Mike Fontenot is called the “Chicken” by some of his Cubs teammates, though some aren’t quite sure why.
“I think it has something to do with ‘Chicken Little,'” said Scott Eyre, who also goes by the name Stevie Ire.
That would be in reference to Fontenot’s height, which is listed generously at 5 feet 8 inches on the roster. But Fontenot insists it all started in Albuquerque, where things so often start, when the Iowa Cubs were in town.
“I had my hands in my back pockets and I started doing a little dance,” Fontenot said. “They started calling me ‘Chicken,’ and it kind of stuck.”
The Cubs are composed of many individuals, but it’s no coincidence their season started to mesh with Fontenot’s arrival in June. When given a shot at second base in his second call-up, Fontenot hit .397 for the month with three home runs and 15 RBIs, streaking along with the Cubs as they turned things around.
Amazingly, Fontenot was so overlooked in the system he wasn’t even invited to participate in spring training, so manager Lou Piniella never got a chance to see what he could do. But a hot start at Triple A and the need for an extra infielder helped Fontenot get his shot and he made the most of it.
“The year turned out different than I thought it would,” Fontenot said. “I played well early on, and it has been so much fun getting a chance to [go to] the playoffs.”
Fontenot has tailed off, hitting .215 since the All-Star break. He’s still adjusting to keeping his swing in shape without much playing time behind Mark DeRosa.
“Sometimes it’s tough, but I’m still working every day and every time I get a chance to start, I feel normal,” he said. “Just trying to do whatever I can here to stay ready.”
Fontenot will provide the Cubs with a valuable left-handed bat off the bench in the postseason. He has unexpected power that shows up every once in a while, as it did in the middle of June.
“I’ve always had power growing up, even in Little League,” he said. “I think it’s God-given talent, and I do a lot of stuff in the weight room, and bat speed is one of the key things as well.”
Do pitchers underestimate Fontenot because of his size, thinking they can sneak a fastball past him?
“I hope so,” he said. “It doesn’t bother me if they try to sneak one by. Sometimes I’m sure that happens.”
Taking the hits
General manager Jim Hendry said he doesn’t feel vindicated, though the Cubs’ regular season success has quieted critics who held him responsible for the failures of 2005 and ’06. Hendry said he deserved “to take some hits.”
“We had a bad team last year,” he said. “We thought we did a good job of shuffling the deck, fixing it in a hurry and also getting it ready for the future. But it still takes time for it to fall in place.
“We have a new manager with a lot of new players. [Piniella] did a masterful job of finding out how certain guys can play under the way he likes to play, and one of the best things I would say about him is there’s not much doubt he proved he would play who deserves to play.
“He’s not worried about how big the salaries are, he’s not real interested in who played better last year. He played the people who won the job and deserved to play. I think that’s why we won.”
