It is sobering when the season ends no matter how far you expected to go. The Cubs closed out the season with consecutive losses at home and within 48 hours, a division title slipped away and so did their hopes of finding 2016 World Series magic.
The good news is that as a player gets farther from the end of a tough season, the optimism of getting closer to a new one can be the way to move forward. It helps take the sting out. Since I engaged this Cubs team from outside of the uniform this year, I had a chance to cover this team as an analyst.