Initially, I thought I’d be oh so clever in dissecting what happened this past weekend, but since I wasn’t sitting in any ballpark, I decided on discussing the hopes and dreams (crushed or positive) after some pretty unexpected results.

I had a fun discussion with a Cubs fan this morning after the Cubs throttled the Athletics in their first home game in Sacramento last night. She was excited but hasn’t been able to shake Sunday’s crushing loss to the Dbacks. Being the wise old owl, I shared the horrible rollercoaster analogy. Whether it allayed her stress, isn’t my problem, but it does help with the goofy start that many teams had this weekend.

I also blame the Chicago media for the narrative that the Cubs somehow are operating under the most difficult schedule in the history of April and that playing .500 ball is some victory. Those numbers are based on last season’s numbers or projections.

All of a sudden, the Braves, Brewers and Twins (to name but three) aren’t playing to their projections. Did the Yankees catch the Brewers with their pants down or did they beat a powerhouse? The 1-2 White Sox dang near no-hit the0-3 Twins yesterday (9-0). I’m sure heading into the season, the Twins were one of the “tougher” teams the Sox would face. Whatever math you subscribe to, 0-3 is worse than 1-2.

If we figure the small, three game sample size will dictate how things will fall for the rest of the year, the Yankees will only hit 810 homers and Aaron Judge will account for 287 of them. Of course, some players will regress to the mean, but I’m not at liberty to discuss who will flop badly.

As a devout and practicing Cubs fan, I couldn’t be happier with newcomer, Kyle Tucker’s torrid start. In his first 6 games with the Cubs, he’s slashing .323/.400/.742 with 3 homers and 10 RBI. No matter what the experts say, that’s not typical for free agents or highly hyped trade products. Getting off to a hot start is important in Cubs world. Rookie Matt Shaw has already had some moments but is facing a season with more ups and downs.

Fans worry too much about crappy starts and celebrate too much for (surprising) great starts. The media feeds into that, it’s what sells “papers.” However, rather than worry when the team will collapse, why not enjoy the unexpected wins. I know Sox fans don’t expect much this season, but why not enjoy and pocket those first two victories?

Conversely, Brewers fans should worry. They’ve already lost their first four games by a combined 47-15. And if anyone is wondering, Bob Uecker is rolling over in Harvey Kuehn‘s grave after yesterday’s OD travesty at AmFam Field.

Every so often, Lucy Van Pelt gets it right. Enjoy yesterday’s Classic Peanuts.

Read Peanuts by Charles Schulz on GoComics

Unfortunately there have been too many serious injuries to start the season and one stupid 80-game suspension for PED’s.