The White Sox have done a yeoman-like job in sustaining their part of the quest, but to get it done the Cubs, who have been shaky at times, have to step up and do their share in the last two weeks of the season.
Entering Sunday’s games, the Cubs had only a game and a half advantage on Milwaukee for the honor of finishing in last place in the National League Central. The White Sox haven’t clinched last place in the American League Central, but before Sunday they had a more comfortable edge (5 ½ games) on Minnesota than the Cubs had on the Brewers.
The Cubs and the White Sox are not competing with each other; in tandem, they are chasing their 1948 ancestors. Sixty-five years ago the two Chicago teams finished last in the same season for the only time in the city’s mixed baseball history. Thus, if they finish where they are now, the White Sox and the Cubs will not make history but merely match it.
Even with divisions shrunk in size in the past 20 years to fewer teams than leagues used to have, same-city or same-area teams have rarely finished in last place in the same season.
Hall of Fame research found only one season, 1995, when Oakland and San Francisco finished last. New York’s Mets and Yankees have never done it, just as the Yankees never did it with the New York Giants or the Brooklyn Dodgers.
The Los Angeles Dodgers and the Anaheim Angels haven’t done it either, although it doesn’t matter because those teams don’t play in the same city despite the claim of the Angels’ geographically challenged owner.
In pre-expansion days, when Major League Baseball had two leagues with eight teams in each league, Boston, St. Louis and Philadelphia experienced different baseball histories. St. Louis’ Cardinals and Browns wound up last in 1913. The Red Sox and the Braves gave Boston a pair of last-place teams in 1906, ’22 and ’29.
Philadelphia, however, topped them all for same-season losers. The Phillies and the Athletics were last in nine seasons – 1919, ’20, ’21, ’36, ’38, ’40, ’41, ’42 and ’45. Those must have been interesting days for Philadelphia fans, having the pleasure of watching two last-place teams six times in a 10-year period.
The Athletics actually gave Philadelphia plenty of eighth-place finishes, 7 in a row, 1915-21, and 9 in a subsequent 12-year stretch, ’35-’46.
The White Sox and the Cubs have not been so good to Chicago’s South Side and North Side fans. The White Sox, in fact, have finished last only once since their mutual cellar season with the Cubs, who have since endured 10 such seasons.
(A digression: Do fans still talk about teams finishing in the cellar, meaning last place? I don’t think so. I could be wrong, but I suspect the term went out when four- and five-team divisions were created.)
A more relevant question is what are the cellar-dwelling Cubs and White Sox going to do about it?
The Cubs, with new owners, lured Theo Epstein away from Boston with a bunch of money ($18.5 million) two years ago to do something about it. Epstein was the general manager when the Red Sox won the World Series in 2004 and 2007.
“Their plan is building from the bottom up,” said an executive of another club. “The major league team is not performing, but they have accumulated a lot of prospects. They’ve invested in international players; they signed some Cuban players. They’ve gone over the slots signing players.”
The executive referred to the Cubs’ giving drafted players larger signing bonuses than the commissioner’s office designates for each draft slot.
“We’ve been really transparent with what we’re doing,” Epstein said in a telephone interview last week. “We’re taking no shortcuts to produce what we hope will be an annual contender. Most of it has been focused on building the farm system.
“We have a number of players we feel are impact players. Our goal is to develop a nucleus of home grown players and hope they’re ready at the same time.”
The Tampa Bay Rays are the best example of an organization that capitalized on repeated poor finishes to select high in the draft and acquire good young players to build a contender.
The Cubs, whose .377 winning percentage last season earned them the second pick in the June draft, used it to select a college third baseman. Kris Bryant, whom they signed for a slot-meeting $6.7 million bonus, the highest awarded to the 2013 draftees, according to MLB.com.
Bryant has become the Cubs’ fourth best prospect on the prospect list compiled by MLB.com, just behind No. 3 Jorge Soler, a 21-year-old Cuban outfielder, whom the Cubs signed in June 2012 to a nine-year contract for a reported $30 million.
“It’s one of the few areas left where we can be hyperactive,” Epstein said of the team’s international acquisitions.
The Cubs’ No 1 prospect is a 21-year-old Puerto Rican shortstop, Javier Baez, who was the ninth player selected in the 2011 draft. No. 2 is Albert Almora, a 19-year-old outfielder from Florida, who was the sixth pick in the 2012 draft.
Ranked fifth is Mike Olt, a first baseman-third baseman, whom the Cubs obtained in their July trade with Texas for Matt Garza.
Asked if he has a timetable for the arrival of his young prospects, Epstein said he did, “but I’m not going to share it. It puts unnecessary pressure on some of the young players.”
When big-city teams implement a plan to build through the minor league system, they always risk alienating their fans, who want to win now.
