Homeruns are great. Whack, crack, boom, pow. They’re big. The Cubs are good at doing so with 117 of them, second most in the National League. Great.
With a few exceptions, nobody tries to hit more homeruns than Sammy Sosa. He is the master of putting balls on Waveland Avenue, which would explain why fans love him. He’s so powerful that not only can he hit homers to the opposite field, but he once missed 30 games because a sneeze caused severe muscle strains in his back.This year, despite Sosa’s injury, he has 17 of them. Sosa is not the only one swinging as hard the gods will let him. There’s Corey Patterson.
Patterson has been a flat-out disappointment this year, after having a breakout year in 2003. He is gifted with incredible base speed, good range in center field and a versatile 5-9 frame that is perfect for a leadoff hitter.
Yet Patterson hasn’t batted first in the order for the Cubs all season long. He is an inconsistent hitter and thinks that earning a base on balls is like admitting that he was the one who caused that smell in the elevator.
In fact, no Cub has graced so many boo’s since visiting teams first confused fans’ praise for Moises "Alooooooh."
Patterson, Sosa and other slumbering members of the offense is why the Cubs are looking to claim a wild-card berth rather than the Central Division title. The Cubs scored two runs against the Milwaukee Brewers in their 4-2 loss Sunday–both were solo homeruns.
The game was emblematic of the Cubs’ 2004 effort. Kerry Wood gives up just one run in six innings and puts the game into the hands of the bullpen. They give up three more runs while the Cubs’ offense remains dormant. The only thing missing from the game was a batboy to slip on a ball and accidentally jam his elbow into Matt Clement’s knee, sidelining the starter for the rest of the season.
While the Cubs’ shortcomings of 2003 were symbolized by a dork with headphones and a Cubs’ cap, this season is about sneezes, Achilles tendons, shin splints in elbows and homeruns.
Why not change the theme? There is still time. Manager Dusty Baker has juggled the lineup repeatedly but has failed to see the one solution for the Cub’s offensive woes: BUNT.
Why not? Manager Jack McKeon put fear in the hearts of the Cubs in the playoffs last year whenever a runner made base, more specifically speed demons Juan Pierre and Luis Castillo. McKeon applies a constant attack on his opponents by bunting and stealing. They bunted and stole their way to win the World Series.
Small ball, basics…you’ve heard of the stuff.
Dusty-we-trusty Baker argues that the Cubs don’t have the kind of personnel to steal bases or bunt in pressure situations. The Cubs are second to last in the National League with only 26 stolen bases. Was it nine years ago that Sosa alone stole 34 bases? (Of course, in the last four seasons he stole a combined two bases.)
But Baker says his offense is merely in a funk.
"It’s a little disheartening when you’re not scoring," Baker said to the Chicago Tribune. "We’ve just got to keep plugging and swinging. It’s not a matter of not working, we’re just not scoring."
At times the Cubs look like a baseball team. They hit. They score. The fabulous five–six if you count Glendon Rusch, who should be on a cereal box after this season–throw immaculately.
Other times the Cubs will have runners on first and second, and we’re crossing our fingers that the other team will lose the ball in the sun. Simply put, Baker has been disappointing in winning games when the offense has been stagnant as it has, falling eight games out of first.
More than 43 percent of the Cubs’ scoring comes as a result of homeruns. They’re fourth in the NL for solos. When they hit no one’s on base, when they’re on base no one can hit.
And this leads us back to Sosa, who is sputtering through the season. Last year it was the cork, this year it’s the sneeze. Every at-bat is a whirlwind of attempts to plant a ball in some shirtless bleacherite’s hands–not much different from previous seasons. This season, however, he is almost even-money for a strikeout when behind the count, averaging a strikeout every three at-bats.
Which makes me, and some Cubs fans, wonder if the Cubs are better off with Todd Hollandsworth (after his shin heals) batting third instead of Sosa? That, of course, will never happen. There are about 17 million reasons why the Tribune Company would make sure Sosa stayed in the lineup.
Remember we love that boom, pow stuff.
But what fans don’t like is bunting. Nothing sexy about pinching the barrel of the bat and poking at a 90-mph breaking ball, but it wins games–particularly in the National League where the notion of a designated hitter is impure.
Maybe guys like Patterson would become more of an asset when this kind of strategy is applied…that, and making Wendell Kim the new bat boy instead of third base coach.
Yes, bunts. Patterson could even bunt for base hits with his speed. Anytime a runner is on first with less than one out: bunt. If the Cubs ain’t hittin’, they should be sacrifice buntin’.
Imagine all the clucks, pings and dungs we would hear.
Even Sosa could bunt. Could you imagine that? The man who makes defensive lineman insecure about their physiques can pivot his body and slide his hand down the end of the barrel and advance a runner. Imagine Sosa doing baseball basics to help the team.
But that won’t happen. The Tribune Company likes fans. Fans like Sammy Sosa. Sosa likes homeruns. Sosa brings in fans. The Tribune Company likes Sosa.
But I wonder what fans like more a homerun derby or a championship? Because the Cubs have went 96 years without one of the two.