New Cubs manager Don Zimmer said Tuesday he will be the man in charge when it comes to the players on the field, not anyone in the front office.
”Once the umpire says `Play Ball!` nobody else is going to tell me how to run this team. (Vice President of Baseball Operations) Jim Frey is not going to tell me who to play, and he knows that,” said Zimmer.
As far as controlling his players, Zimmer added: ”You know I`m not going to win a beauty contest, and I`m not going to win a popularity contest. I`m here to win games, so somebody is going to be mad at me.”
Frey told a group of fans in Moline he believes eventually there will be lights in Wrigley Field but not before a long battle. He added that he does not put much credence in Cubs Board Chairman John Madigan`s threat to shop around for a home in a new city if the City Council fails to allow a limited number of night games this season.
”I don`t believe we`ll be going anywhere,” Frey said. ”I think eventually we`ll end up with lights. It`ll be a tough battle. Some of the local politicians are acting like all politicians-you know if you`re sitting in the front of the cart what you see? That`s what most of them are, and they`re giving us a hard time.”
Zimmer is in favor of the proposed lights installation for night games at Wrigley Field.
”I think night baseball would be great at Wrigley Field. It would give the people who work during the day a chance to watch a game,” said Zimmer.
Frey said the first order of business is fortifying the team`s pitching corps. He added, however, he was reluctant to give up a young pitching prospect to lure reliever Rich Gossage from the San Diego Padres.
”I may do it but I`m going to try not to,” Frey said. ”That`s really where we`re hung up here. I don`t really like the makeup of the trade as it is today and I`m going to try as hard as I can to hold off.”
Zimmer said he plans to extend that attitude off the field to in-clude an aggressive brand of managing the Cubs.
”I`ve seen young guys get a chance to manage in the minor leagues and do a real good job,” said Zimmer. ”And then in the major leagues, they get conservative because there is more attention from everybody, more criticism, and the media comes in your office after every game and asks you, `Why didn`t you bunt?` or something like that. They get conservative. I`m not going to overmanage, but I`m going to manage the way I know. I`m not an umpire-baiter. I`m not going to run out on the field all the time. I`ll go out there if I think I`m right.”
Pitcher Mike Mason signed a contract for $230,000 plus $50,000 in bonus clauses. Mason, who had a 4-1 record with a 5.68 earned-run average last season, had filed for arbitration. Mason had asked for $290,000 and the Cubs had offered $225,000.
Pitcher Rick Sutcliffe has already made his retirement plans after baseball.
”The (Sutcliffe) Foundation is building a summer camp for kids in Kansas City. As soon as my playing career is over with, I`m going to work full-time for them,” said Sutcliffe.
Ever wonder why Sutcliffe throws right-handed and bats left-handed?
”My second at-bat in Little League batting right-handed, I got hit in the head,” Sutcliffe recalled. ”So the next day someone took me in the backyard and I started batting left-handed.”
Sutcliffe`s favorite team to pitch against? ”Probably the St. Louis Cardinals. You can tell which team the fans want to see beat the most by how many fans show up for the games,” said Sutcliffe. ”I like beating the Dodgers, too.
”The hitter I respect most is Mike Schmidt of the Phillies.”
Recent Cubs acquisition Calvin Schiraldi, traded from the Boston Red Sox for Lee Smith, said he is not concerned with the prospect of pitching in Wrigley Field this season.
”I don`t worry about ballparks. I was never intimidated by Fenway Park,” Schiraldi said from his home in Austin, Tex. ”Even when I pitched for the Mets, I wasn`t intimidated with Wrigley Field. I don`t feel you can change your style of pitching to suit one ballpark. That could screw things up. I`m going to pitch the same way wherever I am. Sometimes it will work and sometimes it doesn`t. I had better stats pitching at Fenway than I did anywhere else.”
Schiraldi said he is looking forward to attending his first Cubs spring training in Mesa, Ariz., in a few weeks.
”I`m not going to experiment with any new pitches this spring. I`m just going to try refine the ones I throw. My best pitch is my fastball and sometimes my slider is good and sometimes my curveball is good. Depends on which one is working good that day,” said Schiraldi.
Zimmer said he is going into spring training with the idea that Schiraldi will be a starting pitcher.
”I`m figuring on Schiraldi as a starter going into spring training and we`ll come up with a reliever. Someone will pitch in the ninth inning,” said Zimmer.
Outfielder Rafael Palmeiro hit 14 home runs in only 221 at-bats last season. He said he feels he can double that number with 500 at-bats.
”If I have a chance to play every day, I think I`ll come up with better stats,” said Palmeiro. ”My goal is to be on a winning team. We`re good enough to win the division.”
