Rocks in their heads
VERNON HILLS — As we sit and ponder the recent madness that has become just so Cub, we are presented with issues that don’t make sense. How can a team that just committed $300 million in the off-season be this bad? How can a team do it and not consider a closer? Is it really possible that the Cardinals could win 83 games and a World Series in the same season?
The Cubs were caught in a spot where they had no skill to back the spending decisions they were making. Like the taxpayer who benefits from a larger refund than expected, the Cubs considered the open checkbook of Tribune Co. a windfall and felt they had to spend the money while they had it, quality be darned.
Alfonso Soriano is a wonderful talent but is the seventh corner outfielder on a 25-man roster. How many do you need? Likewise, how many incarnations of Mark Grudzielanek do you need (i.e., Todd Walker and now Mark DeRosa)? Didn’t we have the cheaper, better original version? How do you even begin to challenge the process that had Ronny Cedeno evaluated ahead of Ryan Theriot?
The fans deserve better: That’s what it all boils down to. We have been deceived and duped into believing this team — no, this organization — was better than it was all along. That it was something that it wasn’t.
To the soon-to-be new owners of the Cubs, buyer beware. Don’t forget to spend a few dollars reinforcing those nets preventing all that concrete from falling on our heads. Some of that rock descending might actually knock some sense back into us, preventing us from blindly following the call of the ivy.
— Terry Newman
‘Cubbed’ into submission
HOMER GLEN — Someone has to let newcomer Lou Piniella know that there’s nothing he can do. This is how they play. They’re the Cubs!
I’ve been a Cubs fan for 50 years. Many have endured for much longer. We all know better. Once a player dons the blue pinstripes, he simply becomes “Cubbed.” That’s how it is. Since Piniella has signed up for almost three more years of this, he needs to be brought up to date.
There are many symptoms of being “Cubbed.” These include, but are not limited to, such common baseball blunders as not covering first base, air-mailing outfield throws, stranding men on third, getting picked off base, walking batters late in games, missing signs, letting fly balls drop. The list goes on and on. The only difference between other teams and the Chicago National League Ball Club is that with the Cubs, these conditions will persist.
There is, however, a cure. Players can be “de-Cubbed” by going elsewhere. The Baseball Encyclopedia is full of names of those who have overcome. All-Star caliber players of today such as Luis Gonzalez, Jamie Moyer, Gary Matthews Jr. and Nomar Garciaparra. Nomar is unique. He was very good, became “Cubbed,” then got very good again. That’s how it works.
So relax, Lou. It’s not you. The condition transcends the decades. Once a player is “Cubbed,” even he can do nothing about it.
— Joel Lazar
Baker’s curse
SCHAUMBURG — It amazes me how Dusty Baker can, with a straight face, paint himself as such a victim, as he did recently in Out Loud (Tribune, May 11).
Here is a guy who presided over a collapse in the 2003 NLCS, allowing a 22-year-old pitcher to fall apart in the eighth inning of Game 6 without so much as a visit to try to calm him down.
This is a man who “led” his team to one of the most pathetic down-the-stretch collapses ever in 2004 as they blew what was an almost sure-fire wild-card berth.
This is a guy whose teams played some of the worst fundamental baseball of all time without him ever calling them out for it, mostly because he was more concerned with being his players’ friend than their manager.
This is a manager who lost total control of his team, as the players spent more time whining about unfair treatment from Steve Stone than they did concentrating on winning.
And he now has the audacity to act as though he was unjustly jeered and criticized? Dusty, do us all a favor. Make that fishing trip a permanent one and don’t ever subject another major-league team to your brand of managing.
— Jonathan Young
Wrong target
WOODRIDGE — Jim Hendry lets it be known he is upset about a May 15 Tribune report that he and Dusty Baker did not shake hands before a Cubs-Mets game. Hey Jim, how about letting us know you’re upset about more important things like the Cubs bullpen losing 11 games and blowing eight saves in the first month and a half of the season!
— Bruce Kilkus
Truth and consequences
OAK LAWN — I’m afraid I have to whistle a foul on Sam Smith for ripping on David Stern’s refusal to bend the NBA rule against leaving the bench during a dust-up on the court (Tribune, May 17). The rule is wise and the players are well aware of the consequences of violating it.
Instead of casting Stern as some sort of evil enforcer ready to trap clueless victims, Smith should assess the situation for what it was — two thoughtless individuals whose impulsive behavior might have ignited another embarrassing donnybrook.
Indeed, if “the game should transcend everything,” as Sam writes, then its integrity demands the rules be honored.
— Jerry Partacz
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