Cubs manager Jim Lefebvre pressed his stylus to the screen. Immediately, a trail of light appeared. Lefebvre described it as ”Steve Buechele`s sight line.”
Lefebvre began sounding like CBS pro football analyst John Madden excitedly diagramming a big touchdown play.
”There, see this frame,” said Lefebvre. ”Now let`s freeze this next frame. Watch Buechele drop his bat. And when he does that-look, he lifts his front shoulder. That`s what I showed him when we studied this tape in here together.”
Before the Cubs left for their West Coast trip, which begins Tuesday night at San Francisco, Lefebvre demonstrated equipment in the club`s state-of-the-art video system in a room next to the clubhouse at Wrigley Field.
The room, formerly a storage area for bats, contains $750,000 worth of video equipment designed to help Cubs hitters shake batting slumps or pitchers cure little hitches that might crop up in their deliveries.
The semi-darkened room resembles a rocket ship control room in a science- fiction film. Dozens of screens line two walls. A shelf contains a library of tapes detailing frame-by-frame breakdowns from two or three camera angles of individual batters` swings and pitchers` deliveries.
A satellite system stands ready to pull in games played in up to 50 major- or minor-league parks around the country. Tapes zeroing in on performances of Cubs or their opponents can be made off TV feeds and sent via overnight delivery to the club on the road.
”Our previous video system was pretty antiquated,” said Lefebvre. ”We had a very good system (when Lefebvre managed) in Seattle, but nothing like this. This is the last word. It`s (General Manager) Larry Himes` idea.”
Cynics might suggest the Cubs could have better invested the money in a player who could deliver a hit, or at least a successful sacrifice bunt, in the clutch. Weak hitting has kept the Cubs below .500. The Cubs scored only one run in their last two games against the Astros.
”We started getting men on base,” said Lefebvre of Sunday`s 1-0 victory. ”We`ll score runs. I`m confident of that. What this system does is give us the chance to pinpoint every detail and show it to the player.”
Jerry Cell, video systems coordinator, directs operation of the month-old system. His work does not cease when the club leaves Wrigley Field. He can put together tapes of the Cubs-Giants games this week or, using the satellite, send out tapes so Cubs pitchers can study up-to-date hitting strokes of the Dodgers and the Padres, whom they will oppose later on the trip.
Lefebvre and his players were aware before they departed Monday that this week`s series in Candlestick Park could be the last between the Cubs and Giants in San Francisco. A group of investors in Florida plans to buy the club and move it to St. Petersburg.
”I hate the ballpark in San Francisco,” said first baseman Mark Grace,
”but I like the city and the fans there. The city and fans deserve a major-league franchise.”
As a longtime member of Los Angeles Dodgers, Lefebvre has rich memories of games played against the archrivals from San Francisco.
”It`s hard for me to envision there not being a major-league team in San Francisco,” said Lefebvre. ”I have a lot of fond memories about playing the San Francisco Giants. I think of Willie McCovey and Willie Mays, of Juan Marichal and the Alou brothers. It will be a tough loss to the Bay Area, a tough loss to baseball, period, if the Giants leave.”
