Destiny's child?

Sporting News, The, July 30, 2001 by Bruce Miles

With dominant, balanced pitching and a resilience that took shape in the spring, the Cubs continue to ignore history and think the unthinkable

Even the most faithful of baseball's most faithful fans have to be asking: How is this happening? Is this the year?

There was no reason to think this season would be different from any other since the Cubs last won the World Series 93 years ago. They lost 97 games and finished 30 games back last year, and their most notable offseason move was letting go of their star first baseman of the past 13 years.

This figured to be another season in which the lovable losers would watch from the bottom half of the N.L. Central as the Astros and Cardinals slugged it out for the title. Sammy can do only so much, you know.

And look at all that has gone wrong:

* This team can't score. The Cubs are 13th in the National League in runs scored and aren't showing signs of improvement. In the first nine games after the All-Star break, they scored only 34 runs.

* Only one starter, third baseman Bill Mueller, is hitting better than .310, and he hasn't played in more than two months because of a broken knee cap.

* When the Cubs thought they had found much-needed help for their offense with a proposed trade, they were rejected by an aging first baseman who decided he would rather stay with the worst team in the majors than be traded to the Cubs.

* Their big free-agent signing, catcher Todd Hundley, has been a flop. He's batting all of .179 and has spent the past month on the disabled list with a bad back. He's trying to get back on track in the minors.

* They can't beat the Astros. Houston had won seven straight dating to last season until Saturday, when two Sammy Sosa homers helped end the streak. The teams still play 10 more times, including four games to finish the season at Wrigley.

But the bleacher bums happily will dump all those woes into Lake Michigan.

This is all that matters on the North Side of Chicago: The Cubs are contenders. Entering the week, the Cubs sat at the top of the Central and were showing too much character to pull another 1969.

Indeed, this could be the year. The billy goats and black cats could be cast aside for a division title, a pennant and, who knows, a world championship for the first time since 1908. Considering what the Cubs have overcome so far, even the most cynical of their followers can mouth the words, "I believe," and mean it.

The Cubs certainly believe.

Take a 6-5 victory last week in Pittsburgh. The Cubs entered the ninth inning down 5-4. Their record when trailing entering the ninth was 0-32. A hit by veteran catcher Joe Girardi here, some daring baserunning by shortstop Ricky Gutierrez there and a bloop double by second baseman Eric Young to cap things off, and the Cubs suddenly had a come-from-behind, ninth-inning victory.

"We have guys who will fight for nine innings," says Young, one of the team's four co-captains. "It's been a different hero in a lot of our wins this year."

He offers this prediction: "I think you'll continue to see that."

Here are the two most important reasons that those expecting yet another late-summer fade likely will be disappointed: pitching and attitude.

Better in a flash

When team president Andy MacPhail took on general manager duties last summer, he set out to remake the team with defense and pitching. In the offseason, he signed righthanded pitchers Julian Tavarez and Jason Bere to be his fourth and fifth starters. More significant, he signed Tom "Flash" Gordon, gambling that he would be over the effects of reconstructive elbow surgery in 1999 and be able to return to the form that allowed him to save 46 games in 47 chances for the 1998 Red Sox.

MacPhail also signed lefty Jeff Fassero, now 38, to a two-year deal, a move that elicited yawns.

But, oh, how things have turned out. The pitching staff hasn't merely improved on last year's 5.25 ERA--second worst in team history, behind only 1999's 5.27. The staff has done a complete reversal. All season, the Cubs have been battling the Braves and Diamondbacks for the league's best ERA.

One through five, the Cubs might have the deepest rotation in the league, with All-Star Jon Lieber, Kerry Wood, Kevin Tapani, Tavarez and Bere. Entering the week, only Tapani had missed a start, and that was back in April when the team wanted to be cautious with his surgically repaired knee.

"They have more depth in their starting rotation than anybody in our division, maybe anybody in the league," Astros manager Larry Dierker says.

"You don't think of the Cubs as a pitching team because they play at Wrigley Field, which has been more of a hitter's park. If you can get ground balls at Wrigley Field, they've got that thick grass in the infield. You can pitch low-run ballgames, and they've done that all year."

At first glance, the Cubs do not appear to have a staff for strikeouts, but they are on pace to whiff 1,396 batters, which would set a major league record.

Fireballer Wood, the N.L. Rookie of the Year in 1998, has suffered from inconsistency since major elbow surgery in April 1999. But he recently took a big step in streamlining his repertoire by junking his slider to concentrate on his fastball, curveball and changeup. Now, he reasons, he can focus on making the curve more effective.