Cubs vs. Mets: The Idiot’s Guide To The NLCS

It's official! The Chicago Cubs and New York Mets will square off to determine who will move on to the World Series.

Thing is, as a Cubs fan, you might not have time to keep up with every team in Major League Baseball. So here's a handy guide of seven things you need to know before Cubs-Mets series kicks off tomorrow.

1. While the Cubs are getting to the National League Championship Series (NLCS) for the first time since 2003, this isn't something the Mets are used to reaching either.

If you're a Cubs fan, you know that the Cubs haven't been to the NLCS since 2003. You know, the Bartman series? The Mets haven't had much luck either. They last appeared in 2006 where they ended up losing to the eventual World Series champion, St. Louis Cardinals.

2. The Cubs have some young studs on their team but the Mets aren't a bunch of old fogies either.

The Cubs players average age is 28.3 and Mets are 29.0. Pitchers Stephen Matz, Noah Syndergaard, and position players, Michael Conforto and Kevin Plawecki, all rookies, are major reasons why they are in the NLCS.

3. Jake Arrieta and Jon Lester are real good, but Matt Harvey, Jacob DeGrom, and Noah Syndergaard are pretty good too.

Arrieta has put up some of the most ridiculous numbers in the second half of the baseball season. After a rocky first half of the season, Lester has rebounded nicely. Harvey, coming back from Tommy John surgery, along with DeGrom and Syndergaard (along with some timely hitting) have carried the Mets to the NLCS.

4. The Cubs won all seven games they played against the Mets during the regular season.

The Cubs beat the Mets at home and on the road and looked good while doing it. However, this is a different Mets team than the one they faced during the regular season. Young players figuring it out and one key trade deadline addition to the team have made them a much improved squad during the second half.

5. Mets outfielder Yoenis Cespedes should make Cubs fans worried.

Cespedes was that late season addition I mentioned above who has shown he was worth every penny and player sent to Detroit to make the trade. Since Cespedes arrived in New York, Cespedes has hit 17 home runs, drove in 44 and is hitting .287, in only 57 games.  In comparison, his 102 game stint with Detroit this year, Cespedes hit 18 round trippers and knocked in 87. Cespedes is the kind of player that can single-handedly win the Mets the NLCS and possibly the World Series.

6. The Cubs are on TBS. Yikes!

Cubs fans are a supportive bunch. Over 100 years without a World Series win, year after year of losing, but 2015 has produced a really winner. The reward for the fans? Watching the TBS broadcast of our favorite team. The Cubs will be on TBS throughout the NLCS, with Ernie Johnson, Ron Darling and Cal Ripken handling the, uh, honors? In case you were wondering, 8 p.m. first pitch for both Game 1 and 2 of the NLCS. The rest of the series times are "to be announced."

7. Going to Wrigley Field to see the Cubs in the NLCS is going to cost you an arm and a leg and another arm.

As of yesterday, tickets are easily going for $1,000 and the average is $1,357.85 which is nearly double the average price of the 2012 San Francisco Giants NLCS games where the cost was $687.15. If you asked me, any seat in Wrigley is a great seat. How many times do you get to see the Cubs in the NLCS? For me it's been three times in my entire life. Not that I'm counting or anything.