Maybe Jim Frey should go back to wearing the pink shirt and the brown pants.
”That`s what I wore every day when we won six in a row a couple of weeks ago,” the manager said, forcing a smile after his Cubs lost their 10th straight game Friday night, 7-5 to the Cardinals.
”We all have our little superstitions,” Frey said. ”I wore that same outfit every day to the ballpark: a pink shirt and a brown pair of pants. If I went out after the game for dinner, I took extra clothes to wear. But I wore the same clothes to the ballpark. My wife thought I was crazy. She said the rest of the guys are going to think I`m out of clothes. But it seemed to work then. We won six in a row.”
Last Thursday in New York, Frey made what he considered the ultimate sacrifice: He gave up cigarettes.
”I didn`t smoke at all during the 1984 season,” Frey said. ”So I figured I`d try quitting this year, just to see what happens.”
Nothing Frey has tried lately has worked for the Cubs, who appeared to be in a position to run away with the National League East two weeks ago when they held a 3 1/2-game lead.
What`s the problem? If you have a few hours, the Cubs would like to tell you about them, but they don`t like to dwell on the negatives.
Start with injuries over the past month, right up the gut. The list of sick and shut-ins seems endless:
— Center-fielder and leadoff hitter Bobby Dernier, on the 15-day disabled list with sore left foot;
— Second baseman and 1984 Most Valuable Player Ryne Sandberg, bruised rib cage;
— Starting pitcher and Cy Young Award winner Rick Sutcliffe, partial tear left hamstring, missed three starts;
— Starting pitcher Steve Trout, inflamed left elbow, missed three starts;
— Starting pitcher Scott Sanderson, periodic lower back spasms, another three starts;
— Left-fielder Gary Matthews, arthroscopic knee surgery, out four weeks; — And catcher Jody Davis, anemia and viral infection, out indefinitely.
Those players missed a total of 67 games this season.
”We don`t like to use the injuries and illnesses as an alibi,” said Cubs` president and general manager Dallas Green, who last week questioned the concentration level and effort of some players. ”This is the type of situation where the real players step forth and grind it out under adverse circumstances.”
Frey is gritting his teeth out of determination and frustration.
”When I was a coach at Baltimore, we used to go through spells, especially early in the season, when we`d lose eight out of 10 or seven out of nine,” Frey said. ”But I can`t ever remember losing nine or 10 in a row.”
”Maybe we`ll be able to sit back and laugh about this in a week or so and win six or seven in a row,” said right-fielder Keith Moreland. ”Right now, it`s not very funny. We have to put out of our mind each new day. We can`t take yesterday`s loss on the field with us.”
In addition to the injuries and illnesses, the defense hasn`t played as well as it did last season. Sandberg, twice a Gold Glove second baseman, already has committed as many errors as he did all last season. Errors have been costly at shortstop recently.
Less perceptible is that the outfield, varying from game to game because of injuries, has failed to make plays it should at crucial times. Dernier`s absence is felt every day he is out.
The offense, a given the last two seasons with the Cubs, has fallen drastically, in team batting average and in clutch hitting. Ron Cey is striking out once every four at-bats. Sandberg has only 14 runs batted in, and Matthews, who led the league with 19 game-winning RBIs and 103 walks, has been missed to no end.
Frey`s coaching staff is trying to retain its posture as a liaison between the players and the manager.
”We know we`re going to put it to an end and we know we`re going to get healthy,” said first-base coach John Vukovich. ”I would hope that the players would look from this day forward instead of from the last nine or 10 games.
”I don`t think anyone wants to go through a bad streak like this to give yourself more character. But I also think you can have a good memory about what some ballclubs do to you and use that as a positive tool later on. And we know who we`re talking about.”
Vukovich referred to the taunting Mets, who swept the Cubs four straight in Shea Stadium last week.
”We have a pretty mature ballclub,” Vukovich said. ”Now that we have all the injuries, the extra guys want to have a chance to work.”
The players and coaches dismiss the notion that they had become complacent after winning the NL East last season and grabbing an early lead in the standings this year.
”I don`t think this team was becoming complacent when we were going well,” Vukovich said. ”I think we were proud of the fact that when we were rolling along with some injuries, a lot of people filled in nicely and took us from second place to first place with a 3 1/2-game lead. Because they did that before, they can do it again. I don`t think a losing streak was needed to shock us.
”Jim Frey has been solid through all of it. He`s tried to be positive with the team and talked about fighting through this.”
Larry Bowa, the 39-year-old team captain, has experienced losing periods like this before, but he said there is no sense of panic on the ballclub.
”When you`re winning, all the umpires seem to make calls that go for you,” Bowa said. ”When you`re losing, they seem to all go against you. That`s typical of any team during a streak.
”Now is not the time to feel sorry for yourself. The intensity and attitude in the clubhouse seem to be all right. It`s just that when you`re in a slump, every play is magnified. This is something that every team goes through at one time or another.
”Maybe it`s good we`re getting it out of the way now. We have a lot of home games coming up the second half. If this losing pattern continues, something like a team meeting could be considered. Jim has already met with us and told us to keep hustling and keep battling and keep our heads up. Other than that, I don`t think there`s too much you can say.
”The hardest thing to do during a slump is trying to put out of your mind what has happened in the past. We can`t go out there feeling beat before the game.”
The pitchers have done a marvelous job throughout the slump. Entering this weekend`s series with the Cardinals, the team earned run average of 2.97 ranked third in the league.
”Through this whole thing, I think the one thing that has remained consistent has been pitching,” Bowa said. ”We just haven`t scored runs. The pitchers have done their job.”
”During the second half of the season, we`ve got two-thirds of our games at home. You have to look at it that way,” Richie Hebner said. ”If we could stay afloat by the All-Star break, maybe we can get healthy in the second half. We`re not in that bad of shape as far as the standings are concerned. Some teams lose nine games in a row and drop six games in the standings. We really haven`t lost much ground. We`re kind of lucky because everybody is losing in our division.
”There aren`t too many guys walking around in the clubhouse talking about how we are losing or pointing fingers at teammates. We`re not having fun, losing nine games in a row and making jokes about it. We`ve got a lot of veteran players who have been through it before.
”There`s no sense panicking. If you do, pretty soon your losing streak reaches 14 or 15 games. When you start thinking too much while you`re in a losing streak, that`s when you really get in trouble. It`s no fun going into the clubhouse to take a shower and say to yourself, `Geez, we just got another L (loss).` We`ve got a lot more games left and we have to keep playing hard.”
