Cubs Manager Lou Piniella, stretched and strained by home and professional obligations throughout a three-game sweep at the hands of his former Tampa Bay Rays team in St. Petersburg, left Florida glad to be heading back to Wrigley – but clearly in no mood for the standard media circus of carousel, regurgitation of issues that have already been addressed for days on the road.
The cleanest 600th home run since 1971 was hit in South Florida Monday night. Having covered Ken Griffey Jr. in his prime in Seattle in the late 1990s, that’s the lasting impression I’ll take out of seeing from afar what should have been heralded as a more historic accomplishment – muddled and confused as it has been by the era in which it occurred.
Forget the injuries that might have prevented Griffey from bearing down on 700 or 800 home runs by now. The bigger shame is that in the wake of Bonds’ tainted record and Sosa’s tainted 600 – both of which came last season – the few true greats from the Steroid Era who appear to have played the game without becoming drug cheats get a diminished place in their time than they rightly deserve.
A year ago this month, Ryan Dempster was closing games for a Cubs team on the way to the playoffs, and Kerry Wood was on the comeback trail again, eying a return to the active roster that came with about two months to go.
``What a difference a year makes,’’ manager Lou Piniella said after Wood finished what Dempster started Thursday night in the Cubs’ thrill-ride 5-4 win over the Dodgers in the opener of a four-game series at Dodger Stadium.
In fact, what a difference a month makes for Wood.
To err is human, but to balk for two straight nights is almost unheard of. Especially the way Ted Lilly got charged with one in the seventh inning Wednesday night.
After a leadoff walk to Michael Barrett in a one-run game, Lilly threw to first baseman Derrek Lee, who was cheating in off the bag, anticipating a bunt from pitcher Greg Maddux.
The lip-reading version of the conversation was almost as loud as the in-person version must have been.
``I told him he had to throw strikes. If not I had to get somebody else in the ballgame,’’ manager Lou Piniella said of tonight’s fourth-inning talk on the mound with Jason Marquis that ended with something like, ``And you better [expletive] do it.’’
Not that anyone back in Chicago cares what I have for lunch or where I go for beers after the game when I'm on the road, but here are two strong recommendations if you're planning to be in Houston this summer: Try Azuma, a Japanese restaurant with two Houston locations, including one downtown. Great sushi and tempura. In Texas. Really. And for the after-game beers, check out the Flying Saucer on Main Street, about five blocks from the ballpark. Good crowds, even on weekday nights and hundreds of different beers -- at just the right chill for those still-80-degree nights.
As for the baseball and the Cubs around here tonight ... Howry looking stronger ... Jim Edmonds not so much. ... and still wondering when we'll see that first road series win since April 10.
Which brings up a question that might be worth asking again now that we're almost two months into the season. ...
This is about instant replay. But bear with me for a couple of paragraphs of context.
Houston resident Bob Watson, baseball's top official for rules and on-field operations, was at Minute Maid Park this afternoon on other business but took time to oversee the removal of the narrow, yellow plank that served as the vertical marker separating in-play from out-of-play where the left-center field fence rises from 10 feet to 25 feet.
Workers painted a yellow stripe directly onto the brick wall the plank had been affixed to, which should produce a truer bounce on long balls that are close calls in that area, helping the umpires make the right calls on plays such as Geo Soto's inside-the-park home run Monday night that should have been ruled a conventional homer.
Cubs are taking ealry BP in the 90-plus-degree heat of open-roofed Houston Juice Box, but it's hard to tell whether all the sweat is a result of the Houston weather or all the heat radiating off Alfonso Soriano.
As anybody who follows baseball knows by now, the two hottest hitters in the majors are poised to upstage a 1-vs.-3 National League Central matchup in Houston the next three nights.
OK, maybe that's stretching it, but Jim Edmonds seems to have a genuine appreciation for the history and electricity of the Cub culture and sought the Cubs out as much as they pursued him. He said one of the things he missed after getting that trade to San Diego in the off-season was ``the excitement from the crowd.''
``And obviously the minute I walked into [Wrigley Field Wednesday] night [for a physical], the excitement was there. That's what I'm looking foward to.''
Lou says the radio reporter asking that question that set him off Thursday was trying to ``create the news,'' asking something he already knew the answer to. Specifically, that taking Alfonso Soriano out of the game late for defensive reasons is absurd. ``You don't take superstar players out of the lineup,'' the manager said.
But in defense of WSCR-AM's Jesse Rogers, whether the question could have been rephrased, it wasn’t out of line -- especially considering it was Soriano’s first game back from the disabled list and Piniella has been known to do stranger things trying to secure a win.
Dusty Baker returned. And got booed. Just like the ex-Cubs manager said the fans at Wrigley would do before the game. But that didn't keep the new Cincinnati manager from smiling and looking happier than he has in years, at least around here.
``Life is good,'' he said behind the batting cage about an hour before the game. ``My life is real good.''
While talking about fiery pitcher Carlos Zambrano's angry outbursts during games gone wrong, Cubs manager Lou Piniella remembered being charged for water coolers he broke with his bat during his playing career -- four or five, by his estimate, at about $250 to $300 a pop.
But he made sure to make a point each time he had to pay up.
He might be off the caffiene and energy drinks but even a better hydrated, less jacked-up Carlos Zambrano is no less hulking, animated and reactionary on the mound than he ever was. Anyboyd watching Friday's game on TV saw that in the Phillies' decisive sixth inning when Pat Burrell drove a run-scoring double over lead-footed Daryle Ward, who was in right field getting his first start of the season.
Only Bobby Cox has been kicked out of more games than Lou Piniella among active managers, but the Cubs' skipper wasn't about to bite when asked if -- like Ozzie Guillen's public beef with umpire Phil Cuzzi -- he had any problems with particular umpires.
``The umpires are all my buddies,'' Piniella said, smiling.
The Cubs plan to move up ace Carlos Zambrano a day to pitch tomorrow's series opener at Philadelphia, taking the spot of Jason Marquis, who's still recovering from the flu. Zambrano will be pitching on his natural fifth day because of this week's off day.
Apparently, Lou Piniella dislikes answering questions about his lineup so much he brought up his next plan before a question was specifically asked about it -- with Kosuke Fukudome probably getting his first regular-season look in the No. 2 spot of the order Wednesday.
So Lou changes the lineup after two games and puts Soriano back in the leadoff spot? What's the big deal? Piniella's still well behind the pace he set last year when he used 125 different lineups. And Soriano -- well, he may be ill-suited for the leadoff spot, but he's even less suited for No. 2.
We all knew the day was coming, but it was still a sad page in Cub history that marked the end of the lengthy chapter of clubhouse man Yosh Kawano's career -- its 65-year span going back two years before the Cubs' last pennant.
