Yankees Conundrum Moving To Wrigley Field For Historic Series

The Yankees invade Wrigley Field to face the Chicago Cubs Friday afternoon for the first time in fourteen years and only the third time in their history. Chances are, though, that it won’t take that long for the two team to meet again.

The last time the Yankees visited Wrigley Field was in 2003 when the Chicago Cubs took two of three from them in a series that was notable because Roger Clemens was denied his 300th victory when he was outpitched by Kerry Wood.

Very similar to today’s circumstances, the Yankees entered play in that series having enjoyed baseball’s most prolific offense over their last seven days, with Derek Jeter (a la Gary Sanchez) missing most of that time with an injury. The team had scored 51 runs while batting .336 with 13 HRs and a .570 slugging percentage in its last seven games, including a 6-1 stretch at home. In short, the team was hot.

Curtis Granderson was the Aaron Judge of those times with Curtis Granderson with three homers, nine RBIs, and 11 runs scored in the Yankees previous seven games.

Today, The Yankees Are The Main Attraction

But when you look at both the Cubs and Yankees today, that’s where all similarities end. The Cubs have marched to end of their rebuilding mode with nearly all of the fresh talent they cultivated playing for them now. They reached the pinnacle of success in 2016 by capturing their first World Series in you know how many years, and they now find themselves with the unenviable task of defending that crown – or else!

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Meanwhile, the Yankees are in the infant stages of their rebuilding, and they have a split of talent, with a few like Judge and Greg Bird (at least for the moment) on the 25-man roster. But the multitude of their talent is ready to boil over at the minor league levels of their organization.

Which makes for an interesting dynamic as the Yankees (17-9)  head into Wrigley with the third-best record in the majors while the Cubs hold down first place in the National League Central, getting credit for doing only what they were expected to do in the first place.

While the Yankees offense, minus Greg Bird, who has been slickly shifted to the 10-day DL, has been running on all eight cylinders, the Cubs have had their ups and downs. And up to this point, they hardly look like the dominant team they were supposed to be, with only Kris Bryant doing what he’s paid to do from a stats only standpoint.

A bright spot for the Cubs, however, has been the reawakening of Justin Heyward, last season’s “no-show.”

Video Courtesy of the YES Network

But, their starting pitching staff has yet to get itself unraveled, and between Jon Lester, Kyle Hendricks, and Jake Arrieta, they sport ERA’s ranging only from 3.67 to 4.63, which in the National League is nothing to write home about.

Every team that comes to Wrigley Field this season wants the feather in their cap that says we swept or took two of three from the defending World Champions of baseball. And the Yankees are no different, except for one thing.

This Yankees Team Is Different

This Yankees team is different. And once they get to stroll around to touch the ivied walls and dress in the cramped early 20th Century clubhouse, while glancing up at the flag waving that says 2016 World Champions, it’s back to the routine business of playing another series in a different town.

Under the direction of Joe Maddon, the best manager in the game today, the Cubs will always be ready to play. Make no mistake about it, though; Joe Girardi has his team ready to play as well.

The Yankees, if they were a different team than they’re proving to be, could have put it on cruise control after losing the first game of this week’s series against the Blue Jays in anticipation of this series.

They didn’t. Instead, they overcame a couple of shaky starts, especially the one by CC Sabathia, to win the final two games of the set. That means something.

So, let the fun begin (weather permitting) with one of those holdover day’s events from the past with an afternoon game scheduled on a Friday. A day when it seems like half of Chicago takes the day off from work to watch the Cubs play, while they “play” in Wrigleyville before and after the game.

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I’ve been there. It’s quite a scene. But it’s nothing compared to the baseball the Yankees will be aiming to play against the Cubs this weekend when the two team meet on the field.

It just doesn’t get better than this. But on second thought, it just might when these two teams meet in October sooner as opposed to later.