Great expectations: One year ago, Shawon Dunston was getting ready to play in his first All-Star Game. The Cubs` 1982 No. 1 draft choice seemed to have finally fulfilled the expectations placed upon him by the Cubs` brass and North Side fans.
This year, Dunston will remain at home during the break. He was hitting under the so-called ”Mendoza Line” (.200) until the first weekend in June and has since crept into the .230 range. But Dunston`s importance to the 1989 Cubs was never more realized than in the past week.
Some sensational defensive plays by Dunston saved Scott Sanderson in Wednesday`s victory over San Diego, and he homered and drove in two runs the following day.
Dunston credits his 7-month-old daughter, Whitney, for helping him to relax more and put life and baseball in the proper perspective. Though he was booed vociferously by Cub fans in mid-May, Dunston received one of the year`s loudest ovations at Wrigley for his play Wednesday.
”The fans here expect a lot from me,” he said. ”I`ve shown flashes of doing this and that, and they expect it every day. I know I`m no Andre Dawson or Ryno (Ryne Sandberg) or an Ozzie Smith. But I`ll never give up trying to be the best I can.”
– Here`s the pitch: If, as they say, pitching wins pennants, the Cubs are in pretty good position entering the second half. Last year, the top two teams in ERA in the National League, New York and Los Angeles, wound up winning their divisions. Before Saturday, the Cubs` team ERA of 3.26 was the best in the NL East and fourth best in the league, behind those of L.A., San Francisco and Houston. The staff has pared more than a half-run off of its ERA in 1988, when it finished 10th in the league.
”In spring training I said I knew we`d be better than we were last year because I knew we had a better pitching staff,” said manager Don Zimmer. ”We were 9-23 in spring training, and people were wondering if I was some kind of a goof.”
The vaunted Mets staff, entering the weekend, was fifth in NL pitching, while Montreal, even with newcomer Mark Langston, was still 10th.
– Forkball fever: Surprisingly, the most consistently effective member of the Cubs` staff in the first half was not Rick Sutcliffe or Greg Maddux but Mike Bielecki, who will go up against L.A.`s Fernando Valenzuela Sunday in the final game before the All-Star break. Bielecki, 29, played winter ball in Zulia, Venezuela, and improved his forkball immensely. In beating San Diego last Tuesday, he struck out Tony Gwynn in the first inning using all forkballs to squelch an early threat. Gwynn was the league`s fifth-toughest hitter to strike out in `88.
”In the last couple of years, I wouldn`t have gotten away with pitching forkballs to a good hitter like that,” said Bielecki. ”This year, I`m starting and getting some innings in. The only way to gain confidence in a pitcher is to use him.”
– Love of ivy: Speaking of Gwynn, in the third inning of the Cubs-Padres game on the 4th of July, Vance Law lifted a flyball out to Gwynn in right. The ball bounced out of Gwynn`s mitt and disappeared into the vines. If a big smile crossed your face while watching the game on TV, you were not alone. The Wrigley Field ivy has been gobbling up balls since shortly after Bill Veeck helped plant it on the outfield wall 52 years ago.
As legend has it, former Cub outfielder Hank Sauer used to store tobacco pouches in the ivy, and Jose Cardenal, a Cub favorite in the 1970s, sometimes hid baseballs in there in case he needed a spare during a game.
Said Gwynn of his losing bout with the ivy: ”It was a weird feeling. I pulled the vines back and looked for the ball. Then I raised my hands like I didn`t know what I was doing. So I kicked the vines and it finally rolled out.” Did you see anything in there? ”I didn`t look long enough,” he said. ”I didn`t want to see something crawling out at me.”
– Revised forecast: Dawson left spring training with a bad taste in his mouth. He wondered aloud whether the Cubs would be able to turn into a winner before his career was up. At the halfway point of the season, Dawson voiced a different opinion.
”The young guys have given us a big lift,” he said. ”If we can compete for the first three months, we can compete until the end.”
Are you surprised at the turnaround?
”The surprise part is over with,” he said. ”We`ve had our ups and downs. We came back and won some games we should have lost. We`ve found that we can compete with any team.”
