When Dave Smith underwent knee surgery last week, he became the Cubs`
second major free-agent signing to be lost for an extended period. Danny Jackson, who continues his rehabilitation Monday night in Iowa, has done two turns on the disabled list.
The injuries to Smith and Jackson are part of the risk the Cubs assumed when they plunged into the free-agent market last winter. The Cubs committed $2.6 million to Jackson and $1.9 million to Smith for this season. Both players have multiyear contracts.
But President Don Grenesko says he doesn`t regret the signings. And he insists the injuries won`t discourage him from opening Tribune Co.`s checkbook again next winter.
”Jim (Frey, the general manager) and I have talked about this,”
Grenesko said. ”We`re still satisfied with what we did last year in the off- season. We`re still looking at the free-agent market, regardless of what happened this year.”
In Grenesko`s mind, injuries are one of two large risks in a long-term contract. The other is that the player, his employment guaranteed, will lose his motivation. Grenesko won`t fault the effort of Smith, Jackson or George Bell, his third big signee. And he has no choice but to resign himself to accept the injuries.
”Sure, you think about the risks that are involved,” he said. ”We have an insurance policy that protects you to a certain extent, but that`s really for catastrophic events. You can`t look at this over one year. You have to look at this over the length of the contract. These guys are trying to come back, just like Rick Sutcliffe is, just like Mike Harkey and the other injured players are.”
– If you blow it, they will come:: The Cubs have floundered in fourth place much of the season, but their disappointing showing doesn`t seem to have affected their gate recently in Wrigley Field.
In the first four games of the homestand that ends Sunday, the Cubs drew a total of 141,284, putting them at 1,411,796 for the year. That`s an average of 29,412 per game; if the Cubs maintain the pace, they`ll draw 2,382,372 for the year. That would be the second-highest total in franchise history.
Of course, it`s likely that attendance will sag in September when the weather cools off and schools open. But the recent packed houses continue to amaze the players. ”For some reason, our fans have always been able to forget about the standings for a day,” said Sutcliffe, who has played for only one Cub team in seven years that didn`t draw 2 million fans. ”They come out and they cheer us as if we`re right in the race. We owe it to them to play hard.” It`s hard to say whether big crowds motivate the players. But going into the weekend the Cubs were 27-20 at home and 19-29 on the road.
– Quote of the week: It`s from Andre Dawson on umpire Joe West, who ran Dawson last week for arguing a called third strike. It was Dawson`s second ejection in 2,106 major-league games; afterward, West said Dawson should be punished for throwing bats onto the field to protest his heave-ho. ”There are some good umps in baseball,” Dawson said. ”But there are some (others) who act like it`s their show. . . . He has a lot of nerve to judge how somebody should be disciplined when he`s been in worse situations.”
– The long road back: Shawn Boskie this weekend was to make his fourth start for Triple-A Iowa. Boskie, demoted after spending a year in the majors, has had his problems on the farm. In his first four games, three of them starts, he went 1-1 with a 4.97 ERA, allowing 29 hits in 25 1/3 innings.
– Jingle Bell: Bell went into Saturday`s game needing only two homers to reach 20 on the season. That would make him the fifth straight player to hit 20 in his first season in Chicago after hitting 20 in the previous year. The others: Bobby Murcer (23 for San Francisco in 1976, 27 for the Cubs in 1977); Dave Kingman (26 for four teams in 1977, 28 for the Cubs in 1978); Ron Cey (24 for Los Angeles in 1982, 24 for the Cubs in 1983) and Dawson (20 for Montreal in 1986, 49 for the Cubs in 1987).
– Mixed blessing: On June 18, manager Jim Essian shuffled his lineup. He flip- flopped Mark Grace and Ryne Sandberg and did the same with Dawson and Bell. The results have been mixed.
Sandberg, who dropped to the third spot, hit .321 and knocked in 22 runs in the first 32 games of the new alignment after hitting .280 and driving in 31 runs in 63 games before the switch. And Bell went from .267 with 13 homers and 38 RBIs as the cleanup man to .322 with five homers and 24 RBIs in the fifth slot.
But the story`s been a bit different for Dawson and Grace. Dawson hit .241 with four homers and 24 RBIs in the cleanup spot after hitting .310 with 11 homers and 38 RBIs in the No. 5 slot. And Grace has hit just .233 with eight RBIs in the second slot after hitting .286 with 31 RBIs batting third.
Grace does not think the switch is related to his recent slump, throughout which he has hit the ball fairly hard: ”I`m just hitting in tough luck right now. I haven`t changed my approach and the pitchers haven`t changed their approach to me. I think I`m swinging the bat well, but the ball`s just not falling in.”
Grace, a career .307 hitter, went into Saturday`s game hitting .266.
– Around the league: One year after they lost the NL playoffs to Cincinnati, the Pittsburgh Pirates ripped the Reds 10-2 in this season`s series. The Bucs outscored their Ohio River rivals 73-34. Against the Reds` Tom Browning, Bobby Bonilla is 16 for 41 with eight homers lifetime, while Barry Bonds is 12 for 34 with five homers. . . . Former Cub reliever Goose Gossage says Cub batting instructor Richie Zisk and George Brett were the toughest hitters he faced. . . . Another ex-Cub, Lee Smith, needs nine saves to become the fifth reliever in history to record 300 saves.
San Francisco`s Kelly Downs has been one of the year`s surprising success stories. Downs, who underwent rotator-cuff surgery in April 1990, made his first start Friday. In 13 relief appearances, he went 3-0 with a 0.40 ERA, allowing a single earned run in 22 2/3 innings. Downs would rather stay in the bullpen. ”I like where I`m at,” he said. ”That may sound funny from a guy who has always started, but I like my role.”. . . . The Giants gave Willie McGee $3.6 million to play center field this year. Now manager Roger Craig is considering putting him in right because rookie Darren Lewis has played so well during McGee`s recent stint on the disabled list. Lewis, acquired from Oakland last winter, is 12 for 37 since McGee went down.
