Who knew so much would come out of an early-inning sacrifice fly to shallow left in May? Certainly A.J. Pierzynski didn’t. And Michael Barrett probably knew only a few milliseconds before the rest of the world. But here we are, nearly six weeks after The Punch.
After having led all of 2005 and much of 2006, the White Sox are now chasing the Tigers (they were tied after that fateful Saturday). And the Cubs have dropped from 10 1/2 back to 14 1/2 behind the Cardinals (some things don’t change much after all). Tribune staff reporters Paul Sullivan, Mark Gonzales, Fred Mitchell and Dave van Dyck track what has happened to the teams-inside the lines and, in some cases, way outside them.
MAY 20
– After the Sox hammer the Cubs 6-1 in their first meeting of 2006, Game 2 finds Barrett slugging Pierzynski in the second inning of the Sox’s 7-0 win, igniting the Brawl in Bridgeport.
“I think it was pretty gutless on their part, him hitting Michael when he didn’t even have the ball,” Rich Hill says. “That’s not how you play the game.”
“Tell that Triple-A (bleep) to shut the (bleep) up,” Ozzie Guillen says. “Tell him to start throwing some strikes or he’s going to get Dusty [Baker] fired.”
MAY 21
– Barrett and Pierzynski talk at the plate, but neither discusses what is said. Hill is sent to Triple-A Iowa.
Cubs avoid a sweep by winning 7-4 and knock the Sox out of a tie for first. They haven’t led the division since.
MAY 22
– Barrett defends the punch: “The way I look at it is, if I’m out walking down the street and somebody knocks me down and I get back up and he’s standing over me or coming back at me again, what are you going to do?”
And controversy erupts over quotes attributed to Ryan Dempster while on WSCR-AM 670. Guillen-per usual-responds.
“Somebody told me [Dempster] says Joey Cora bit Jacque Jones on the foot,” Guillen says. “Wow, when you’re in the ballgame, you have shoes on. If Joey Cora is going to bite somebody, I hope he’s not dumb enough to try and get his feet. If you’re going to bite him, bite him in his cheek, in the ribs or someplace, in the stomach. If you pick the foot, that’s the wrong place to bite somebody.”
– The controversy mutes the return of Frank Thomas to U.S. Cellular Field. Thomas hits a homer in his first at-bat there as a visting player. He has two on the night, but the Sox get the last laugh-they win.
MAY 23
– Guillen and Dempster end their mini-feud.
– Aramis Ramirez says he doesn’t want to be traded by the struggling Cubs, who lose their 17th in 21 games after Dempster blows a save at Florida.
MAY 24
– The Sox win their third straight from Oakland, spoiling Thomas’ return to Chicago. It’s the first home sweep of the A’s since the Sox took four straight May 8-11, 1997.
– Down south, the Cubs are heading further south and the losing is starting to get to them. That’s evident after Greg Maddux takes a bat to a water cooler during the sixth inning of a 9-3 loss at Florida, finishing a sweep at the hands of the team with the then-third-worst record in the majors.
“Yeah, I was a little upset,” Maddux says. The water cooler has no comment.
MAY 25
– The Cubs don’t lose-a game or ground in the standings. They’re off.
– The Sox aren’t so lucky. They’re also off, but the Tigers beat lowly Kansas City, increasing their division lead by a half-game.
MAY 26
– Nearly a week after his audition as a pugilist, Barrett receives his punishment: a 10-game suspension and an undisclosed fine.
Pierzynski is fined $2,000. Brian Anderson is fined $3,000 and handed a five-game suspension. Third- base coach Cora receives an undisclosed fine and a two-game suspension. The Cubs’ John Mabry, who also was involved in the ruckus, escapes without penalty.
The players appeal. Cora cannot as a coach.
“Everyone can say that it’s not going to be [bad blood], but I think it is,” Sox GM Ken Williams says, anticipating the rematch of the series at Wrigley Field.
– Freddy Garcia takes the 8-2 loss at Toronto.
– Dempster blows a ninth-inning lead against Atlanta after Neifi Perez botches a relay throw, allowing two runs to score on a sacrifice fly.
MAY 27
– Fed up with poor execution, Guillen calls out his players after getting an up-close look at his team’s 3-2, 10-inning loss at Toronto. Why so close? Guillen coaches third in Cora’s absence.
“And this [stuff] should stop right now,” Guillen says. “Not because Detroit is winning. … I can’t lose a game like that. We didn’t do anything to win this game.”
– Ex-Cub Mike Remlinger collects a save in the Braves’ 2-1 win over the Cubs.
MAY 28
– Jon Garland stops the Sox’s mini-slide with a 7-5 win in Toronto.
