Robert Machado couldn’t remember the exact day he signed with the Cubs. He recalled that it came in late November while he was playing winter baseball in his native Venezuela.
“I was happy,” Machado said, “but there wasn’t a big celebration. It meant I had a contract, a job. That’s the biggest thing to consider when you have a family.”
Thinking back on it now, Machado wonders if it was fate. He probably would have signed a minor-league deal with the Yankees if the perennial champions had not signed veteran catcher Joe Oliver. Cincinnati and Colorado also showed interest.
“I could be somewhere else, doing the same thing,” Machado said. “But I’m glad I’m here.”
When Machado looks around the Cubs clubhouse, he can see a common thread among teammates such as Jeff Fassero and Miguel Cairo. Like Machado, their acquisitions barely seemed worthy of space on the scoreboard page of a sports section. But all have made enormous contributions to a team seeking its first division title since 1989.
With Todd Hundley staggering through a season-long slump and Joe Girardi limited by a back injury, Machado has emerged as the Cubs’ No. 1 catcher.
He has contributed as much with his arm as his bat. He has thrown out 7 of 19 base-stealers and has hit a respectable .257 heading into Wednesday night’s game at San Diego.
His first home run, which came June 26 off the Mets’ Al Leiter, was the difference in a 4-2 victory. Machado’s second blast was equally important; the two-run shot helped subdue St. Louis in a 7-5 victory Sunday night.
“I’ve been getting big hits, but I need to be more consistent with making solid contact,” he said. “I’m never satisfied.”
After the White Sox released Machado in May of 1999, he earned just 36 big-league at-bats over the next two seasons with Montreal and Seattle.
None of that fazed the Cubs, who targeted him as the top catcher among the crop of six-year minor-league free agents. Assistant general manager Jim Hendry credited scout Joe Housey, who raved about Machado’s arm strength after watching him play a half-dozen times last year for Triple-A Tacoma.
“When you’re trying to sign six-year free agents and he has tools like that, you figure there’s some reason he’s not on the 40-man [roster],” Hendry said. “Robert didn’t have a bad rep, but in the past he would play well in spurts and then not so well. He has been more consistent this year.”
Before agreeing to sign with the Cubs, the 28-year-old Machado made one demand. He wanted to be invited to the team’s big-league camp so he could prove himself to manager Don Baylor and his coaching staff.
“They probably heard a lot of stuff about me–bad things and good things,” Machado said. “I wanted to show them that I wasn’t a troublemaker or anything like that. When I was younger, maybe, but I wanted to show them that I had matured and that I had come to play hard every day.”
Machado has done that, going 5-for-18 (.278) on the most recent homestand. But ask him about his numbers and he’ll only point to two–his pitchers’ earned-run averages and the Cubs’ won-lost record.
“We haven’t lost any ground since I got here,” he said. “We’re still in first place.”
Machado said he would rather call a shutout than go 4-for-4.
“The pitchers are the ones throwing the ball,” Machado said, “but sometimes I’m so into the game that if someone gets a hit, I say it’s my fault. I really care when I’m back there. I don’t want anybody to get a hit. I don’t want to lose.”
He isn’t alone.
Jeff Fassero
When Hendry ran into Gerry Hunsicker late last month, the Astros general manager remarked about how well Fassero had been pitching.
Then Hunsicker said with envy: “We could have signed him.”
Many teams could have, or at least could have tried.
But the Cubs were aggressive and it didn’t hurt that Fassero, a Springfield, Ill. native, wanted to pitch at Wrigley Field and train in Mesa, Ariz., near his home in Scottsdale.
Even though the 38-year-old lefty was coming off a mediocre 8-8 season with the Red Sox, the Cubs signed him to a two-year, $5.1 million deal with a club option for 2003 that includes a $100,000 buyout.
Fassero didn’t garner a speck of attention in spring training until closer Tom Gordon went down with a triceps injury. After Baylor chose him as the team’s interim closer over Kyle Farnsworth and Felix Heredia, Fassero responded by earning nine saves in 11 chances in April.
After Gordon returned, Fassero emerged as one of the top set-up men in the National League.
“He has been everything we could have dreamed of,” Hendry said. “I don’t think any of us thought that he’d be pitching in the ninth inning and his velocity would get up to 94 [m.p.h.] some days.”
While the Cubs also pursued veteran lefty John Franco in the off-season, signing Fassero was hardly an accident.
“He was the guy [scout] Kenny Kravec wanted,” Hendry said. “Whatever job [GM Andy MacPhail] gives us, he lets us do it and he listens to us.”
Miguel Cairo
After selecting Oakland reliever Scott Chiasson in the Rule V draft, the Cubs were puzzled to see his velocity drop during spring training. They wanted to keep the young right-hander but needed to complete a deal with the A’s to do so.
Hendry offered the A’s power-hitting prospect Eric Hinske but asked for a second player in return. That would be Cairo, a utility infielder who had played for the Cubs in 1997.
Cairo has emerged as a valuable asset, starting 22 games at third base, five at second and one at shortstop. He has batted .319 in those starts.
And as for Chiasson, he is tied for second in the Double-A Southern League with 22 saves and has posted a 0.76 ERA in his last 20 outings. His velocity is back.
Cubs: Inside the numbers
Through Tuesday
HITTING
RON COMMER’S doubles 14
With Bill Mueller due back in less than a week, Ron Coomer is staking his bid for playing time. Coomer is 7-for-18 (.389) during his five-game hitting streak with five doubles.
FRED McGRIFF’S home runs 0
McGriff’s next homer will give him 20 this season and 437 for his career. Andre Dawson ranks 26th on the all-time list with 438 blasts.
PITCHING
CUBS’ earned-run average 3.73
During the first 19 games of the second half, Cubs starters have combined to post a 3.45 ERA. The 14 starting pitchers used by the team last year went 40-62 with a 5.29 ERA.
DAVID WEATHERS’ earned-run average 2.02
Weathers fits perfectly with the Cubs for many reasons. One of them is his 0.00 ERA against division rivals St. Louis and Houston. He has worked nine scoreless innings against the teams.
