There was plenty of room on the Cubs’ chartered flight back to Chicago after Sunday’s game.
For most coaches and players, the thought of returning home for the All-Star break seemed as appetizing as a cold hot dog.
With the Cubs not scheduled until Friday against Florida, Kerry Wood planned to spend the four days in Arizona.
Jason Bere was off to New Hampshire.
New manager Bruce Kimm was heading to Iowa.
Several Cubs used the word “exhausted” to describe how they felt after suffering through a brutal first half of the season. One coach said the first half seemed to last five years.
The Cubs went 35-51, lost 10 of their final 13 games and endured a managerial change.
Can the Cubs rebound in the second half to make the playoffs?
They’d have to go 55-21 the rest of the way to win 90 games.
That’s a .724 winning percentage.
Or think of it this way: Even if the Cubs won their next 20 games in a row, they’d have to play .625 baseball after that to win 90 games.
“What I strive for is this: We battle hard and we play hard and we have a chance in the last month,” Kimm said. “If you have a chance in the last month, whoever plays the best will win.”
Kimm can only hope that the theory applies to next season’s team. And that he’s around to manage it.
Kimm already has won over veterans in the clubhouse with his aggressive, unconventional decisions, such as having pitcher Jon Lieber swing away in the sixth inning Sunday with no outs and a runner at second.
They also like how he took the field twice Saturday and once Sunday to try to make sure his team would not get victimized by bad calls.
So can changing managers have much of an effect on this club?
“You never know,” Lieber said. “It’s the first time I’ve ever been through something like this. But the way Bruce has approached it, he definitely has a fire under him. You can tell by the way he goes out on the field after certain calls.”
Kimm has shown an early tendency to shuffle his lineup in his quest for the best possible matchups.
He started Chris Stynes at second base Sunday over Mark Bellhorn, who was batting .480 on the trip.
Stynes had a .429 career average against Atlanta’s Greg Maddux; Bellhorn had never faced him.
Kimm also started the right-handed Darren Lewis (.276 lifetime against Maddux) over lefty Roosevelt Brown. Kimm didn’t need to be told that right-handed hitters were batting .295 against Maddux, 74 points higher than lefties.
“Some guys are in there because their stats are better,” he said. “With some guys, it’s their approach. It might be a matter of where they are in the [batter’s] box, little things like that. It may not mean anything, but I think it gives us the best chance today.”
And, as Kimm hopes, well beyond that.
Can they go any lower?
Three key stats for the Cubs at the All-Star break:
.240
The Cubs’ batting average, last in the National League and second only to Cleveland’s .238.
8-21
The Cubs’ record in day games at Wrigley Field.
10
The number of games the Cubs have lost after taking a lead into the sixth inning.
