WASHINGTON — As Kris Bryant, Anthony Rizzo and the rest of the Chicago Cubs begin their bid for the franchise's first World Series championship in, um, one year — not quite the same panache to it as "more than a century," eh? — they'll take on Bryce Harper's Washington Nationals, a club with a brief history of postseason failures.
The "been there, done that," as Cubs manager Joe Maddon put it before his team's workout at Nationals Park on Thursday, can matter.
"Coming into this postseason, we have a 'knowing' that we didn't have last year," Maddon said.