The Cubs’ clubhouse at Wrigley Field underwent a minor renovation before the season. New carpet was laid down and new lockers were installed.
Was it symbolic? You better believe it.
In reality the clubhouse couldn’t be more different than it was last year.
Gone are Rondell White’s smile, Kevin Tapani’s sarcasm, Eric Young’s energy and Matt Stairs’ goofiness.
Stairs, when he wasn’t parading around in a jock strap and Santa Claus hat, would talk a million miles (OK, kilometers) a minute in his native Canadian dialect.
He would talk about hockey, hitting or humility. And when it was time for reporters to leave the room, he would shout, “We’re having a meeting now. So get the [heck] oot.”
Everyone laughed.
There’s not much laughter in the clubhouse these days.
“It’s quiet,” Roosevelt Brown said. “Real quiet. What can you do? A lot of guys are quiet. We don’t have anyone who’s vocal at all.”
Joe Girardi, a team co-captain along with Sammy Sosa, said there’s an explanation for that.
“It’s easier to be cutting up here when you’re winning,” he said. “Last year we started off really hot and I think that’s what meshed us together. It’s always easier to joke with guys when they’re doing well.
“Usually what makes a clubhouse good is winning.”
Good point. But some believe good chemistry leads to winning, not the other way around.
“That’s what you’re always searching for, a guy who’s good in the clubhouse,” manager Don Baylor said. “Sometimes general managers trade people away for [players who bring] bad chemistry. If you’re putting together a team, that would be one of the things you look for right after ability.”
Even if the new players have the right attitude, there’s usually a period of adjustment.
“It’s always a different clubhouse when you bring in different people,” Girardi said. “How many new guys do we have?”
Look at their lineup Wednesday. Sammy Sosa was the only starter who was on the Cubs’ roster one year ago.
Corey Patterson and Robert Machado were at Triple-A Iowa. Delino DeShields was struggling in Baltimore. Fred McGriff was doing time in Tampa Bay. Moises Alou was driving in runs for Houston. Mark Bellhorn was on the bench in Oakland. Alex Gonzalez was roaming the turf in Toronto. Juan Cruz was striking out batters at Double-A West Tenn. And reliever Donovan Osborne was home in Nevada. Don’t even ask about Ron Mahay, Joe Borowski or Antonio Alfonseca.
“When Alou starts to hit, then he’ll feel like he can say something,” Baylor said. “You come in as a free agent and you haven’t done anything yet. And Freddie is still feeling his way through.”
McGriff is about as noisy as an empty closet. Infielder Chris Stynes seems as much fun as an all-nighter at the DMV.
Sosa, the clubhouse deejay, is trying to set a relaxed tone.
The other day he wrote some words on a full-page magazine advertisement and posted it to the top of DeShields’ locker, hoping to get a laugh. DeShields grinned. Then he calmly deposited the ad in the nearest trash can. Sosa put it back up in his locker.
Players used to spend hours together before games playing cards. Baylor banned card playing in the clubhouse except during rain delays. He wants the focus to be on baseball.
“They can still go in the training room or somewhere else,” he said.
Baylor wants his players to reinstate a Kangaroo Court. They occasionally held the sessions last year, with players fining each other for transgressions ranging from failing to advance a runner to improper attire on the road.
“When I got to Boston in ’86,” Baylor recalled, “it was 25 cabs for 25 ballplayers. I remember Dwight Evans coming up to me and saying, `Let’s institute Kangaroo Court. Just have some fun with it.’
“And then everybody started looking out for little things, like talking with the opposition for more than five minutes and breaking up double plays. Everybody’s ratting on each other, and we had more fun in ’86 as a team because guys started doing things together that they had never done before.”
Those Red Sox fell one victory short of beating the Mets in the World Series.
“All winter everyone was griping. It was: `This guy should have caught that ball’ or `We shouldn’t have allowed that wild pitch.’ We came to spring training in ’87 and [manager] John McNamara asked if anyone had anything to say. Nobody said anything. Right there I knew we were going to lose. Guys went back to being selfish.
“I’ve seen it work and I’ve seen some bad chemistry. Guys don’t have to go out to dinner, but they should get along.”
Another school of thought says that it doesn’t matter whether teammates share cabs to the ballpark.
