It was only two years ago that the Cubs went into September 15 games below .500 and 12 { games out of first place.
Manager Rick Renteria assured us his players were "grinding" it out, but with no September call-ups for Kris Bryant or Addison Russell, the Cubs were content with just playing out the string.
Now entering a different kind of September, one seldom seen on the North Side, the Cubs are so dominant there's no real suspense left in the regular season. You can watch the game with one eye and check your Facebook feed with the other without missing a beat.
Whether the Cubs will grow complacent with a month to go before the Big Boy games is something to monitor, but before Thursday night's 5-4 win over the Giants, manager Joe Maddon was not the least bit worried.
"There's enough built-in government within the clubhouse that that's not going to occur," Maddon said Thursday. "That doesn't even have to come from me. I mean, David Ross is catching tonight. They better be on their toes. John Lackey is pitching on Sunday. They better be on their toes. They will not accept anything less."
There certainly are viable concerns, especially with a middle relief corps that has been inconsistent with Hector Rondon and Pedro Strop out.
But overall, the Cubs probably could sleepwalk till October and still be ready for the postseason. Let's not forget the Giants went 4-9 in late September of 2014 before winning the final two games to secure the second wild-card spot.
Madison Bumgarner proceeded to shut out the Pirates at PNC Park in the wild-card game, the Giants beat the Nationals and Cardinals to advance to the World Series and then edged the Royals in seven games for their third title in five years.
So try not to fret if the Cubs don't repeat their 22-6 run from August. Hitting a road bump in September doesn't mean you're doomed to fall apart in the playoffs.
Though baseball players always remind us it's a team game, they still have individual goals on their minds, and watching the Cubs try to reach those numbers will be part of the fun this September.
"Everyone wants to reach their personal goals," Anthony Rizzo said. "At the end of the day, it's more geared toward where we need to be in October. Not now, but in a couple of weeks."
Bryant and Rizzo obviously are trying to put up big numbers in the MVP race, just as Kyle Hendricks would like to win the ERA title and perhaps a Cy Young award, and Jake Arrieta, Jon Lester and Jason Hammel each have a shot at winning 20 games or leading the league in victories.
"I set goals," Bryant said. "I look at them every day. I think if you kind of write them down you're more likely to achieve them. It's something, I started in college, just seeing my goals in person and striving for them."
The one pursuit of a statistical goal that may be the most interesting to follow is Russell's quest to drive in 100 runs. The All-Star shortstop had 88 after Thursday's game, though he has cooled off since the Dodgers series.
"It's attainable," Rizzo said. "Five more weeks left? I'm sure he'll say he's focused on each day, yada, yada, yada. Obviously he's getting a lot of opportunities, but he's exceeding those, taking off with (his expectations). It's fun to watch, fun to see him, just his spirit. He's the same guy every day, but to see how he's climbing to that comfort level."
Russell, the quiet Beatle compared to Bryant and Rizzo's Lennon-McCartney act, doesn't shy away from the question. There was no yada, yada, yada. He wants to hit the 100-RBI mark _ badly.
He and Ernie Banks are the only Cubs shortstops ever to exceed 85 RBIs, and Banks had five exceeding 100 as a shortstop with a high of 143.
"It seems almost within reaching distance," Russell said. "If I go do that same routine and same regimen, hopefully 100 RBIs will be there at the end of the year. But when all is said and done, that's really not the goal. We all have a pretty similar goal, a bigger goal in mind, and that's what we're all shooting for."
No one will mind if they all shoot for the moon.
As Frank Sinatra once sang, "It's been a very good year."
