When Jason Bere returned home Tuesday night he listened to the eight messages left on his answering machine.
Each one followed a theme: Don’t worry about it. You pitched great. The victories will come.
Bere’s mother and in-laws called. Former teammates such as Mets right-hander Jeff D’Amico called. Even friends from his hometown of North Andover, Mass., called.
All to keep Bere’s spirits from tumbling to the ground.
Bere appreciated the calls, but said they wouldn’t help him achieve his goal of leaving his pitching woes at the ballpark.
“When I was younger and everything was going good, when I left the field, that was it,” said Bere, who went 24-7 for the White Sox from 1993-94. “The years when I struggled and was hurt, it consumes you and that’s all you talk about.
“For the most part I’m back to being able to leave it on the field. But it’s hard because everyone calls and leaves messages.”
Bere can only hope that his next batch of messages will contain congratulations, not condolences. Bere is 1-8, and that win came April 12, more than two months and 12 starts ago.
His season has deteriorated into Groundhog Day: pitch well, lose. Pitch well, lose.
The only variance is that sometimes he’ll pitch well and get a no-decision.
Bere, 31, has posted a 2.45 ERA since May 21, the day Cubs manager Don Baylor threatened to remove him from the rotation. He has lasted six or more innings in all five of his starts since.
“I would imagine it’s a difficult thing,” Baylor said. “You’re waiting every five days to get that number one to turn to [win] number two. It’s almost like you’re in a slump. But with a hitting slump you can come back the next day. When you’re pitching, it’s every five days.”
Bere’s next chance will come Sunday night against St. Louis.
“Obviously I’d like the won-loss record to be better, but there’s not much I can do about it,” he said. “The guys know how I’ve been pitching and I can take some satisfaction in that. But some people might say: `How’s he doing?’ When you’re 1-8, it’s not always [indicative].”
Over his last five starts Bere has been victimized by a bad bullpen and almost non-existent run support. But Bere has earned favor with his teammates by resisting the urge to gripe.
“You just run out of things to say to the guy,” Kerry Wood said. “It seems like every year we have one guy on the staff who gets unlucky.”
Last year it was veteran right-hander Kevin Tapani, who went 0-7 over 13 starts from June 2 to Aug. 22 despite posting a 4.14 ERA. During those 13 starts the Cubs scored only 19 runs while he was on the mound.
The Cubs have scored 10 runs for Bere during his last five starts.
“You hate to see a guy go through that,” pitching coach Larry Rothschild said. “I can’t say enough about the way he has turned things around and given us a chance to win games.”
Bere hit his low point of the season May 21 when he gave up six runs to Pittsburgh in a 12-1 loss. He fell to 1-7 with a 6.80 ERA.
With Mark Prior set to join the rotation, Baylor considered bumping Bere to the bullpen and allowing Juan Cruz to remain the fifth starter.
But Cruz came up with a sore arm, making Baylor’s decision easy.
Coincidence or not, Bere responded five days later with six shutout innings. He has continued to excel.
“He’s using his fastball better,” Rothschild said. “He’s pitching inside better. His `foch’ has been tremendous.”
It’s called a “foch” because it has the sinking action of a forkball (the “fo”) and speed of a changeup (the “ch”).
Bere learned it from Sox coaches Kirk Champion and Dewey Robinson.
“I showed up after being drafted [in 1990] with a high school rinky-dink split[-fingered fastball] kind of thing,” he recalled.
“They tried to show me a few different changeups, and they didn’t work. Then they said, `Well, try this.’ From what I understand, Mike Boddicker used to throw it. They showed me the grip, and literally within 15 minutes it was pretty close to the one I have now.
“I don’t have to guide it or steer it. I can just throw it like a fastball, and mine has the down action.”
If Bere keeps throwing the pitch successfully, logic would indicate he can’t stay down much longer.
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Bere file
Cubs right-hander Jason Bere has the unfortunate distinction of having started the most games in major-league history without throwing a shutout. Bere, though, does have four complete games. A closer look:
PITCHER STARTS
Jason Bere 199
Jason Schmidt 164
Willie Blair 139
Scott Kaminiecki 138
Alan Watson 137
Shawn Boskie 132
Kevin Ritz 130
Roy Mahaffey 129
Gil Heredia 128
Al Nipper 124
Source: Elias Sports Bureau
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Tough luck
Bere hasn’t won a game since April 12 despite having posted a 2.45 ERA in his last five starts.
May 26: Astros 7, Cubs 5
After throwing six shutout innings, Bere is pulled because of his pitch count, which is 87. The Cubs squander a 5-0 lead as the Astros rally against relievers Joe Borowski, Jeff Fassero and Pat Mahomes.
