By JERRY RILES
Cubs fans said goodbye to another year of not reaching the ultimate goal. Another season of saying “wait ‘til next year”. The 101st time the franchise will look toward another season of trying to get that monkey off their backs.
In one of his final press conferences of the season, Cub manager Lou Piniella told reporters that injuries were the main reason the Northsiders struggled in ‘09. It had nothing to do with a lack of production regarding pitching or hitting.
So, I ask the question, why was hitting coach Von Joshua brought in to boost the team’s offense? He replaced Gerald Perry midway through the season in hopes of lighting a fire under a group of so called sluggers who could barely hit the side of a barn.
The only real bright spot for the Cubs offensively was second baseman Ryan Theriot. At one point during the first half of the season, the little spark plug had cranked out something like four homers in a five game span.
That all slowed down after a local writer simply asked the innocent question about rather or not The-riot was under the influence. The influence of possibly engaging in performance enhancing drugs.
Of course Theriot isn’t engaging, we believe, but the newspaper article appeared to have some type of effect on him. He began to struggle at the plate along with the rest of his teammates.
Joshua was supposed to change the hitting style of the Cubs, not work half a season. GM Jim Hendry fired Perry halfway into the season. The logic behind the move was that Joshua was better suited to work with the younger guys, like Theriot and others.
“Basically I told him it wasn’t anything that I was upset with him,” Hendry explained. “He didn’t do anything wrong. But when you come from the system in the middle of year, if things don’t make significant differences, in improvement, then obviously in my opinion we need to do something different.”
This sounds fishy to me. Why give him the job back in June then take it away from him in October? That’s basically three months of service.
Now reports indicate that Joshua will go back down to AAA and former second baseman and current Peoria Chief skipper Ryne Sandberg may replace the former White Sox hitting coach.
But why unload him at the end of the ‘09 campaign? Could this be the first shoe to drop because of the new ownership in the Ricketts family?
Are the Ricketts preparing to elevate Ryno to the manager’s post after Sweet Lou is let go? My concern for Cubs fans is will the new owners make smart business decisions, or just happy fan moves?
"Ryne has had a Hall of Fame career here as a player," Piniella said. "I'm not the one who is going to be hiring the next manager here, but certainly he'll be in the mix."
Remember this family used to hang out in the bleachers back when number 23 was making magic back in 1984 along with his loveable teammates. Unfortunately, Steve Garvey and the San Diego Padres put an end to that. But I digress.
For Cubs fans’ sake, let’s just hope this is the first move in the right direction for the struggling organization. Ryno replacing Joshua would be a great PR move. I just hope the Ricketts don’t become the Mark Cuban of baseball.
Showering, taking batting practice, and yucking it up with the players because you own the team now. Instead, take a page from the Steinbrenner family and build a baseball dynasty like the New York Yankees.
Don’t be too surprised if you see good ole Sarge, The Deer, Bobby Keith, and Jody-Jody Davis back in the pinstripes trying to bring back the glory days.
All that will be missing is Van Halen’s Cub theme song “Jump” to start off the new regime.
Here’s to you, Men in Blue!
(Jerry Riles is a weekly 5on5 contributor featured every Tuesday in the RedEye)
Comments (1)
Cubs need a cute mascot
make to game during 7th inning with fun things to do.
a lot of give aways and meeting with the players
more music during down minutes during pitching changes etc.
Posted by mary | November 4, 2009 4:02 PM
Posted on November 4, 2009 16:02