The Short Porch and the Cubs have jet lag

The end of the 2026 season has been a rocky road for the Chicago Cubs. September was one of two months that saw them post sub-.500 marks on the season with an 11-13 record. They finished exactly .500 in their last 10 games. They dropped two winnable games against the Red Sox and two winnable games against the Marlins. It felt like they might be limping into the Postseason even before star third baseman Alex Bregman took a foul ball to the face, resulting in multiple fractures and multiple missed games for one of the Cubs best hitters in the second half.

Oh, you thought that was the bad news? There's more! While that string of bad luck alone would have (probably) played the Cubs out of hosting a Wild Card Series at the Friendly Confines of Wrigley Field, Mother Nature wanted to get in on the action too. A freak September nor'easter descended upon Boston in the waning days of the 2026 season and MLB's "solution" to this was the following itinerary for the Chicago Cubs: