A kind overflow of kindness: there are no faces
truer than those that are so washed. How much
better is it to weep at joy than to joy at weeping!
Leonato - Much Ado About Nothing
Yesterday, at Ho Ho Kam, Cubs’ new center fielder Marlon Byrd walked up to Carlos Marmol and Jeff Diamond and informed them that they were tipping their pitches. Not to be outdone, Diamond noted that several batters were giving away the pitch they were looking for with their stance. That may be the most useful information to come out of any spring training camp this season. Caught now, it can be worked on and corrected. Caught in June, which has been the norm in MLB, it is too little too late.
But, overall, it is the stuff that is not happening that is the most interesting. On the Northside, as GORDON WITTENMYER of the Sun Times reports, there are no curses. Or, maybe more importantly, they have a guy who broke one of the biggest ones there was.
He’s no Greek Orthodox priest. But a 38-year-old non-roster bench candidate who hit .223 last year might hold the key to breaking that whole curse thing on the North Side.
That is, if he makes the team.
What’s certain is that Kevin Millar has done what nobody in the Cubs’ clubhouse has done—end a curse—and he’s willing to share the formula his self-proclaimed ‘’bunch of idiots’’ in Boston used six years ago to bring down the Curse of the Bambino.
‘’Being in a place like Boston, I went through a lot of the same things,’’ he said. ‘’There was a huge curse there, 86 years. It was almost like every year was ‘The Year.’’’
Of course, he’s dealing with 15 more years of inertia with this one. And a drought that doesn’t include so much as a World Series heartbreak in the last 64 years—even the Red Sox had four World Series appearances over the same span before breaking their curse.
‘’You get a group of guys believing, and you get a group of guys that don’t worry about a lot of stuff but winning games,’’ Millar said. ‘’We’ll see what happens.’’
That’s as big a part of the formula as anything. But it also includes about six parts swagger, two parts big-stage experience, three parts slowing down the heart rate and one part ignoring the press clippings—along with just a dash of timing and an occasional shot of whiskey.
‘’Jack Daniels brings your heart rate down,’’ Millar said.
When it all comes together, it makes and breaks history.
While our own bleeder of the Cubbie Blue, Tyrone Briggs, may be a teetotaler, I would bet he would camp by the clubhouse with a case of Jack if that is what it takes to win a World Series for the Cubs. Hell, he might even pop for chips and dip too.
On the South Side, everyone is pleased by the trade that is not happening. Quick synopsis for those who missed it; Jake Peavy got asked a question by Kenny Williams and he answered it honestly. Somehow that lead to rumors of Beckham being traded to the Padres with a zillion other guys. As DAVID HAUGH at the Tribune notes, it ain’t gonna happen.
Without question the most fascinating sight Tuesday at Camelback Ranch came on a practice field far away from the White Sox-Dodgers “B” game intended to break up the monotony.
On that field Jake Peavy stood chatting with his catcher like so many other meetings on the mound. But this catcher, in full gear complete with shin guards and a chest protector, was Mark Buehrle.
One young boy with binoculars thought he had a scoop. “Dad, I think Buehrle’s catching Peavy over there!’’ he said excitedly.
Now that would be a big story. But the Sox aces merely were being good company men and following a script for an upcoming Sox commercial.
It was a good reminder that things aren’t always what they seem in Sox camp.
Take the artificial buzz created over the rumors the Sox will dangle Gordon Beckham in a trade package for Padres first baseman Adrian Gonzalez, so far the only thing besides manager Ozzie Guillen’s tweets to make anybody atwitter at spring training.
The speculation mentioned more Sox names going to the Padres besides Beckham, but that’s when I stopped listening. Beckham is the most untouchable Sox player since Frank Thomas in his prime.
The Sox drafted Beckham, developed him and now he has a chance to spend a decade on the South Side doing what Ryne Sandberg did on the North. Even to consider trading Beckham at 23 would risk protests in the streets of Bridgeport. General manager Ken Williams is bold and understandably covets a left-handed slugger such as Gonzalez. But he’s not stupid.
“That’s all a TV thing,” Guillen said. “I don’t see why people are still talking about it.”
That’s easier to understand. Outside of Daniel Hudson’s dominant showing against a bunch of Dodger minor-leaguers and Williams’ son, Kyle, running a 4.36 40-yard dash at the NFL scouting combine, there hasn’t been much Sox-related stuff yet worth talking about here.
Rather innocently, Peavy started it all by telling CBSSports.com that when Williams asked for a reference on Gonzalez over the winter, he gave a glowing recommendation. That gave the story sprinter’s legs.
So Peavy spoke highly of a friend. Big deal. He didn’t go to Williams suggesting the Sox make a trade for Gonzalez to replace first baseman Paul Konerko. Nobody’s feelings should be hurt or slighted because Peavy answered Williams’ question.
In other words, the Sox (of all teams) fell victim to not being controversial enough. Nature abhors a vacuum and media needs a rumor. Those are two constants you can take where ever you go.
Oh well, no harm no foul. The Sox continue to do exciting things such as run bunting drills and duck when Daniel Cabrera pitches. Yesterday, in a 27 pitch outing, he gave up 4 runs and only threw 11 strikes. There is something about knowing that a pitch is coming at around 100 mph and not knowing where it is going to end up that makes hitters a little nervous. Suffice it to say that the Dodgers who faced Cabrera yesterday wouldn’t have minded a few shots of Jack themselves after that.
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