Here in Chicago, hope tends to spring in April and collapse by mid-summer for the Cubs. So it was good to see new manager Dusty Baker get off to such a startling good start on Monday with a 15-2 romp of the Mets, the best Opening Day for the Cubs since 1899, if I heard the news right the other night.

Still, the outlook for this season includies too many question marks for Dusty Baker to go to his second straight World Series--read most of them in the opposing scout sidebar in the Cubs entry in Sports Illustrated's baseball preview. Or, as a Bay Area Cubs fan writes to the SF Chronicle:

The Cubs' Opening Day infield will consist of Mark Bellhorn, who's never played third base in his life; shortstop Alex Gonzales, who has less range than Bob Dylan; second baseman Mark Grudzielanek, who at 33 moves like his name weighs 10 pounds per letter; and 250-pound Korean rookie first baseman Hee Seop Choi. On artificial turf, this group is going to look like the freshman class at bullfighting school. Kerry Wood may become the first pitcher in history to request a trade to Colorado.

Sheesh, hard to believe they scored a run Monday, much less 15.

Get the latest from the Cub Reporter blogger, including a second-by-second countdown to the home opener at Wrigley Field.