rockin500
03-30-2003, 08:12 PM
It's been six weeks since Dusty Baker had his first workout with his new team, the Chicago Cubs. What have we learned?
Well, Baker's music tastes range from the Temptations to rapper Too Short. Wrigley Field organist Gary Pressy may have to change his play list.
If Baker calls for a 9:15 a.m. meeting, that doesn't mean 9:20. He's protective, positive and can make tough decisions, although he finally did give in to 4-year-old son Darren and let him be a bat boy.
Darren had asked his dad every day for six weeks to do something he had handled competently as a 3-year-old with the San Francisco Giants. A 4-year-old can't comprehend the notion of having to wait 10 years to abide by Major League rules.
It was tough to look into his son's eyes and say no. It also was tough for the Cubs manager to tell super-hyper second baseman Bobby Hill that he will open the 2003 season at Triple-A Iowa and not with the big-league team.
"It was especially tough with Bobby because we were all pulling for him and rooting for him," Baker said. "He took it well. He realized he didn't have a good spring."
Since he took the job, Baker has preached patience with the young Cubs. He's also told stories about how he was sent to the minors by Hank Aaron when the two were together with the Atlanta Braves. The emphasis then was on developing players, not rushing them. Hill can only hope he has similar success when he does get back to the Major Leagues.
Hill's demotion does not mean the kid can't play. He just wasn't ready. Time will tell if rookie first baseman Hee Seop Choi is, and he will start Monday's season opener. Center fielder Corey Patterson, who seems more at ease, also will be in the Opening Day lineup for the second straight year. The Cubs rotation includes 22-year-old Mark Prior, who will start Thursday, and 21-year-old Carlos Zambrano.
Are the Cubs ready? Six weeks, nagging injuries and an even peskier virus limited Baker's ability to get a good read on the players.
"I would love to have a set lineup, know who's No. 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, but it's not like that," Baker said. "I've got to continue to tweak and adjust and still learn the personnel here. That's what I have to do to get us together -- who can take a pitch and let a guy steal and not worry about having two strikes. Who can hit-and-run? Who can work the count?
"There are a lot of things I still have yet to learn," Baker said. "It's hard to learn on 35, 40 at-bats."
What he does know is that Mark Grudzielanek is a quick healer. He has overcome a twice-sprained right ankle and will likely leadoff and play second. Shortstop Alex Gonzalez is happy back in the No. 2 spot, where he has played most of his career.
The Cubs had a sluggish offense last year, and haven't made any significant changes for 2003 except to keep Moises Alou healthy.
"You got some guys who can hit," Baker said of the Cubs. "Can I come out right now and say the team is going to hit? No, I can't say that. I haven't seen a lot of these guys over the course of a year."
He did see enough of Lenny Harris and Tom Goodwin, two non-roster invitees, to want them to stay. And Baker doesn't have to worry about the No. 3 spot in the order. Sammy Sosa knows what to do there.
What the Cubs also know after six weeks in the desert is that the starting pitching is solid. Kerry Wood, Matt Clement, Prior, Shawn Estes and Zambrano have been the constants although Baker has hinted he'd like to see them go deeper in a game.
Wood, hit twice by the team-shared viral infection, will start Opening Day, his first such assignment.
"I think we're all ready to go," the right-hander said. "We've seen enough of this clubhouse (at HoHoKam Park)."
One year ago, the Cubs lost closer Flash Gordon and made a late March trade for Antonio Alfonseca. This spring, the Cubs begin without Alfonseca (hamstring injury), yet the bullpen is much improved from a year ago.
The additions of veterans Dave Veres, Mike Remlinger and Mark Guthrie give much needed depth. Alfonseca, expected to be out until May, can only hope the substitute closer, whomever it is, can pick up the slack.
"The pitching, obviously, is something everybody is talking about," Wood said about the 2003 Cubs. "We're excited with the bullpen that we have. It's not good that we lost Alfonseca, but we have guys who can step up and fill in that role."
http://chicago.cubs.mlb.com/NASApp/mlb/chc/news/chc_news.jsp?ymd=20030328&content_id=246905&vkey=news_chc&fext=.jsp
Well, Baker's music tastes range from the Temptations to rapper Too Short. Wrigley Field organist Gary Pressy may have to change his play list.
