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Stop the managerial madness Don Baylor is not the problem in ChicagoPosted: Tuesday May 21, 2002 12:04 PM
As if five managers fired since spring training did not make for enough bloodletting, the gruesome parlor game of "Who's Next?" gets played out in public whenever a club has a two-week slump. "It's become a feeding frenzy,'' Chicago Cubs GM Andy MacPhail said. He should know. MacPhail's manager, Don Baylor, found himself in the sights of the pitchfork-and-torch crowd as the Cubs' sorry season spiraled further downward with a nine-game losing streak that came to an end Sunday. Rumors began swirling that Buck Showalter was in line to replace Baylor. Speculation made its way into print. The idea that Baylor would be in trouble sounded believable, except for one detail. It's not true. "I have tried to explain to people, 'Don't lay it on Don's doorstep,'" MacPhail said. "We just haven't hit to the degree that we expected we would. There's a major difference between Don and the other managers who had their employment terminated since the beginning of the year: None of those guys won 88 games last year. And I don't think you'll find people who thought the talent we had on the field last year was expected to win 88 games.'' In other words, Baylor has earned himself more rope than the first 41 games of this season, especially with a generous contract that MacPhail has no intention of eating. Sorry to disappoint the manager-haters out there, but don't blame Baylor for the Cubs' awful start. If, however, you should need to point fingers somewhere to explain Chicago's blues, then do so at Moises Alou, Fred McGriff, Todd Hundley and Sammy Sosa. (Sammy? Yes, but more on him later.) The middle of the Cubs' lineup hasn't been productive enough. Alou, a .303 career hitter, opened this week hitting .161. McGriff, a .286 hitter, was at .217. Hundley, a .235 hitter, was batting .128 and was hurt. The threesome had zero home runs in 65 combined at-bats against left-handers and only one dinger in 106 combined at-bats at Wrigley Field, where it's been customarily cold early in the season, if not a bit chillier than usual for this time of year. "We haven't hit to the levels guys are accustomed to,'' MacPhail said, "and it's mostly been the middle of the order ... I think we're going to hit eventually.'' OK, but what about Sosa? Wasn't he hitting at a .324 clip with 15 home runs? Nothing wrong there, right? Look closely. Entering Tuesday, Sosa had five hits in 31 at-bats with runners in scoring position -- and all of those hits were singles, which explains why he's on pace for 59 homers and fewer than 100 RBIs. So, add Sosa to the reasons the Cubs began this week with fewer runs scored than every team in the National League except Pittsburgh. McGriff, Alou, Hundley and Sosa combined to hit .193 with runners in scoring position. Chicago was outscored 58-20 in its nine-game losing streak, and never got more than four runs across the plate in any of those defeats. It had scored two or fewer runs in 18 of its first 41 games. Now you can begin to understand why MacPhail joked that rookie pitcher Mark Prior was being summoned to the big leagues for his bat. Prior dominated Class AAA (a 1.65 ERA and 24 strikeouts in 16 1/3 innings) so much that MacPhail said, "His learning curve reached the point of diminishing returns.'' He had nothing left to prove there, so he'll immediately set about trying to rescue the Cubs' season. "His makeup is off the charts,'' MacPhail said. "He has a chance to be a real special kid. But people shouldn't expect him to come in and dominate the scene from the start.'' Prior does make the Cubs a better team, especially since his presence will allow Chicago to use Juan Cruz in relief, thus fortifying a bullpen that might get Flash Gordon and Kyle Farnsworth back within the next two weeks. "Our pitching has been OK, not great,'' MacPhail said. "We'll have to do more.'' But as a winless Cruz found out, pitching well sometimes isn't enough with the way the Cubs have hit. Two weeks ago MacPhail was encouraged that St. Louis and Houston weren't running away from Chicago in the NL Central. Now the Cardinals and Astros are perking up and the Reds are showing staying power. "Now I'm past the point of being thankful we haven't paid a bigger penalty," MacPhail said. "We have to do everything we can to make ourselves better and not concern ourselves with anything else. The bottom line is we have to play better.'' There is not much else MacPhail can do. Center fielder Corey Patterson, second baseman Bobby Hill and now Prior have been plugged into prominent positions, a rare infusion of youth by the Cubs. Whether Chicago can turn itself around in a hurry does not depend on those young players, or a trade as much as it does on when the aging foursome of McGriff, Alou, Hundley and Sosa start producing runs. Hundley, who turns 33 on May 27, is the youngest of the bunch. Then again, Cubs fans are accustomed to their club falling flat on its face after a season of success. The Cubs haven't had back-to-back winning seasons since 1971-'72 and they haven't won 88 games in consecutive seasons since 1937-'38. To reach 88 wins after their 14-27 start, the Cubs would have to play .612 baseball (74-47). If that happens, Baylor will not only have turned away the angry crowd. He'll also have cemented the Manager of the Year award. Sports Illustrated senior writer Tom Verducci covers the baseball beat for the magazine and is a regular contributor to CNNSI.com. Click here to send a question to his Baseball Mailbag. |
