When the season ends abruptly like it did this year for the Chicago Cubs, fans like to look back at what caused the team to not reach their goal. What were some of the major hurdles this year that caused the Cubs path to alter from a first-place team in contention to a team that failed to even make the Wild Card game.
Each one of these stumbles is like a Cubs-Watergate scandal which ultimately took the team down. Without further ado, here are the top five storylines that impacted the team this year.
5. Addison Russell domestic abuse controversy – Chicago Cubs second baseman Addison Russell’s controversy carried over from last season and reared its ugly head early as fans and the team were not concentrating on what was happening on field as much as off in the newspapers.