The 2007 Cubs have been nothing but damaging to my health and well-being.

The Surgeon General should put a warning on all game tickets, TV broadcasts and merchandise saying that the Cubs can cause their fans loss of hair, sanity and self-respect. Then people might know the risks that come with being a North Side supporter.

The emotional roller coaster that the Cubs have put me through this season can only be compared to the mess that was the 2003 Cubs postseason. The one that almost made me admit myself to the psych ward. The comparisons stop there though, and that’s why I’m optimistic that this team can finish what the 2003 club couldn’t and cure a 99-year plague.

The most noticeable difference between these Cubs and the ’03 Cubs is the offense and its dependency on the home run.

Dusty Baker’s squad hit 21 more home runs then Lou Piniella’s club and the team seemed to be fueled by the deep shots from sluggers Sammy Sosa and Moises Alou. The ’07 Cubs, however, have a higher team batting average, more hits, a higher team on-base percentage and more RBIs, which have been the product of the Cubs’ ability to string hits together to score.

The 2007 Cubs also have hitters with high batting averages in key positions. While the 2003 Cubs had Sosa batting third with a .279 average followed by Alou’s .280, this current team has Derrek Lee hitting .317 and Aramis Ramirez batting .310 in the third and fourth spots, respectively. The only position player from the 2003 team that had an average above .300 – Mark Grudzielanek at .314 – spent the majority of the season batting first or second where he was unable to drive runners in, as evidenced by his 38 RBIs.

The key stat though, is the Cubs’ 340 doubles, which is first among National League teams this year. By hitting doubles, the Cubs have been able to drive in runners from any base – assuming anyone but Cliff Floyd or Daryle Ward is running – while also putting another man in scoring position.

Another noticeable difference between the two clubs is the pitching staff.

Most of us remember the dominance of the ’03 Cubs pitching that was led by the 18-6 record of the mythical Mark Prior and his 2.43 ERA, the 266 strikeouts from the flame-throwing Kerry Wood, and the surprisingly good year from the up-and-coming Carlos Zambrano. How things have changed.

While the ’03 Cubs pitching is statistically better than this year’s team in almost every category, there are two main differences that could give the 2007 Cubs a huge advantage in October.

The first one is walks, particularly from the starting pitching. The 2003 Cubs were the worst team in the NL in giving free passes to first base, issuing 617 walks. This year’s starters, while still bad in the walks department, is considerably better with 573 walks (101 coming from Zambrano alone). If the Cubs give up walks in the postseason, good teams will make them pay for it. If they continue to make opposing hitters put the ball in play, though, the defense is good enough to get the outs.

The other thing that these Cubs have over the 2003 team is a dominant reliever in Carlos Marmol. There was no reliever on the ’03 team that even came close to the skill that Marmol has. His slider is scarier than anything the ’03 relievers had, although Antonio Alfonseca did have a creepy sixth finger. With a 1.43 ERA and 96 strikeouts over 69.1 innings pitched, Marmol can be the rock that Piniella will lean on to get him out of a jam or to squash an opponent’s hope of mounting any kind of comeback.

The last advantage for this year’s Cubs has nothing to do with the team at all, but rather the circumstance of playing in the 2007 National League. The 2003 Cubs had 100-victory monsters in Atlanta and San Francisco that made the playoffs, not to mention the highly talented Florida Marlins which could have had 100 victories if they had played in the Central Division.

This year’s playoff participants are nowhere near as skilled or dominant as in 2003. The Cubs’ potential opponents include the young but inexperienced Diamondbacks, the powerful but inconsistent Phillies, and either the hitting-anemic Padres or the pitching-deficient Rockies. With experienced leaders in Lee, Ramirez and Alfonso Soriano and strong pitching from Zambrano, Ted Lilly and Marmol, the Cubs could have the right combination to seize the pennant out of the weak NL.

This is not 2003. This is a new team with a new manager and new players. This is a team that has experienced the highs and lows that can only exist in the 162-game schedule of Major League Baseball, and they have dragged the fans along for the ride.

This is 2007, and this year can be the year that all the right ingredients come together to cure Cub Nation of its epidemic.

Kyle Betts is a senior in Communications. He can be reached at [email protected].