– Cubs pitchers serve up a franchise-record eight home runs in a 13-12, 11-inning loss to Atlanta. The game turns in the 11th when Ramirez loses the ball and it bounces off his head.
“Boy, you think you’ve seen everything, and you wonder what else can happen, and it happens,” Baker says.
The Cubs have been swept in consecutive series.
MAY 29
– The baseball gods (finally) take pity on the Cubs as the winds shift just before game time, blowing in against a Reds team that had doubled the Cubs’ home runs.
It was enough for the latest comeback of Kerry Wood, who earns his first win, ending the Cubs’ six-game losing streak.
– In his second trip to Cleveland as a member of the White Sox, Jim Thome is booed again by the locals he left behind. The Sox shut up the crowd in the 11-0 win as Thome hits his 19th and 20th homers.
MAY 30
– Tribune Co. announces it will sell off some “non-core” assets. That does not include the Cubs. Mark Prior says he’s heard “whispers” about a lack of desire to return quickly from shoulder injury.
“How do I say this in a nice way?” Prior says. “It’s stupid.”
The Cubs have a modest winning streak (two vs. Cincinnati).
– The Sox lose at Cleveland, dropping to 9-11 vs. lefty starters.
MAY 31
– The Sox lose 5-0 at Cleveland.
– The Cubs’ win streak ends, as does May with a 7-22 record. Carlos Zambrano rages in dugout after being lifted for a pinch-hitter in sixth inning of 3-2 loss to Cincy.
“Yeah, I was upset,” Zambrano says, taking a page from the Maddux playbook.
Cubs acquire Phil Nevin from Texas for Jerry Hairston.
JUNE 1
– The Sox conclude a 2-5 trip with a 12-8 loss at Cleveland in which Jose Contreras gives up six runs, eight hits and four walks. Yikes.
– Cubs are off but don’t lose any ground. The breather allows Dempster to close an eventful week: two blown saves, booed at Wrigley Field, a save to stop the six-game losing streak, making peace with Mike North and Guillen. Oh yeah, and the birth of Brady, his son with wife Jenny.
“Yeah, it has been a whirlwind, but it has been fun,” Dempster says. “I’m trying to get my rest whenever I can.”
JUNE 2
– Following a minor-league rehabilitation start, Prior says his shoulder strain is actually a tear. The Cubs respond that yes, a strain is a tear, but a minor tear, which is called a strain. Got that?
Cubs beat St. Louis 5-4 in 14 innings.
– With Nevin gone and Hairston changing leagues without leaving Chicago, the Rangers beat the Sox at The Cell.
JUNE 3
– The Sox break a four-game losing streak by beating the Rangers 8-6. Even while scuffling a bit, the Sox haven’t lost much ground to the hot Tigers.
– Cubs alter rotation, moving Wood back two days to give him more recovery time. Glendon Rusch gets the start in the 8-5 win over St. Louis, which will prove to be his last victory before going on the disabled list.
JUNE 4
– The key to the Sox’s run to the World Series title in 2005 is letting the team down in 2006. “The offense has been there, but the pitching has stunk the last week or so,” Mark Buehrle says.
It’s not just the rotation. After six appearances, reliever Jeff Nelson is placed on the 15-day disabled list after reporting numbness in his right hand.
– The Cubs’ two-game win streak ends in a 9-6 loss at St. Louis. Prior claims he was misquoted in the strain-is-a-tear-is-a-strain controversy.
“I think it got blown up, what I said,” Prior says.
JUNE 5
– It’s quiet on the South Side as the Sox prepare for their first big test of the season: a three-game set at The Cell against Detroit. A sweep will put them alone in first for the first time since May 15.
– Meanwhile, Houston’s Preston Wilson breaks up Zambrano’s no-hit bid with one out in the eighth of an 8-0 Cubs win. Zambrano also homers.
“I made one mistake today, and it cost me the no-no,” Zambrano says.
JUNE 6
– Sox backup Alex Cintron, filling in for Juan Uribe, who is with his expectant wife, delivers a three-run homer off Fernando Rodney in the eighth for a 4-3 victory over Detroit.
– Wood fails to last four innings in a 4-1 loss to the Astros, throwing 75 pitches and averaging between 88-91 m.p.h. on the radar gun.
In the baseball draft, Cubs select Notre Dame pitcher Jeff Samardzija in the fifth round, though he’s likely NFL-bound as a wide receiver. The Sox take right- hander Kyle McCulloch from Texas with their first pick.
JUNE 7
– Wood flies to Cincinnati to have his shoulder examined, and his next start is un- known. Cubs lose second straight to Astros, scoring one run on 10 hits in two games.
– Sox beat Detroit again on more Cintron heroics.
