Monday marks the fourth opening day in which I have been blogging about Chicago Cubs baseball. The Cubs won each of the first three opening days. In 2003, it was a humiliation of the New York Mets. What a different day that was. Dusty Baker started Hee Seop Choi against lefthanded pitcher Tom Glavine. Corey Patterson hit 2 homers and had 7 RBI's. And Juan Cruz struck out 6 straight hitters.

In 2004, it was a methodical defeat of the Cincinnati Reds, on a day that also saw the defeat of the Cardinals, the Astros, and the White Sox.

In 2005, it was a 16-6 thrashing of the Diamondbacks. Derrek Lee -- hitting 6th in the lineup! -- went 4-6 with a homer and 4 RBI's, an example of things to come.

And so now we enter the 2006 season. Our heart was broken in 2003. We became jaded in the final week of 2004. And we gnashed our teeth throughout pretty much all of 2005.

Dusty Baker and this blogger enter their fourth season. Baker's contract runs out this year. I don't have a contract. We both want to see the Cubs win and fly the flag of victory. May it be so.