my normal patterns. I have three meetings during the season — one in Spring Training, one at the All-Star break, and one before the first playoff game. We’ve done that the last three years.
“There is nothing inspirational I could possibly say that’s going to make a difference. We’ve just got to go out and play our normal game [Wednesday]. We have three or four Game 7s in a row coming up right now.”
All-Star third baseman and 2016 NL MVP Kris Bryant, who is among the Cubs who have struggled mightily throughout the playoffs, admitted to pressure being lifted off the team’s shoulders, via MLB.com:
“I don’t think there’s any need to change anything,” Chicago’s Kris Bryant said of the club’s approach on Wednesday. “I think we can play even more loose, because what have we got to lose? No one’s expecting us to come back except the guys in this room. I don’t know if it’s a comforting feeling, but I guess it takes a lot of pressure off us because no one’s expecting us to win.”
Heading into Game 4, Maddon reiterated the Cubs need not focus on whether to panic. “It’s about hitting or not hitting,” he said. “We’ve got to start hitting the ball. It’s not complicated. We just have not swung the bats well this postseason.
“We’ve got to hit. So, no, there’s no ultra over-concern or panic, no. But we’ve got to hit. The lack of hitting is not because guys are uptight. The lack of hitting is because the Dodgers have executed their pitching so well.”
