They're feeling pretty good about things today up on the North Side of Chicago.  Those lovable Cubbies swept the Braves in a doublheader down in Atlanta yesterday -- smoked 'em actually, 10-2 and 8-0 -- and the Cubs are 26 games over .500 (73-47), which hasn't happened in nearly a quarter-of-a-century.  They also lead the NL Central by 3 1/2 games over Milwaukee, not their biggest lead of the year but close.

The Cubs' recent surge has ESPN.com daring this in a headline today:  Catch Them If You Can.

Ahem.  These are the Cubs we're talking about.  And so it made me wonder where those 1969 Cubs stood at this same point 39 years ago and here's an interesting coincidence:

On Aug. 16, 1969, the ill-fated Cubs hit essentially their high-water mark for the season when Ferguson Jenkins shut out the San Francisco Giants and Gaylord Perry, 3-0.  As a result, the first-place Cubs were 75-44 and had a nine-game lead in the NL East.  Then, of course, the bottom fell out.  They finished the rest of August by going 8-10 and went 9-19 in September and October.  Of course, the Amazin' Mets had a 23-7 September and rocketed past the Cubs on their way to a World Series championship over the Orioles.

So, almost to the day, the 1969 Cubs and the 2008 Cubs reached what seemed to be pinnacles.  We know what happened in 1969 and while I'm not predicting doom for this year's Cubs, well, I'm just saying, you know.