Ssshhhhhh. Did you hear that sound coming out of the Chicago Cubs training camp?
If you answered no, you’d be correct. For what you don’t hear is the beautiful sound of silence. And what a pleasant melody it’s playing.
For the first time in a long time, Chicago Cubs baseball is readying itself for a new season without the expectations, distractions or controversies that have become baseball’s version of March Madness.
Maybe it’s the Arizona sunshine. Maybe it’s the promise of a new season. But the Cubs are playing baseball - yes, baseball - with a peaceful easy feeling that manager Lou Piniella hasn’t enjoyed since his arrival three seasons ago.
Good for Lou. Good for the team. And good for the Cubs faithful following.
Despite the modest success the Cubs have enjoyed under Piniella, one thing is certain - none of it has come easy.
Since coming to Chicago it’s been nothing short of an uphill task for Piniella, the Cubs and the organization itself. None of it, I might add, was or has been through Piniella’s doing.
The Cubs manager, entering his fourth season, inherited a club that finished 66-96 and dead last in the National League Central. And if stripping the “lovable losers” tag off the Cubs’ jerseys wasn’t a task daunting enough, Piniella also has had to contend with a stubborn lead-off hitter (Alfonso Soriano), a contentious starting pitcher (Carlos Zambrano) and a personality afflicted outfielder (Milton Bradley).
And that’s just the short list for players.
On the organizational side, there was an ownership in bankruptcy court and the eventual protracted process of the selling of the Cubs. And please don’t get me started on general manager Jim Hendry’s record-setting payrolls with nary a division series win to show for it.
Piniella has faced all this and more without a mere mention from me of the annual parade of “Cubbie occurances.”
Yes, the Chicago Cubs manager has deserved the peace and quiet of this spring camp. Enjoy it while you can, Lou. The season starts in five days.
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