Sometimes I use baseball as a metaphor, and other times I’m just talking baseball. However, the use of the EST or superlative isn’t confined to baseball specifically or sports in general but it seems to be the in the sportswriter’s argot.

Over the past five years, I’ve enhanced my lying by hyperbole as it’s often the best way to make a point with K-4. They appear to listen more carefully as it’s definitely in their DNA. Every sandwich is either the greatest or worst, every friend the best or not so best.

As a culture we’re obsessed with the superlative. It might be due to our preoccupation with ranking or rating everything. Movies are the fastest to gross certain $$. Chefs are the first to receive X number of ratings or awards. It’s not an accident that athletes and teams that measure everything in numbers are even more defined by EST. As fans it’s no surprise that the latest nifty number captivates our attention likely shiny keys.

I guess we can be forgiven for forgetting the greatest, fastest, most dynamic player to grace our playing fields because there always (a great absolute) someone who will supplant them-at least in our minds.

It seems like years ago that all of Cubs Nation, or the folks covering the Cubs, couldn’t get enough of rookie, Christopher Morel. Everybody said the same thing, that despite his defensive shortcomings, the Cubs had to have his bat in the lineup on a daily basis. He was the most dynamic Cub since fill in the blank and without being critical of the guy, he’s faded from our collective conscience.

I had to double check his numbers because I couldn’t believe how quickly his star has faded. I also thought that he hadn’t been getting the at-bats, but upon further review, he has been playing-just not producing in the manner we had come to expect. Every athlete goes through slumps-some are prolonged and protracted to the point they define and curtail players’ careers. Other athletes endure the sophomore slump, an affliction akin to the terrible twos. The better coaches and managers say all the right things-doing their best to bolster wavering confidence in the hopes that the afflicted player will shake themselves out of it. Editor’s note: People are less likely to come to the conclusion that the initial success might be the outlier and that the slump is more the rule and less the exception.

As everyone in Chicago knows the Cubs had a very successful August, posting an 18-9 record. See how I snuck “everyone” in there. Not all of Chicago cares that much about baseball. Morel appeared in 22 of the 27 games last month, but the team won despite his woeful numbers: 11 hits in 74 at-bats for a .149 average and 3 homers and 11 RBI, and 0/1 in stolen bases. These are hardly the numbers one would expect from a dynamic contributor. Obviously, other players have stepped up, but what’s more important is that Cub Nation seems to have forgotten about Morel.

It’s to the Cubs credit that they are moving on and winning without his contributions at the moment, but I expect he’ll have something to say in the Cubs chase for the postseason. The better managers and coaches are able to communicate with their players and explain that they’re not forgotten but rather the smart money is in playing the hot hand(s). It is usually easier to do this with young players. I’m not sure how Patrick Wisdom is handling his second class citizen status right now?

Big Picture, it’s already taken contributions from 21 position players and 23 pitchers to get this far. I expect that another 10 players will have something to say in the team’s ultimate success.