Guillen and Nelson blast Arizona reliever Jason Grimsley for revealing the names of other players he believed were using illegal performance-enhancing drugs.
JUNE 8
– Rusch gets bombed in a 7-1 loss to Reds, dropping to 1-6 for his career against Cincinnati.
– The Sox appear ready to demote Anderson to Triple-A Charlotte, then reconsider after Rob Mackowiak commits two lapses in one inning that lead to a 6-2 loss against Detroit, spoiling the Sox’s chance to take over first in the division.
Uribe a father again after the birth of his fourth son, Juan Jr.
JUNE 9
– Garland gives up two homers, but Jermaine Dye bails him out with a home run that keys the Sox’s 5-4 win over Cleveland.
– Wood is placed on the 15-day disabled list, his 10th trip to the DL in his major-league career. Maddux gets his 325th win after going 51/3 innings, snapping the Reds’ eight-game winning streak in a 6-5 win.
JUNE 10
– Barrett-whose suspension appeal is pending-hits a seventh-inning grand slam off reliever Esteban Yan to beat the Reds 4-2. It’s the last time the Cubs are this close to first in the division.
– While he doesn’t get the decision in a 4-3 win over Cleve- land, Buehrle becomes the first Sox starter to pitch into the eighth inning since Contreras on May 21.
JUNE 11
– In his major-league debut, Carlos Marmol is masterful over six, allowing just two hits and striking out seven Reds in a 9-3 victory. Marmol later credits Maddux for pitching advice.
– Garcia is pounded early in the Sox’s 10-8 loss to Cleveland as the concern over the pitching staff is renewed. There is talk of help coming in a trade, but Williams has yet to make a move.
JUNE 12
– The Cubs are off, as is the strength in Derrek Lee’s right wrist. “There is only so much you can do,” Lee says. “So when the wrist allows you to do stuff, you do it.”
– The Sox beat Texas 8-3 in a strong start by Contreras in which he strikes out a career-high 11 batters. It’s his 15th consecutive winning decision, dating back to last season.
JUNE 13
– The Cubs add a modern convenience to their old park with wireless phones in the dugouts. They lose 9-2 to Houston. Must have been a bad connection.
– In Texas, Garland keeps the ball in the park as the Sox win 5-2. But the Tigers also win, maintaining their division lead. Dustin Hermanson looks like a goner for this season after it’s revealed he pulled a muscle near his rib cage about 10 days earlier.
JUNE 14
– The Cubs lose 5-4 to Houston, their 14th loss in 20 home games.
“On the road we play well,” Ramirez says.
– Bad blood surfaces after Texas’ Vicente Padilla nails Pierzynski twice, and Sox rookie Sean Tracey fails to hit Hank Blalock in retaliation. Guillen is visibly upset, and Tracey is sent down to Triple-A Charlotte.
JUNE 15
– The Sox beat Texas 8-2 to start a nine-game winning streak, but it’s overshadowed by Guillen calling out Pierzynski for not charging the mound and Padilla for intentionally hitting his catcher. Sox also contend that Tracey’s failure to hit Blalock didn’t weigh in their decision to option him, as they acquire David Riske from Boston.
– The Cubs get swept by the Astros. “It just seems like the majority of this year we’ve found ways to lose,” Todd Walker says.
JUNE 16
– Barrett, GM Jim Hendry and team representatives meet with MLB’s John McHale Jr. to review Barrett’s appeal. Cubs lose fourth straight, 5-3 to Detroit, as Rusch (2-7) fails to get out of second inning.
“I felt like I was on trial today,” Barrett says.
– Every Sox starter-including winning pitcher Garcia-collects at least one hit as they cruise to a 12-4 win in Cincinnati.
JUNE 17
– The Cubs lose fifth straight but hope for better when they announce that Prior will forgo another minor-league rehab start and pitch against Detroit the next day. “He’s about as ready as he’s going to get at this point,” Baker says.
– The Sox just keep on winning-and failing to gain ground on an equally hot Detroit.
JUNE 18
– So much for the salve of Prior. He serves up three first-inning home runs to the Tigers, four in all, in 3 2/3 innings as Cubs finish first winless homestand since 1997. Rusch goes on 15-day DL with back spasms. The Cubs are as far out of first as they’ve been all season.
– The Sox cap a three-game sweep at Cincinnati as Garland becomes the first Sox pitcher in 35 years to hit a homer.
JUNE 19
– Barrett begins serving his time after MLB upholds his 10-game suspension for punching Pierzynski.
Before the Cubs snap a six-game losing streak with a 12-8 win over the Indians, Baker holds a team meeting, addresses his uncertain future with Cubs beat writers. “Are you guys going to miss me?” Baker asks.
– The Sox are off and lose a half- game to Detroit. The Cardinals are up next for the champs.
