As we near only one month left in this year’s baseball season, the Chicago Cubs have what seems like an insurmountable lead in the NL Central race.
But is such a lead really safe? Has a team with a lead of 6 or more games collapsed and not even made the playoffs? In order to answer these questions, we must take a trip back in history. In 1964, the Phillies blew a 6-1/2 game lead. In 1978, it was the Red Sox going from 14-1/2 games up to runners-up in the division. It was the 2007 Vikings missing the playoffs after starting 6-0, and the 1978 Redskins starting 6-0 only to be home by December as well. In 2007, the NY Mets watched a 7 game lead evaporate over the final 17 games.
The names will never be forgotten either, such as Bill Buckner missing a ground ball, What do all of these examples mean? They mean exactly this: the Cubs lead is not guaranteed, and it is still acceptable to be cautiously optimistic about their playoff hopes. There is no reason to believe such a collapse lies in the future of this year’s NL Central leaders, but as history has shared with us before nothing is ever guaranteed.
