Is Greg Maddux happy in Atlanta?
“Heck, yeah,” he said, eyes twinkling. “They have a golf course in the clubhouse.”
It’s a two-holer. The holes are drainage sewers, just the right size, sunken into the carpet. The breaks are as easy to read as the look on Maddux’s face.
“I root for them,” he said of the Cubs, his former team. “I’ll be watching those guys pitch-like `Morganna’ and Harkey and Boskie and Scanlan and those guys-and it’s hard not to pull for them, you know? I’ve been pulling for them for so long, you don’t really turn it off just like that.”
But Atlanta has turned out to be exactly what he thought it would be when he signed-reluctantly or not-in December. Exactly,
Especially after last week’s sweep of the Giants at Candlestick.
“A lot of things were a consideration, and winning was one of them,” said Maddux, 15-9. “I felt like down here in Atlanta, this team had a good chance to win-not just this year, but for the next five years.”
Will the Cubs ever win?
“They will eventually,” Maddux said.
He wasn’t being silly.
“In ’84 and ’89, they won,” he said. “Fell a little bit short in the playoffs. They had a bad week at the end. That doesn’t spoil the year.”
Nothing, it seems, could spoil this year. There are no regrets.
“After all that happened, the negotiations and what was said, I never have regretted leaving,” Maddux said. “I miss the Cubs. There’s a lot of things I miss about the organization and the city. I miss Wrigley Field.
“I don’t miss the nitpicking.”
Speaking of Maddux: Chances of Dennis Martinez re-signing with Montreal-where he was the unquestioned leader of the Expos’ rotation-as a free agent next year are slim. But comparing the Martinez case and the Cubs’ situation with Maddux doesn’t quite work.
“Martinez is 12 years older than Maddux,” Expos manager Felipe Alou said. “And Maddux was in a big market. I would think twice before I would compare anything that happens in Chicago with anything that happens here.”
Meanwhile: The Giants did their best to put on as happy a face as was permissible under the circumstances.
“We just got our butt kicked,” manager Dusty Baker said after the sweep by the Braves. “They beat us up. We knew the Braves would make another run at us, but we’ve got plenty of fight left.”
Barry Bonds told it straight: “We don’t have the depth that they’ve got. Our offense can stay with their offense, but their starting pitching and their bullpen have just been dominating.”
What’s particularly worrisome for San Francisco-along with Will Clark’s bad knee and injuries to Trevor Wilson and Bud Black-is that Bill Swift, never known for his durability (six career trips to the disabled list), could be reverting to form after 183 innings.
“My arm is tired,” he said, “but at least it doesn’t ache. That’s the big thing.”
Wednesday’s line on Swift, if you missed it: 4 1/3 innings, 11 hits, six runs, four homers.
Guess who? “There’s no rhyme or reason for it. We’ve played some outstanding baseball at times. We’ve had good pitching at times. We’ve had some good defense. We’ve had some good hitting.
“Inconsistency. That’s been the bottom line.”
Jim Lefebvre? Wrong.
Houston manager Art Howe.
And the Phillies? Just rolling along. The Cardinals, in soft pursuit, were never the Braves, and getting swept at San Diego was confirmation.
The Phils still are bludgeoning people. The formula remains basic.
“The biggest key to any offense,” said manager Jim Fregosi, “is on-base percentage. We have guys who will take walks. We have a lot of guys who have on-base percentages of .375 and above.”
Through Thursday, they had four above (Len Dykstra, Darren Daulton, John Kruk and rookie Kevin Stocker) and one in the vicinity (Dave Hollins, .373). The Cubs had one: Mark Grace, .384.
Which sets up this comparison, as the weekend began:
Runs generated by the Cubs’ .270 team batting average: 557.
Runs generated by the Phillies’ .272 team batting average: 697.
Reflection: Dallas Green, after his Mets had been eliminated from the NL pennant chase on the earliest date since 1963: “I am past the area of frustration.”
Around the league: From Frank Isola in the New York Post on banished Vince Coleman: “Sure, there are teams out here crazy enough to take a chance on Coleman. That’s their problem.” . . . The Phillies began the weekend on a run of 143 straight games without being shut out. The last time was by Doug Drabek last Sept. 19. The National League record is 150, but the major-league record is 308 games by the Ruth-Gehrig Yankees of the early ’30s. . . . The Phils were 58-21 when Dykstra scored a run, 22-26 when he didn’t. . . . The Padres, unhappy with Derek Bell in center, are now projecting him as a third-baseman. . . . Florida’s Bryan Harvey, after blowing one to the Giants last Sunday: “You feel like you want to shoot yourself. Other than that, I didn’t feel too bad.” . . . Through Thursday, the Expos are 4-12-1 in their first game when switching playing surfaces. The Cubs were 8-7. . . . The Mets finally benched catcher Todd Hundley after his throwing slump reached 1 for 33. And the Giants quickly quashed a rumor that Eddie Murray would be hired to replace Will Clark. . . . The Astros, dormant a month ago, moved 10 games over .500 for the first time since the end of the 1989 season. . . . Ex-Cub Candy Maldonado, on joining the Indians: “This is the first time I’ve been able to smile in four or five months.” He went on to drive in a big run against the Blue Jays-then, a day later, botch a play in right field.