“Last year we ate together, went to church together–and lost together,” Texas shortstop Alex Rodriguez said recently. “Talent translates to wins.”
Cubs reliever Jeff Fassero is not so sure.
“If you have a good clubhouse and good chemistry going, you won’t see a lot of losing streaks because you’ll have guys picking each other up and boosting confidence,” he said. “You get a good clubhouse, you have a better chance of winning.”
What defines a good one?
“When you don’t see any bickering or fighting amongst anybody,” he said. “Guys who have lunch and go out together on the road.”
One thing is clear: The Cubs are much happier and more collegial when they’re winning. When Gonzalez hit a game-winning homer Monday against St. Louis, the Cubs poured onto the field.
“With enough celebrations around home plate, that leads right into [good chemistry],” Baylor said. “But you have to have that first.”
Changing places
Last season on May 8, the Cubs were in first place. A year later the team is six games below .500. But the Cubs’ record isn’t the only thing that has changed–Sammy Sosa was the lone Cub starting in Wednesday’s lineup from a year ago.
2001 P 2002
T. Hundley C R. Machado
R. Coomer 1B F. McGriff
E. Young 2B D. DeShields
B. Mueller 3B M. Bellhorn
R. Gutierrez SS A. Gonzalez
R. White LF M. Alou
D. Buford CF C. Patterson
S. Sosa RF S. Sosa
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STATS & STUFF
BY THE NUMBERS
38-25
The Cubs’ record last year in day games at Wrigley Field.
3-10
Their record this season at home in the sunshine. OK, daylight.
IF ONLY . . .
Jon Lieber could start every day game at Wrigley Field. The Cubs have won Lieber’s last 16 home starts, dating back to his one-hitter against Cincinnati on May 24, 2001. Lieber has a personal 13-game winning streak during the 16-game stretch. A look at Cubs pitchers home winning streaks:
GS PITCHER YS W-L
16 Jon Lieber 2001-02 13-0
16 Lon Warnecke 1932-33 13-0
11 Guy Bush 1933 10-0
11 Bob Rush 1956 10-0
10 Rick Sutcliffe 1987 7-0
10 Mike Bielecki 1989-90 6-0
10 Kevin Foster 1995-96 9-0
10 Kerry Wood 1998 8-0
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Note: The ballpark record for consecutive victories by a pitcher is 15, set by Bill Lee Sept. 7, 1935-Aug. 26, 1936 covering 17 starts.
Source: Cubs historian Ed Hartig
YOU’RE BUSTED
The Cubs have been tough on opposing runners who have tried to steal. While the Cubs have stolen 19 bases in 22 attempts (86 percent), the opposition has been successful 20 times in 33 tries (61 percent). Here’s a breakdown of how Cubs catchers have fared:
PLAYER CS-ATT
Robert Machado 5-11
Joe Girardi 4-8
Todd Hundley 3-12
Pitchers 1-2
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NO EXIT
Kerry Wood has not given up a home run in any of his seven starts. If he goes four more outings without allowing one, he’ll tie a club mark set by Rick Reuschel, who kept the ball in the park for his first 11 starts in 1980. Steve Trout went 16 consecutive starts without allowing a home run in 1986, but his streak didn’t begin at the start of the season.
PITCHER STARTS
Rick Reuschel 11
Steve Stone 9
Kerry Wood 7
Danny Jackson 7
Note: Since 1978.
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ON THE FARM
Right fielder Gary Johnson went 3-for-4 Tuesday in West Tenn’s 4-3 loss to Huntsville. Johnson, 25, ranks sixth in the Double-A Southern League with a .354 average.
OUTLOOK
THURSDAY-SUNDAY
Vs. Brewers
Some have derided the Brew Crew as the Cubs’ jayvee team. Of the former Cubs, Jose Hernandez (.280, 7 HRs, 21 RBIs through Tuesday) is faring the best, while Tyler Houston (no homers in 24 games), Eric Young (.192), Matt Stairs (.133), Ruben Quevedo (1-4, 5.40 ERA) and Ray King (9.00) are struggling.
MONDAY-WEDNESDAY
At St. Louis
The Cubs have to hope for two things: more Bud Smith, less Matt Morris.
— Teddy Greenstein. %%
