While the Chicago Cubs have been busy embracing the target the last few months, the target has grown much bigger.
After leading the Pirates by 15 games at one point and the Cardinals by 12 at another, the Cubs took their foot off the gas and let both of their National League Central Division rivals back into the race.
After Sunday's win over the Pirates, they take a seven-game lead over the Cardinals going into the All-Star break, and 7.5 games over the Pirates.
In a normal season, most would be happy with the Cubs' position. But this year has been anything but normal. They set an early pace that led some to believe it might be the best team in franchise history, only to be slapped back to reality over the last three weeks.
Last year the Cubs were 47-40 at the break and eight games out of first place, but everyone felt good about the team's direction. This year they're 53-35, but the recent cold stretch has led to a general sense of unease among fans, particularly the older, easily scarred variety.
Since June 19, the Cubs are 6-15, including 2-11 against everyone but the Reds.
What can the Cubs do?
For the time being, nothing. Just forget it happened and look at the second half as a new start. Reinforcements will arrive in the coming weeks, off the disabled list or via trades.
The Cubs sent seven players to Tuesday's All-Star Game in Petco Park, including the rehabbing Dexter Fowler, who did not play. It's a chance for the organization to celebrate its relevancy, to show the baseball world how far it has come since the 101-loss season in 2012.
There will be plenty of time to fret after the break, when the Cubs play the Rangers, Mets and White Sox in three of their first four series back.
This kind of stretch was inevitable, as even the best teams go through slumps. When I asked President Theo Epstein before the season about the lofty expectations from Cubs fans, the media and oddsmakers, he was already trying to downplay the hype.
"I just think the season has so many ups and downs, so many daily narratives, so many twists and turns," he said. "That's what takes over during the season. No one is going to be talking about expectations. Throughout the season I think they're going to be reacting to what we're doing.
"So I just don't really worry about it, especially with this group. They're high-character guys, they're highly motivated, they're not complacent. They're super hungry. I just think it's kind of an external thing."
So it wasn't the front office pushing the October narrative before its time. They've been through enough of these things to know not to plan for the postseason in the first half, no matter the team's record.
It was, however, a different story for the business side, which was informing city officials they needed to get their new outdoor plaza approved so it would be ready for the postseason and having internal discussions about the postgame parties mandated by MLB during the championship series and World Series.
The only real questions were who would start the opener and what appetizers to serve the sponsors.
The Cubs obviously are still in strong position and have too much talent to screw this up. But they're still the Cubs and share the same burden their predecessors had in 1984, 2003 and 2008: guilty until proven innocent.
The fear factor that goes hand-in-hand with being a Cubs fan seemed to disappear in late May, but it's back with a vengeance. The most distressing development has been the inexplicable slump by the veteran members of the rotation, who were lights-out until recently.
Jake Arrieta hasn't pitched more than six innings since June 11 and is 1-3 over his last four starts with a 5.06 earned-run average. Jon Lester has given up 13 earned runs over 4 1/3 innings in his last two starts, both of which prolonged losing streaks instead of stopping them. John Lackey has a 7.55 ERA over his last four starts.
The three have track records that suggest it's only a blip, even if they've all blipped at the same time. Maybe that's why manager Joe Maddon retains that "What, me worry?" attitude.
Maddon compared the poor stretch to a "stubbed toe," apparently unaware that Ryan Dempster's broken toe suffered jumping over the dugout railing after a win put a damper on the Cubs' 2009 run.
Maddon said he plans to relax in Florida this week and do what he does best.
"I'll watch the game because of our boys, that's it," he said. "A lot of just doing nothing. I really do nothing well, so this is a great opportunity to practice that."
The Cubs did nothing well the last three weeks.
Hopefully it's out of their system.
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