A week ago last Wednesday at Wrigley Field, the wind blew straight in off the lake out of the northeast. Wispy, sparse, low-flying clouds passed overhead, growing larger as they seemed to scrape the top of the grandstand and then diminishing as they continued on to the southwest. Shawon Dunston looked up between turns in the batting cage and said, “Don’t it look like the sky is falling?” Andre Dawson stepped out and Dunston stepped in, kicking at the dirt in the batter’s box, muttering, “The sky is falling.”
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The Cubs’ lack of hitting was at the core of their problems, and it had predictable effects on the pitching. Paul Kilgus and Scott Sanderson lost back-to-back games two weekends ago when both caved in under the pressure of scoreless games: Kilgus in the fifth inning, Sanderson the next day in the seventh. Steve Stone reported that the heart of the Cubs’ lineup–the three, four, and five hitters–were 4 for 45 against the Expos. Once the Pirates came to town, Mark Grace started hitting in the five spot, but the slumps went on for Ryne Sandberg and Andre Dawson, who were 0 for 20 and 2 for 21 for the home stand. Sandberg particularly hit in tough luck. By the time of Tuesday’s game against the Pirates, he was resorting to chopping the ball high to the left side of the infield, trying to beat out a hit, but the Pirates kept making the plays on him. When he finally got ahold of one, he hit it directly to Andy Van Slyke in center field. The following day, Sandberg was a beaten man, mired in the slump, and he failed to get the ball out of the infield. Which left a fan wondering, why was he still hitting third?
Because, just as we feared, when Zimmer got all his hitters healthy and back in the lineup he stuck with them where they were, trusting them to find their own chemistry, when in fact what had been winning games for the Cubs was Zimmer’s situational managing while his big hitters–Dawson, Grace, Berryhill–were on the bench with injuries. Once all three returned, it was as if Zimmer had never heard of Lloyd McClendon, Domingo Ramos, or Curtis Wilkerson. Zimmer is an extremely knowledgeable baseball man. In choosing when to hit-and-run or when to bunt, and in various other game situations, he normally takes things into account–the surface of the field, whether the pitcher is a ground-ball pitcher or a fly-ball pitcher–that the average fan doesn’t begin to consider. He has certain blind spots, however–specifically, his preference for a set lineup and his dislike for platooning–that are consistent and hardheaded, and he refuses to adapt. His one move was to alter the person taking the lineup card to the umpires before the game. Coach Joe Altobelli did it Tuesday; Zimmer was back Wednesday. Neither change worked.
Bielecki does not have overpowering stuff, but this year he has found consistency by throwing low strikes. He went right at the Pirates all day long–up to a point. After his minor first-inning troubles, he went through the Pirates’ order the second time throwing strikes on the first pitch to seven of the nine hitters; the third time through he started six of the nine with strikes, surrendering only one meager hit. This stretch put him into the eighth inning with two outs and no men on base, with the top of the order coming up. The Cubs, meanwhile, had pulled ahead when Mark Grace scored from third on a passed ball in the previous inning. Here, in the top of the eighth, with four outs to go, Bielecki abandoned everything that had worked for him all day long. He pitched overly fine to Barry Bonds, threw him three straight balls, a strike, then walked him. Mitch Williams got up in the bull pen. Bielecki started Lind with a ball too, then threw two straight strikes before Lind chopped a grounder to the left side of the infield. Third baseman Law cut across to intercept the ball in front of Dunston, then, staggering, went to second base–where he had no play–instead of going across the infield to try to get Lind. Here, Zimmer came to the mound to get Williams–no argument there; it’s the call to be made. The Pirates had Van Slyke, a lefty, and Bonilla, a switch-hitter who bats better from the left side, coming up. Williams didn’t want to mess with Bonilla, and he got out in front of Van Slyke 0 and 2. Two balls followed, however, as he tried to sucker Van Slyke, and a foul ball later the count went full. Van Slyke then chipped a single into center field to tie the game, and Bonilla followed with a much more assertive triple to the wall, past a diving Walton, clearing the bases, sending Williams to the showers, and extending the Cubs’ skid.
