Morning Marquee: Chicago Cubs, renovations and their fans

With an off day following the Opening Night loss–in which poor play wasn’t the only issue–we take a look at the Chicago Cubs performance from Sunday night. Is there reason to panic? Why can’t we get a hit with men on base? And the “Cubs would have won if Bryant was here” crowd was out already.

Our Jacob Misener was at the game, and got a first hand look at the Cubs, the renovations, and some of the issues that go along with said work. Yes, the bathroom debacle as that bad, and the jumbotron in left isn’t. But what he noticed the most was the fans–or the inability to handle winning expectations. It shouldn’t be about hope, but belief.

New faces, same story. The Cubs once again struggled with runners in scoring position. Jon Lester wasn’t sharp, but you have to be able to win a game when you only allow three runs. But that seemed an insurmountable task, even with runners on base at every turn. Once a man got on, that was it. It’s an issue that Joe Maddon knows existed, and the tinkering of the lineup in time will hopefully help find an answer.

These stories and more from around yesterday’s Opening Day:

‘Opening Night: Cubs fans are the biggest issue at Wrigley’ – Cubbies Crib

‘Reactions to the Chicago Cubs Opening Night performance‘ – Cubbies Crib

‘Frazier’s home run gives Reds 5-2 win over the Pirates’ – Blog Red Machine

‘Adam Lind a bright spot in Brewers 10-0 loss’ – Reviewing the Brew

‘A’s Gray stages and Opening Night for the ages’ – MLB.com

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