The fake baseball games have begun. The fake phenoms are sure to follow.
After a winter of signings and hirings, the White Sox and Cubs bring new faces and fresh outlooks on both sides of town.
But it’s too easy for baseball-thirsty fans to crawl toward anything resembling baseball salvation, so Cubs and White Sox fans, beware. You’ve been fooled before by Cactus League heroes who turned into Major League zeros.
Here are just a few of the previous letdowns.
– – –
CUBS BUSTS
Roosevelt Brown, 2002 Cubs
What he did: Hit .361 with three homers and 13 RBIs.
What was said: “I’m preparing my body and mind to play 190 games or whatever,” Brown said.
What has happened: Brown played 111 games but only hit .211 with three homers in 204 at-bats. In 2003, he played in Japan.
Julio Zuleta, 2000 Cubs
What he did: Hit .426 with four homers and 14 RBIs
What was said: “He deserved to make this club,” manager Don Baylor said.
What has happened: Hit three homers and had 12 RBIs in 30 games, then hit .217 with the 2001 Cubs and hasn’t had an at-bat in the majors since.
Kevin Orie, 1998 Cubs
What he did: Hit. .375 with three homers and 12 RBIs.
What was said: “If he stays healthy, he could hit as many 20 to 25 homers. He has solved the Cubs’ perennial third-base
problem.”–Tribune baseball writer Jerome Holtzman.
What has happened: Following a decent rookie year in 1997, Orie flopped.
He hit .181 in 64 games for the ’98 Cubs and was dealt to Florida in mid-season.
– – –
SOX BUSTS
Mario Valenzuela, 2002 White Sox
What he did: Hit a team-high .478 with a homer and seven RBIs.
What was said: “He has been an impressive hitter,” manager Jerry Manuel said. “We’re going to try to keep him around here as long as he can be productive.”
What has happened: Valenzuela hurt his elbow at the end of spring and missed the entire 2002 season. He still hasn’t made his Major League debut and isn’t expected to make the White Sox roster this spring.
Gary Glover, 2001 White Sox
What he did: Won a roster spot by posting a 2.21 ERA despite Tucson’s thin air.
What was said: “It’s a really unbelievable moment,” Glover said after extending his spring success to pick up his first Major League win on April 11.
What has happened: Glover finished with a 4.93 ERA in 2001, a 5.20 ERA in 2002 and was rarely used in 2003 before being traded to Anaheim in 2003.
Jeff Liefer, 1999 White Sox
What he did: Hit .385 with five homers and 12 RBIs.
What was said: “The big thing with him has been cutting down on his strikeouts, and he has done that this spring,” Sox coach Von Joshua said.
What has happened: Liefer didn’t homer and struck out 28 times in 113 at-bats. He never found a home with the Sox and last year hit a combined .177 for Montreal and Tampa Bay.
– – –
NORTH SIDE/SOUTH SIDE BUST
Robert Machado, 1998 White Sox, 2001 Cubs and 2002 Cubs
What he did: Machado hit .395 with three homers and 11 RBIs for the Sox in the spring of 1998 and then raised hopes for Cubs fans in two straight camps by hitting .423 with a pair of homers in 2001 and hitting .423 with two homers and 14 RBIs the following spring.
What has happened: Hit .207 for the ’98 Sox, .222 for the
’01 Cubs and managed one homer in 58 at-bats for the
’02 Cubs before getting traded to Milwaukee.
———-
Edited by Chris Malcolm (ccmalcolm@tribune.com) and Chris Courtney (cdcourtney@tribune.com)
