As the Chicago Cubs fell apart late this year, I couldn’t help but think back to the 2004 season, when the team also choked down the stretch and lost out on a playoff spot.
Back then, I was a 19-year-old kid in college, still relatively naive about Cubs history (though I had watched the NLCS slip away against the Florida Marlins the previous year). I took it pretty hard, maybe even as I hard as I did the end of 2003.
Now, at 34 years old, I’ve watched Chicago again squander away a playoff spot in stunning fashion.