Last week slugger Derrek Lee, off to a great start in 2006, was involved in a freak collision with Rafael Furcal of the Dodgers. On the play, Furcal drug a bunt into the Bermuda Triangle between the pitcher’s mound and first base. Cub pitcher Glendon Rusch fielded the bunt, fell on his face and got off a lob toss to Lee, who was covering first. Furcal, Lee and the ball all arrived at the bag at the same time. It was a nasty collision, one that left Lee bent over in pain, clutching his wrist.

Lee had to leave the game, and, if that was not enough, Rusch was also injured on the play. Leave it to the Cubs to figure out a way to have two players go down on a weak drag bunt.

Things got worse.

An initial x-ray of Lee’s damaged wrist was “inconclusive.” Experienced Cub fans know this is the team doctor’s way of saying, “I need to break this kind of news gently.” An MRI later showed that Lee’s wrist was broken in two places, putting the most prolific bat in the Chicago lineup on the shelf for at least 10 weeks.

That wasn’t a sonic boom heard in the Great Lakes region late last week. That was the sound of the entire north side of Chicago sucking wind at the same time. Somehow the Cub faithful, eternal optimists that they are, figured they might be able to overcome yet another year with Prior and Wood collecting dust. The loss of Lee, however, caused even the most ardent of Cubs fans to blow taps on the 2006 season.

They are probably right.

Lee was hitting .318 and already had three homers when he collided with Furcal. Last season, in what was a breakout year, Lee was a MVP candidate. The first sacker hit .335, jacked 46 homeruns and drove in 107. Lee became the heart and soul of Chicago’s batting order, consistently causing opposing pitchers to keep a pack of Rolaids in their back pockets.

The impact of Lee’s injury is inestimable. What’s even worse for the Chicago front office is the fact that, just two short weeks prior to his injury, Lee signed a $65 million contract to stay in Chicago. Lee’s windfall doesn’t leave Cubbie management with a lot of money to throw around trying to replace him.

Without Lee, Aramis Ramirez remains the only consistent power threat in the Cubs’ lineup. Michael Barrett, a great catcher, is beginning to hit the long ball and Jacques Jones, over from the Twins, can hit a tater every now and then. Still, without Lee, the Chicago batting order is much less formidable.

Chicago’s woes are deepened by the fact that the team plays in one of the better divisions in all of baseball. The Cardinals are consistently good and should win the National League Central. Houston is off to a great start after having come out of the gate limping the past two years. The Astros, last year’s National League Champions, can’t be counted out.

Cincinnati is also playing well. The Reds are a solid team offensively and can compete with anyone. If Cincy had a little more pitching, the team could be a major contender for the division title. Milwaukee is also on the rise, despite having one of the lowest payrolls in baseball. Manager Ned Yost led the Brewers to an 81-81 record last season and Milwaukee looks to be even better in 2006. The Brewer roster is loaded with young talent and these guys have figured out that they are good enough to play with the best.

Yes, the Cubs are in trouble, their fans know it, sportswriters know it and Chicago skipper Dusty Baker certainly knows it.

You can call what happened to Lee a freak accident but close followers of the Cubs know better. Call it an accident if you want, but most Chicago faithful will attribute the demise of Lee to more sinister sources, like the Curse of the Goat.

They may be right.

Peter Gammons of ESPN said that he had talked to Lee just after he signed the big contract a few weeks back. Gammons asked Lee why he didn’t wait until after the season to see how much money big name teams with deep pockets, like the Yankees or the Red Sox, would offer him.

According to Gammons, Lee said that he signed the contract because he liked Chicago, he liked playing in Wrigley Field and he liked the Cubs’ prospects of winning.

Gammons went on to say that Lee concluded his remarks by saying, “Besides, who knows what could happen. Two weeks from now I could break my wrist.”

In this case, Lee was a prophet. Surely he didn’t know he was going to break his wrist. Cubs’ fans, however, were probably just waiting for the ax to fall.

Cubs’ fans understand how things work on the North Side. Cubs’ fans understand that nothing can ever be taken for granted. Most of all, Cubs’ fans understand the Curse of the Goat. I suspect that by now, so does Derrek Lee.