Roosevelt Brown stepped into the batting cage for what he figured would be a routine practice session. Then it all changed.
“Hey Rosey,” an onlooker yelled from the opposite side of the fence. “This has to be your year! It’s your time!”
Instead of acknowledging the fan, Brown focused on his hitting. Only later could he smile about it.
“Yeah, I heard it,” he said. “And `Groove’ [Cubs manager Don Baylor] was right there too.”
But Brown didn’t get upset. Why would he? He knows it’s his time.
“I think I can help this team out,” he said. “I had a pretty good September last year. I felt I belonged.”
Brown played like it too. The 25-year-old outfielder batted .370 in 26 games after the team promoted him from Class AAA Iowa.
“I’ve always been able to hit, ” said Brown, who batted .309 at Iowa last year. “That’s just a God-given gift. I’ve never had too work hard at it.”
Brown has worked hard at the other aspects of his game. He has fought for years to shake the label that he is a defensive disaster. And he had to earn Baylor’s trust last season after the manager read scouting reports that criticized Brown’s attitude.
“I was amazed by some of the things I had read about him,” Baylor said, referring to stories about Brown’s temper and subpar work ethic. “I haven’t seen that. He’s a model citizen, and everybody on our staff loves to have him around.
“And he’s been tested from time to time. He played through some aches and pains last year, and I never heard a word about it.”
An impingement in his right shoulder made it hard for Brown to raise his arm last summer. He rehabilitated the injury in the off-season rather than leave the country to play winter ball.
He also worked out at his old high school in Vicksburg, Miss. Some days Brown didn’t even step in a batting cage. He just spent his time shagging fly balls in the outfield.
“I can run with anybody, but speed doesn’t help you play the outfield,” he said. “It’s footwork and getting good jumps.”
Baylor said Brown will start in left field Thursday in the Cubs’ first spring game. Baylor, who has taken a liking to Brown, wants to give him every opportunity to make the club. Brown appreciates the chance.
“He got to know me on a personal level and understand the real me,” Brown said of Baylor. “Sometimes my body language was bad, and people would go by that or what they used to hear about me. I made some mistakes when I was younger but I’ve grown as a person.
“I’m not a bad guy. I don’t go out a lot. I don’t drink–except for Christmas or a birthday. “
Lean and mean: Sammy Sosa’s forearms and biceps are bulging, but his waist is slimmer.
“I didn’t want to come to spring training with a big belly,” he said. “I used to have a lot of fat but not anymore. When you have a lot of muscle, you have less tendency to get hurt.”
Sosa worked out at his home gym in the Dominican Republic. He hasn’t weighed in yet, but he said he’s lost an inch off his waist.
Sosa said he would not play Thursday in the Cubs’ first game. He’ll take a few extra days to train and refine his swing.
“I get ready quickly at spring training,” he said. “My manager will give me the green light when he knows I’m ready to play.”
