Coulda, Shoulda, Woulda Games

[apete6]

I've compiled a list of games the Cubs could have won/lost (obviously close, but not hard to fathom them winning), obviously should have won (but lost), and obviously should have lost (but won--none of these yet). These are the games that the Cardinals have been winning lately. It might be interesting to keep this updated throughout the season to see where the Cubs won/lost the division.

 

SHOULD HAVE WON:

 

Thursday 5/1 vs. Milwaukee (Wood blows it in 9th)

 

COULD HAVE WON:

 

Monday 3/31 vs. Milwaukee (Tied it in bottom 9, but lost it in 10th)

Friday 4/4 vs. Houston (DeRosa error in 7th costs cubs 2 runs)

Friday 4/11 vs. Philly (Fukudome drops ball in gap scoring 2)

Thursday 4/24 vs. Colorado (Theriot error in 8th)

Friday 4/25 vs. Washington (Howry gives up walkoff)

Sunday 4/27 vs. Washington (Cy Lannen gets out of a few bases loaded jams)

Friday 5/2 vs. St. Louis (Fox gives up walkoff to Babe Schumaker)

Sunday 5/4 vs. St. Louis (Overall a close game)

Monday 5/5 vs. Cincinnati (Give up 5 unearned runs, boneheaded move by Fontenot)

Tuesday 5/13 vs. San Diego (Lost 4-3 to Shawn Estes, rain shut down all offense both sides)

Saturday 5/17 vs. Pittsburgh (Soriano on fire, but Bad Z shows up and McLouth beats Marmol)

Tuesday 5/20 vs. Houston (Hunter Pence Grand Slam is all the Houston offense in 4-2 Cubs loss)

 

SHOULD HAVE LOST:

 

Wednesday 4/23 vs. Colorado (Aramis ties it, Wood blows it, but Cubs win in extras)

 

COULD HAVE LOST:

 

Saturday 4/5 vs. Houston (Cubs scored 5 in 7th)

Monday 4/7 vs. Pittsburgh (Cubs blow 7 run lead then win in extras)

Wednesday 4/9 vs. Pittsburgh (Wood blows it in 9th, Cubs win in 15th after blowing it in 14th)

Sunday 4/13 vs. Philadelphia (Zambrano reaches on error in 10th)

Friday 5/9 vs. Arizona (Lilly and Soriano get clutch hits, Cubs win 3-1 vs Haren, great win)

Saturday 5/10 vs. Arizona (Soriano and Ward with big hits after trailing in 7th)

Sunday 5/11 vs. Arizona (Reed with game tying HR in 7th, Ward with big PH double in 8th)

Thursday 5/15 vs. San Diego (Dempster can't quite finish it, Wood gets save)

Friday 5/16 vs. Pittsburgh (Howry makes it too close for comfort, but Cubs win 7-4)

Sunday 5/18 vs. Pittsburgh (Cubs scratch across 4 garbage runs and beat bad PIT)

Edited May 21, 2008 by apete6

[Schwarber Fan]

Could have won: all of their losses

Could have lost: all of their wins

 

That's how I see it.

[killthegoat06]

Don't dwell on the past. You'll only be depressed.

[Omar]

He just wants a perfect team. Is that too much to ask for?

[apete6]

He just wants a perfect team. Is that too much to ask for?

 

Obviously not. :wink:

 

As of right now, however, the Cubs are 19-14, including 5-9 in the "coulda/shoulda" games. Assuming we finish the year at even in these games, Cubs will be in good shape.

[chuckywang]

I would put the game against Colorado on the SHOULD HAVE LOST list. Let's not forget Ramirez's 2-run homer in the ninth that gave the Cubs the lead.

[apete6]

Bump to include Friday Arizona game a "could have lost".

 

Great win by the Cubs, hooray Good Lilly and a big hit by the Fons.

[javy knows my name]

I kind of like this. I would like to add that I believe any game a team wins on the road in extras should be a should-have-lost game. I think we have three of those this year, and that would help balance out our should-have-won games

[apete6]

Bump to include most recent games (except the beating given on Monday night)

[Tyrant]

If Lou Piniella wasn't the worst manager in baseball, the Cubs would have won all of these games.

[inari]

Mark DeRosa's phantom home run to avoid the sweep against Philly has to be on the "should have lost" list.

[apete6]

Mark DeRosa's phantom home run to avoid the sweep against Philly has to be on the "should have lost" list.

 

The game has been on there:

 

Sunday 4/13 vs. Philadelphia (Zambrano reaches on error in 10th)

 

I guess I could have added the part about DeRosa...

[haubrich91]

You forgot Opening Day. Coulda won it, but we blew it in the 10th.

[apete6]

You forgot Opening Day. Coulda won it, but we blew it in the 10th.

 

Good call, edited to include that game.

 

This is going to be a long list by the end of the year, but if we win more of these than we lose, we will be OK because I imagine the Cubs willl have more "easy wins" than blowout losses.