If Baker calls for a 9:15 a.m. meeting, that doesn't mean 9:20. He's protective, positive and can make tough decisions, although he finally did give in to 4-year-old son Darren and let him be a bat boy.
Darren had asked his dad every day for six weeks to do something he had handled competently as a 3-year-old with the San Francisco Giants. A 4-year-old can't comprehend the notion of having to wait 10 years to abide by Major League rules.
It was tough to look into his son's eyes and say no. It also was tough for the Cubs manager to tell super-hyper second baseman Bobby Hill that he will open the 2003 season at Triple-A Iowa and not with the big-league team.
"It was especially tough with Bobby because we were all pulling for him and rooting for him," Baker said. "He took it well. He realized he didn't have a good spring."
Since he took the job, Baker has preached patience with the young Cubs. He's also told stories about how he was sent to the minors by Hank Aaron when the two were together with the Atlanta Braves. The emphasis then was on developing players, not rushing them. Hill can only hope he has similar success when he does get back to the Major Leagues.
Hill's demotion does not mean the kid can't play. He just wasn't ready. Time will tell if rookie first baseman Hee Seop Choi is, and he will start Monday's season opener. Center fielder Corey Patterson, who seems more at ease, also will be in the Opening Day lineup for the second straight year. The Cubs rotation includes 22-year-old Mark Prior, who will start Thursday, and 21-year-old Carlos Zambrano.
Are the Cubs ready? Six weeks, nagging injuries and an even peskier virus limited Baker's ability to get a good read on the players.
"I would love to have a set lineup, know who's No. 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, but it's not like that," Baker said. "I've got to continue to tweak and adjust and still learn the personnel here. That's what I have to do to get us together -- who can take a pitch and let a guy steal and not worry about having two strikes. Who can hit-and-run? Who can work the count?
"There are a lot of things I still have yet to learn," Baker said. "It's hard to learn on 35, 40 at-bats."
What he does know is that Mark Grudzielanek is a quick healer. He has overcome a twice-sprained right ankle and will likely leadoff and play second. Shortstop Alex Gonzalez is happy back in the No. 2 spot, where he has played most of his career.
The Cubs had a sluggish offense last year, and haven't made any significant changes for 2003 except to keep Moises Alou healthy.
"You got some guys who can hit," Baker said of the Cubs. "Can I come out right now and say the team is going to hit? No, I can't say that. I haven't seen a lot of these guys over the course of a year."
He did see enough of Lenny Harris and Tom Goodwin, two non-roster invitees, to want them to stay. And Baker doesn't have to worry about the No. 3 spot in the order. Sammy Sosa knows what to do there.
What the Cubs also know after six weeks in the desert is that the starting pitching is solid. Kerry Wood, Matt Clement, Prior, Shawn Estes and Zambrano have been the constants although Baker has hinted he'd like to see them go deeper in a game.
Wood, hit twice by the team-shared viral infection, will start Opening Day, his first such assignment.
"I think we're all ready to go," the right-hander said. "We've seen enough of this clubhouse (at HoHoKam Park)."
One year ago, the Cubs lost closer Flash Gordon and made a late March trade for Antonio Alfonseca. This spring, the Cubs begin without Alfonseca (hamstring injury), yet the bullpen is much improved from a year ago.
The additions of veterans Dave Veres, Mike Remlinger and Mark Guthrie give much needed depth. Alfonseca, expected to be out until May, can only hope the substitute closer, whomever it is, can pick up the slack.
"The pitching, obviously, is something everybody is talking about," Wood said about the 2003 Cubs. "We're excited with the bullpen that we have. It's not good that we lost Alfonseca, but we have guys who can step up and fill in that role."
http://chicago.cubs.mlb.com/NASApp/mlb/chc/news/chc_news.jsp?ymd=20030328&content_id=246905&vkey=news_chc&fext=.jsp