May 31: Astros 4, Cubs 1
Bere pitches six shutout innings before giving up a two-run homer to Richard Hidalgo. The Cubs don’t score with Bere on the mound.
June 5: Cubs 5, Brewers 1 (10 innings)
Bere gives up his only run in the first before throwing six shutout innings. The Cubs tie the game in the ninth and score four in the 10th to give Kyle Farnsworth the victory.
June 10: Cubs 9, Astros 5
Bere gives up four runs in the second inning before retiring
11 of the final 14 men he faces. The Cubs’ late rally improves Farnsworth’s record to 2-0.
June 18: Cubs 4, Rangers 3
Bere throws a near-perfect game through seven innings, allowing a controversial home run to Rafael Palmeiro that might have been foul. Fred McGriff’s error leads to two eighth-inning runs, but Alex Gonzalez wins it in the ninth with a home run.
STATS & STUFF
INSIDE THE NUMBERS
38-25
The Cubs’record last year in day games at Wrigley Field.
7-18
Their mark this season at home during the day.
No wonder the Cubs want to boost their number of night games to 30.
GOING THE OTHER WAY
Sammy Sosa is even more dangerous when pitchers try to work him away. Here’s proof: 17 of his major-league leading 26 homers have been hit either to center or right field.
Here’s a look at baseball’s top opposite-field sluggers:
PLAYER TEAM HR
Sammy Sosa Cubs 16
Lance Berkman Hou. 10
Shawn Green L.A. 7
Jose Hernandez Mil. 7
Todd Helton Col. 6
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BETTER EARN IT
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Jon Lieber has allowed 97 hits, the 10th-highest total among National League pitchers. But he makes up for it with his stellar control. Lieber ranks second among NL starters with fewest walks allowed per nine innings:
PITCHER TEAM BB INN RATE
Curt Schilling Ariz. 11 115 1/3 .86
Jon Lieber Cubs 9 88 .92
Odalis Perez L.A. 13 99 2/3 1.17
Javier Vazquez Mon. 17 109 2/3 1.40
Brian Anderson Ariz. 11 70 1.41
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ON THE FARM
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Triple-A Iowa first baseman Hee Seop Choi and Double-A West Tenn closer Francis Beltran will represent the Cubs in the 2002 All-Star Futures Game on July 7 at Miller Park in Milwaukee. Choi is batting .287 with 13 homers and 48 RBIs. Beltran has nine saves.
OUTLOOK
Vs. St. Louis
Friday-Sunday
The Cubs’ best hope is that the Cardinals continue to play
mediocre baseball on the road. Their ERA in Busch Stadium is 2.96, nearly two runs lower than their road mark of 4.79.
The Cardinals also hit better
(.268 vs. .262) in their home park, thanks in part to Tino Martinez’s .223 mark on the road.
Vs. Cincinnati
Monday-Thursday
Is it just a
coincidence,
or did the Reds go
into the tank when Ken Griffey Jr. rejoined their lineup? Griffey is batting only .234 with two
homers in 23 games. But he’s
relatively healthy again. For now.
— Teddy Greenstein
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Inside the numbers (statistics through Thursday)
HITTING
Alex Gonzalez’s home runs and RBIs
Gonzalez has three homers and six RBIs in his last four games. He now is resembling the hitter he was last season in Toronto, when he hit 17 homers and drove in 76 runs.
AVG. OBA AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI BB SO SB CS E
.236 .290 199 22 47 11 2 7 26 14 55 1 2 8
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Sammy Sosa’s batting average
June 20 had been one of Sosa’s favorite dates until Thursday, when he went hitless in four at-bats. In his previous 11 games played on June 20, Sosa went 17-for-44 (.386) with eight homers and 20 RBIs.
AVG. OBA AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI BB SO SB CS E
.316 .434 253 57 80 12 2 26 49 53 60 2 0 3
PITCHING
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Jeff Fassero’s runs allowed
Fassero has allowed the most runs among relievers because of this key stat:
Opponents are batting a National League-high .358 against him with men on base.
W L ERA G GS SV IP H R ER HR BB SO
1 5 6.00 31 0 0 30.0 33 20 20 4 10 24
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Matt Clement’s home runs allowed
Clement ranked among league leaders by allowing just five homers in his first 911/3
innings. That changed Thursday when Todd Greene and Kevin Mench hit back-to-back homers against him in the seventh inning.
W L ERA G GS SV IP H R ER HR BB SO
5 4 3.53 14 14 0 91.2 68 36 36 7 36 91 %%
