Welcome back to Wrigley Field, a cork-free zone for the last 15 days and counting.
I trust you are enjoying your new beat. There is seldom a dull moment with the White Sox, or with Sox fans, for that matter. I must admit I miss the Polish sausages more than I ever expected. Things have been pretty slow here with your old team.
Sammy Sosa reported to camp on time, then turned down the volume on his boom box, then addressed the out clause in his contract, then hit his 500th home run, then got hit in the head with a pitch that cracked his batting helmet, then went into a slump, then complained that the umpires weren’t giving him the same strike zone as Barry Bonds, then went on the disabled list after toenail surgery, then returned and struck out eight times in two games, then got caught using a corked bat, then admitted he made a “mistake,” then got an eight-game suspension reduced to seven, then returned Wednesday night in Cincinnati and hit a 464-foot home run in his third at-bat.
Have I missed anything?
Oh yeah, the team you watched lose 95 games last year has been in first place almost the entire season. Dusty Baker calls it “osmosis.” Can Jerry Manuel top that?
Dude, you would not recognize the team you left behind. Some of the names are the same, but the atmosphere is way different since Baker took over and Jim Hendry dumped some malcontents and upgraded the bullpen. The Cubs expect to win and are genuinely upset when they don’t. There is no malaise, no sleeping in the clubhouse, no need for a Bobby Knight-style raveout by the manager, a la Bruce Kimm.
So far, Baker has Cubs fans in the palm of his hand. They’re dancing to the beat of the Borowski Shuffle, chanting Hee Seop Choi’s name over and over like a mantra, and learning how to spell “G-r-u-d-z-i-e-l-a-n-e-k” without looking at their scorecards.
Baker is a gas. He loves the give-and-take with reporters, using the word “big-time,” and name-dropping. Thus far he has managed to mention Martha Stewart, Bill Clinton, Miles Davis, 50 Cent, Deacon Jones, Bob Marley, Oliver North, Too Short, Richard Nixon, Bernie Mac and Snake Plissken during interviews. He also has mentioned Hank Aaron’s name once or twice, and he was heard singing “Don’t Think Twice (It’s All Right)” before a briefing of Chicago writers in St. Louis.
This is a guy who clearly enjoys being Dusty Baker.
These Cubs are a quiet, efficient team with no clear leader. Unlike the Sox, they rarely spend their pregame time watching TV or DVDs. Mark Prior seems like the real deal, one of the most polished young pitchers I’ve seen since . . . well, Mark Buehrle. Corey Patterson is a viable Gold Glove candidate and their most productive hitter. The rotation is loaded, the bullpen is solid and the hitting is . . . well, that’s another story.
Suffice to say if the Cubs’ lineup had a diminished-skills clause, it would have been exercised by now.
Just like the Sox have to let Frank be Frank, the Cubs desperately need Sammy to be Sammy. I can’t wait to see how Sox fans greet Sosa when he comes to the South Side next week. Cubs fans, for the most part, have given him their unconditional support, whether they believe him or not. Maybe Sosa truly is the luckiest man on the face of the Earth.
Either way, Baker, Sosa and the Cubs are in for the ride of their lives over the next 3 1/2 months.
Really, would you want it any other way?
Welcome back to Wrigley,
Sully
