“Rah” and “rah” were not among Ryne Sandberg’s favorite words, but the Cubs plan on retiring his number in August anyway.
Given all the lathered discussion about the team’s need for leaders these days, it apparently is nothing short of a miracle the understated Sandberg ever succeeded.
He talked with his bat and his glove, and his teammates once in a while got the message they were supposed to do what he did. Some people believe actions speak louder than words and actions are contagious, but if that were true, all of Lou Gehrig’s Yankees teammates would have hit .360 and knocked in 150 runs a year.
The topic of leadership is all the rage in the Cubs’ clubhouse these days now that Cap’n Sammy is gone and the ship supposedly is rudderless. But it’s an elusive topic with no correct answer.
It’s hard to define what a leader is in baseball. When a football player says he will run through a wall and wants to know who will follow, he means it figuratively and literally. Throwing a block for a running back can be like going through a pile of bricks. But in baseball? Working yourself into a competitive froth isn’t going to help a teammate hit a curveball.
So what’s leadership in baseball? Is it chewing out a teammate for not moving over a baserunner? Sure. It might have made a difference if somebody had told that to Sosa. About 10 years ago.
If the Cubs were Sosa’s team last year, it was only because he said it was his team. Baseball isn’t like that. It’s a team sport broken down into individual battles. And if this isn’t too much heresy, it’s sort of like high school tennis. You play your match, do the best you can and hope it helps the team total. Sure there’s teamwork. Sure teammates rely on each other. They throw to each other, hit the cutoff man, etc.
But if you’re looking for motivation, you better come up with your own.
“If you’re a hitter and you go to one of the older guys and say, `What’s this pitcher throw?’ and the hitter gets a hit, it’s because he got a hit, not because one guy told him, `Hey, look for a slider,”‘ pitcher Greg Maddux said.
“It’s what I don’t get. When you’re pitching, you’re doing it by yourself. Nobody’s helping you, nobody’s throwing the ball for you. You have to do it by yourself. You have to hit by yourself.”
But there seems to be a force-feeding of leadership going on here. Nomar Garciaparra, a Cub for all of two months last season, has had to field questions at spring training about whether he would like the unofficial title of leader. It’s clear from his responses he would not.
If he hits .320 with 30 home runs, the Cubs and their fans probably wouldn’t care if he became a mime. If Mark Prior wins 20 games, he will have done his part.
“Usually it’s the team that plays the best wins, not the team that has two rah-rah guys,” Maddux said.
Whose team is this?
“The manager’s,” Maddux said. “Players are always going to help one another out the best they can. Some guys lead with their mouths. Some lead on the field. Some lead at dinner. Some lead in the morning during stretching. Whatever.”
Maddux is right. It’s Dusty Baker’s team. How the Cubs do this year ultimately will depend on how 25 individual parts work together. It also will depend on getting those 25 individual parts to coexist. Baker should have learned that from last year’s debacle.
There are players who can make teammates feel at ease in pressure situations. There are jokers in the clubhouse. There are players who help set a tone for a team.
There are players who take 100 ground balls before every game and exhibit a work ethic to whoever cares to pay attention. There are players who speak out at meetings.
But motivating a teammate to hit a 95-m.p.h. fastball–that’s not going to happen. Neither is motivating a pitcher to hit his spots.
A leader takes players aside when he sees they’re not acting like pros. Eric Karros did that with teammates when he was with the Cubs in 2003. Is that leadership? Sure it is. Is that why they won that year? Who knows?
So who are your leaders, Dusty?
“I don’t know,” he said.
He shouldn’t fret. Removing the toxins from last year’s club is done. Identifying leaders will be much more pleasant.
