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Baseball Gods Talk; Cubs, Padres Walk

Maybe the Baseball Gods were telling us something when yesterday’s Hall of Fame exhibition game was rained out.

Doubleday Field - Former site of the Baseball Hall of Fame gameMaybe they were saying the time when players gave openly and willingly back to the sport was a thing of the past and to allow this generation of baseball players to step foot on this sacred ground would be tantamount to trespassing.

Maybe they were speaking to major league baseball one drop at a time that the traditions and honor associated with the sport had become as muddied as Doubleday Field itself.

And judging by the lack of enthusiasm exhibited by the Hall of Fame game participants - the Chicago Cubs and San Diego Padres - maybe they were right.

Yesterday’s game was to be its last. Like all the other mid-season exhibition games before it, the Hall of Fame game too fell to the whims of challenging travel schedules and even more demanding players.

”I’d rather be in Tampa on the beach for a day off,” said Chicago Cubs first baseman Derrek Lee, regarding the game. ”Still, you respect the game and the Hall of Fame. It’s something you’ve got to do and get through and make the best of it.”

Lee’s summation sounds more like a trip to the dentist’s office than playing a game that honors baseball greats past and present. But his was not the lone voice of apathy. Dos Carlos - Marmol and Zambrano - didn’t even change from their street clothes.

I’m not a major league baseball player so I can’t speak to the demands that travel takes on a player’s body and soul.

But I do know what it’s like to work 16 hour days for weeks on end. There was no beach in Tampa waiting for me either.

I also know that Lee and so many players today will earn more in one season than I’ll earn in my lifetime. They and their families will be afforded more opportunities than I will ever be able to grant mine.

The separation of have or have not does not make me jealous. But the token regard to the game that has given so many so much makes me mad. And sad.

In my lifetime, practicing every minute of every day, would not allow me the richness in talent that these modern players hold. But I am thankful for every minute of every game I’m able to see and marvel at the wonderful game that baseball is.

Baseball has made mine a wealthy soul. Thank you to all the greats.

Posted 17 June 2008 † Corked Bat § Major League Baseball News & Opinion § Comments & Opinion ‡ Comments (0)

Cubs Continue Quest to Quiet Ghosts

There’s few, if any of us in Cubdom who remember the last time the Chicago Cubs raised this much ruckus in June. Or May or April for that matter.

Reed Johnson is mobbed by Chicago Cub teammates after scoring winning runBut that isn’t stopping the 2008 version from chasing, and catching, some ghosts of Cub baseball past. Even if decades - and sometimes centuries - separate the two.

These 2008 Cubs are setting a standard for success, not a follow through with failure. Which is not only raising the hopes of those across Cub nation, but opening eyes in major league baseball circles as well.

Take for example the Cubs latest homestand. In a three-game set against Atlanta’s Braves, the Cubs extended their Wrigley Field win streak to 11, winning by a lot (10-5 and 7-2) and by a little (3-2 in 11 innings).

How impressive has this streak been? Consider you’d have to go back nearly a month (May 17th) to find the last time the Chicago Cubs have lost a home game (7-6 to Pittsburgh). Just as a side note, the Cubs finished 14-3 at home for the month of May.

The latest home win, Thursday’s 3-2 extra-inning affair over the Braves, pushed the Cubs Wrigley Field record to 29-8. A new Wrigley Field mark in itself and tying the franchise record for best home record set by the 1907 Cubs at West Side Grounds.

But that’s not all. By entering the month of June with the best record in baseball this 2008 edition became the first Cubs team to do so since the 1908 club. And as we all know that’s the last time Chicago’s Cubs won the World Series.

There’s alot of baseball yet to be played and whether the Cubs can continue this incredible season into October is anyone’s guess. According to Chicago manager Lou Piniella any future success rests completely on his players’ shoulders.

“I don’t believe things go your way, ” Piniella said, following the Cubs extra-inning win over Atlanta. “I believe you make things go your way.”

If Piniella’s correct, the Cubs may find themselves with no more ghosts to chase.

Posted 15 June 2008 † Corked Bat § Comments & Opinion ‡ Comments (0)

The Good News, Bad News Cubs

For Chicago Cub baseball fans, the first week of June finds its favorite team with the best record in baseball.

Chicago Cubs pitcher Carlos ZambranoThat’s the good news. Unfortunately, that’s the bad news as well.

The Cubs, winners of 10 of their last 13, currently sit atop the major league baseball heap with a 39-24 record and a .619 winning percentage. That’s a full game better than the defending world champion Boston Red Sox, who at 39-26, is winning at a .600 clip.

While there’s too much baseball to be played to draw comparisons between the two teams, it’s worth noting that similarities exist.

It wasn’t that long ago that when it came to the discussion of baseball success neither the Cubs nor the Red Sox were part of the conversation. After all, up until 2004, Boston’s last World Series success wasn’t much better than the Cubs’ current 100-year drought.

