The Cubbies are on FIYYYAAAAAAA!!

It's almost a third of the way through the season, and the best team in the National League is the......CHICAGO CUBS!

The north siders stand at 32-21 at present time. That .604 winning percentage is good enough to tie the Cubs with Tampa Bay (yes, Tampa Bay) for the best record in baseball. The reasons for the team's success are many. Principally, the Cubs have been dominant at Wrigley Field. Inside the friendly confines, the team is 22-8. The home success has been made all the more important by the pedestrian 10-13 road record.

The sheer dominance of the Cubs offense has been startling. The Cubs lead the majors with 296 runs scored. The team batting average is just .017 points under .300! That is remarkable. The team leads the NL in nearly every major statistical category, except for slugging percentage (3rd) and steals (9th). It seems the Cubs are getting production from every position. Ryan Theriot, Mark DeRosa, Kosuke Fukudome, Geovany Soto, and Aramis Ramirez are all everyday players who are hitting over .300. Derrick Lee is jsut shy of that mark. The team may very well have 4 players hit over 30 home runs (Alfonso Soriano, Lee, Ramirez, Soto).

Perhaps the largest contributor to the team's success is the pitching. The starting rotation has been fantastic. Most observers would have predicted that Carlos Zambrano would be the best pitcher on the team. And he is, he sports a 7-1 record and a 2.33 ERA. But NO ONE could have predicted Ryan Dempster would have a career year. Dempster has a 6-2 record, 2.56 ERA, and a WHIP of 1.09. Dempster also has more strikeouts than Big Z. The bullpen has been solid. Kerry Wood has stepped up and is clearly the closer. Carlos Marmol is establishing himself as one of the best setup men in the majors.

Yes, things certainly are looking bright in Wrigleyville. At this point in the season, the Cubs have to be the favorite to make it out of the NL. But, there is still a lot of season left. I'm sure the good ole Cubbies will find a way to choke everything away, and break my heart once again. Why not wait another 100 years?