JUNE 20
– At the end of a 20-minute pregame media session, Guillen-fed up with local newspaper columnist Jay Marriotti-calls the writer a derogatory term for homosexuals. Among the quotes: “He’ll lose his job before I lose mine. I guarantee that.”
Later, Riske nails St. Louis’ Chris Duncan one inning after Cardinals reliever Sidney Ponson hits Anderson and Pablo Ozuna in succession with the bases loaded during the Sox’s 20-6 win.
– Wood tires after throwing 70 pitches in a simulated game, putting his comeback in doubt. The Cubs lose for seventh time in eight games.
JUNE 21
– The Sox win big-again. Anderson drops his appeal, begins serving his suspension.
– The Cubs win their series in Cleveland in a rain-shortened rubber match. After repeatedly saying he didn’t intend to go on a minor-league rehab stint, Lee agrees to play at Triple-A Iowa.
JUNE 22
– St. Louis pitching coach Dave Duncan accuses Guillen of lying about not ordering Riske to hit Duncan’s son, a Cardinals’ reserve.
That controversy takes a back seat to Guillen being fined an undisclosed amount and directed to take sensitivity classes for his comments about Marriotti. Guillen and Riske are suspended for the plunking of Chris Duncan: Guillen for one game, Riske for three, which he appeals.
– The Cubs are off but pick up a half-game in the standings.
JUNE 23
– Williams says he’s worried about his manager, and scrutiny grows after an ESPN Deportes report says Guillen won’t attend sensitivity courses. The Sox win again, 7-4 over Houston.
– After a promising debut against Cincinnati, Marmol has control problems versus the Twins. The Cubs lose 7-2.
SATURDAY
– Guillen says he’s been misquoted and plans to attend sensitivity courses as the Sox’s winning streak stretches to nine games. Thome says, if asked, he will skip the Home Run Derby at the All-Star Game. He leads the AL with 24 dingers.
– Prior is sharper in his second start and goes 6 1/3, hitting 96 m.p.h. But the Twins shut out the Cubs 3-0. Lee goes 1-for-4 for Iowa and is recalled to the Cubs after Tony Womack and Freddie Bynum are injured.
SUNDAY
– The Sox’s winning streak ends in an extra-inning, 10-9 loss to the Astros in which Tadahito Iguchi hits two home runs, including a ninth-inning grand slam. It’s Houston’s first win in seven games vs. the Sox dating back to the World Series.
– The Cubs lose 8-1 to the Twins in Lee’s return. He’s 1-for-4 as the DH with two strikeouts. Bynum, in a Minneapolis hospital with a blood clot in his arm, is put on the 15-day DL.
MONDAY
– The Sox are off, and Detroit wins its fourth straight.
– In Lee’s return to Wrigley Field, the Cubs lose 6-0 to Milwaukee. After starting the season 5-0, Maddux is 7-8.
TUESDAY
– Anderson is eligible to return but does not play in the Sox’s 4-2 win at Pittsburgh. This time, Thome helps with his bat and his glove.
The Tigers and Sox are both 9-1 in their last 10.
– After taking a 5-4 lead in the eighth, Dempster blows his fourth save and the Cubs lose 8-5. It’s their ninth loss in a row at home, longest since a 12-game losing streak at Wrigley in 1994.
One upside to the Cubs slide: The Cardinals’ eight-game losing streak hasn’t pushed the Cubs any further down the division hole.
Samardzija, pitching for the first time as a pro, allows two runs in two innings for Boise.
WEDNESDAY
– The Sox use Uribe’s bases-clearing triple and Podsednik’s run-scoring base hit to edge the Pirates 4-3.
– Riding a five-run eighth keyed by Lee’s first home run since coming off the disabled list, the Cubs beat the Brewers 6-3.
THURSDAY
– Not the best way to head to Wrigley Field. Contreras gets hit hard and the Sox cough up early leads twice. Though Thome knocks one into the river, Freddy Sanchez ends the Pirates’ 13-game losing streak with a walk-off homer off Cliff Politte.
– The Cubs’ winning streak ends at one when Prior suffers his third straight defeat in a 5-4 loss. Stranding 12 runners does not help. Lee has a chance to come up big but strikes out with runners on second and third and two outs in the eighth.
FRIDAY
– Here we are, almost six weeks later. The Sox are still one of the best teams in baseball, and the Cubs are still looking for any signs of hope, though one will be the return of Barrett. Game 4 of the 2006 City Series gets under way at 1:20 p.m. at Wrigley Field.
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Since May 19
SOX CUBS
24-13 WON-LOST 12-25
.286 BATTING AVERAGE .277
4.49 ERA 5.10
220 RUNS SCORED 156
53 HOME RUNS 38
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