But as winners of two of the last four World Series, the Red Sox now know what’s it’s like to have a bullseye on their back. For the Cubs, who’s track record includes an even deeper furrow of futility, they’re just learning.

Imagine. For only the second time in the last 100 years the Chicago Cubs enter the month of June with the best record in baseball. Those include the years when there were far fewer teams than the 30 that populate major league baseball today.

The Cubs, believe it or not, are the front runners of the entire National League. And to bring Ripley even further into the discourse, Chicago’s Cubs are the marked team - for now.

And that’s where the real test begins. Whether the Cubs can continue to stand tall in the spotlight is the question that waits on the horizon. All the fundamentals - and the good luck - that brought the Cubs to this point are meaningless if the cracks that showed in yesterday’s loss to the Dodgers remain.

If you thought it was tough being a Cubs fan when the club were merely the “lovable losers” of baseball, just wait. The Cubs are baseball’s darlings today - with a bullseye on their Cubbie blues.

Posted 08 June 2008 † Corked Bat § Comments & Opinion ‡ Comments (1)

Cubs Take One from the Road

Whether baseball is a microcosm of life or visa versa is one of those questions I’ve wrestled with since joining the ranks of Cubdom many years ago. I still haven’t discovered the answer, but I suspect I’ll probably find out sooner than I like.

Chicago catcher Geovany Soto is congratulated in the Cubs dugoutOne thing I am certain of, like life, Chicago Cubs baseball has its surprises. Sometimes it’s like a walk-off home run, and at others its like Cub left fielder Alfonso Soriano tracking down a fly ball - the effort is there, but the mechanics fail.

I believe it’s that correlation between everyday living and Cubs baseball that is at the core of its loyal following. We all understand the “bad day.” We just haven’t had the misfortune of having a 100-year history of them.

After all, one doesn’t earn the nickname “lovable losers” over night. It takes years of practice.

And cynicism.

But these 2008 Chicago Cubs seem to be undoing their past - Cubdom’s angst- one game at a time. And in no one way.

Ten days and nine wins ago, the Cubs had just dropped their second extra-inning loss in a row to Pittsburgh. The defeat dropped Chicago’s road record to 10-13 and following a seven-game homestand the Cubs would be on the road again for 23 of their next 32 games.

It’s a scenario, I’m sure, that caught the attention of Central Division opponents as well as some of Cubdom’s cynics - myself included.

But this is 2008 and a different team than year’s past. This is a team that comes from behind, finds ways to win and overcomes its own self-made obstacles.

In just the last two days, the Cubs battled back from a three- and two-run deficits to take the first two of a three-game set with San Diego. As important as the victories, it also showed the Cubs - and Cubbie fans - that they can win on the road. With the wins, Chicago assured itself of taking its first road series since early April.

My guess is those around major league baseball are asking themselves, “Who are these guys?”

Easy. They are the 2008 Chicago Cubs.

Posted 04 June 2008 † Corked Bat § Comments & Opinion ‡ Comments (2)

Piniella’s Cubs: Mission Accomplished (Sort Of)

One year ago Chicago Cubs baseball was in disarray. Mired in a six-game losing streak and with a 22-31 record, the Cubs had done everything they could to live up to their nickname, “lovable losers.”

Chicago Cubs Geovany Soto and Kerry Wood congratulate each otherThey were a team in the sink and with a payroll of nearly $100 million, the Cubs played - and acted - like they were just one flush away from the whole season going down the drain.

A day earlier, pitcher Carlos Zambrano redefined the baseball term “battery mate” when he pummeled ex-Cub catcher Michael Barrett in a clubhouse brawl. And today marks the one-year anniversary of manager Lou Piniella’s memorable meltdown and his 62nd career ejection.

What followed was nothing less than a clubhouse clearance sale. Barrett, battered and beleaguered, was shipped to San Diego, while a disgruntled Matt Murton was moved to Triple A Iowa.

Lou’s message was clear: Deliver or disappear.

Piniella had said during spring training one of his objectives was to create a new Chicago Cub culture. The way 2007 was heading a petri dish of bacteria resembled the Cubs’ culture more than winning ways.

Then something began to happen to Chicago Cubs baseball. Following Piniella’s ejection, the club went on to win their next 17 of 26 games in June, and followed that with a 17-9 record in July.

Cubs’ calamity had become a Chicago celebration. While the 2007 season ended on a sour note, losing to Arizona in the NLDS, more importantly a seed had been planted in the thicket of Chicago Cub culture.

One year later, the Cubs head into their first real road test of the season with a seven-game winning streak and the best record in major league baseball.

No kidding.

Three-hundred and sixty-five days later from covering the umpire crew in diamond dirt, Piniella’s culture of winning looks like it’s finally beginning to take root.

“These guys are playing hard,” Piniella said following Sunday’s 5-3 win over the Colorado Rockies. “It’s a nice brand of baseball they’re playing.”

There’s nothing like winning, is there, Sweet Lou?

Posted 02 June 2008 † Corked Bat § Comments & Opinion ‡ Comments (0)
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