Any good team can have a bad month — this May for the Yankees being a prime example (though it’s got nothing on that nightmarish Septemer 2000). But that’s hardly part of a pattern for the team. Cub Reporter Christian Ruzich, on the other hand, has studied how his Cubs have fared in June, and the news for North Side fans is discouraging.

Ruzich identifies 14 times since 1969 (when divisional play began) when the Cubs entered June either first or second in their division. In ten of those 14 Junes, the Cubs were below .500, and overall they went a combined187-214 (.466), leaving June either #1 or #2 in the division only six times. Only twice did they end up winning the division (1984 and 1989), and in 1998 they won the Wild Card slot in a one-game playoff.

Suffice it to say that June tends to weed out the pretending Cub teams from the contending ones. All of this is relevant because the Cubs are currently leading the NL Central by two games. Read Ruz’s rundown of those ruinous Junes.