“We’re probably asking them to be more patient than they’ve been,” Epstein said. “This is a slow process. It’s not football or basketball where you can make an immediate impact. They appreciate that we’ve been candid with them.”
Yet Wrigley Field attendance has slipped in each of Epstein’s two seasons, falling from an average of 37,258 a game in 2011 to 35,590 last season to 32,739 this season, a decline of 12 percent.
Epstein, however, prefers to look at the bright side. “We feel we’re a lot closer to winning the World Series,” said the president of baseball operations of the team that hasn’t won the World Series since 1908.
The White Sox don’t have that problem. Their fans saw them win the World Series in 2005. That, however, could be a reason for their decline in attendance from an average of 24,271 last season to 22,527 this year.
“It’s been an extremely disappointing year,” said Rick Hahn, the team’s rookie general manager. “In 2012 we had a team in first place for something like 120 days. We were fourth in runs scored. Our position players top to bottom were first in fielding percentage. We’ve had a diametrically opposite performance to what we had in 2012.”
The 2013 White Sox have scored the fewest runs in the American League, averaging one run a game less than last season. They also have committed the most errors in the league and have allowed the second most unearned runs, only two fewer than the Houston Astros.
“We’ve also struggled running the bases,” Hahn added, then cited some other specific problems. “We weren’t able to replace A.J.’s offensive performance,” he said, referring to catcher A.J. Pierzynski, who left as a free agent. “We had a downturn in performance from a handful of guys.”
Showing he has quickly learned the general manager’s job, Hahn saw a positive aspect in the team’s dreadful season.
“It became clear well before the trading deadline where we were headed,” he said, “so we’ve had time to work on it. It was frustrating, but it gave us opportunities. I think there’s reason to be bullish on some of the guys who struggled this year, but we’ve put together a list of players from outside the organization. There’s no need for a complete overhaul. but we’re being realistic.
“Going forward, we feel we have a good crop of players, especially our starting pitchers and the bullpen. At least it gives us a head start. We’ve got some work to do. It’ll take time, but with the pitching we have on hand it should give us a head start.”
This was not the way Hahn wanted to begin his tenure as the replacement for Kenny Williams, who served as the White Sox general manager for a dozen years.
“It’s very disappointing,” Hahn said, “but I don’t know if it’s more disappointing for me personally as it is for all members of our staff, the players and the fans. Our fans are understandably frustrated, but I hope we’ve done a decent job of articulating our frustration and our plans to rectify it.”
Given the team’s ability to avoid last place, I asked Jerry Reinsdorf, the White Sox chairman for 33 years, if this season was just an aberration. “I surely hope it’s an aberration,” he said.
Asked what the fans’ reaction has been, he said, “Surprisingly well. The crowds have gotten smaller lately, but they’re into the games. Most of the games are exciting.”
I was stunned that Reinsdorf returned my call. We have not had a cordial relationship throughout his ownership. He never liked my coverage of baseball’s labor matters, even suggested occasionally, perhaps only half jokingly, that I was on the union’s payroll.
I believed he wanted to break the union and would do anything he could to achieve that aim, including ousting Fay Vincent, a good and honorable man, as commissioner in 1992.
However, I always credited Reinsdorf with being the most liberal-minded owner in minority hiring.
When he called back last week, we spoke – for the first time in many years – briefly.
“I miss being beaten up by you,” he said.
“I miss beating you up,” I said.
BOBBY, WE KNEW YE TOO WELL
Bobby Valentine would always be better off keeping his mouth shut, but he has demonstrated time and again that he is incapable of achieving that extraordinary feat.
Just when you might have thought he was gone for good, Valentine resurfaced last week with one of his more inane utterances. He criticized the New York Yankees for being missing in action after the 9/11 terrorist attacks in 2001.
Appearing on air for a radio interview on the 12th anniversary of the attacks on the World Trade Center in New York and other targets, Valentine said:
“Let it be said that during the time from 9/11 to 9/21, the Yankees” were not around. “You couldn’t find a Yankee on the streets of New York City. You couldn’t find a Yankee down at Ground Zero, talking to the guys who were working 24/7.”
He also said:
“Many of them didn’t live here, and so it wasn’t their fault. And many of them did not partake in all that, so there was some of that jealousy going around. Like, ‘Why are we so tired? Why are we wasted? Why have we been to the funerals and the firehouses, and the Yankees are getting all the credit for bringing baseball back?’ And I said, ‘This isn’t about credit, guys. This is about doing the right thing.’”
So here was Valentine, who was then the Mets’ manager, reminding listeners what he did that week, how good and noble he had been while the Yankees stayed away.
Valentine’s comments offended Randy Levine, the Yankees’ president, and he spoke out. By the time I talked to Levine late last week, he said he was tired of discussing the matter and to use any of the comments he had made. So here are some of Levine’s comments:
“Bobby Valentine should know better than to be pointing fingers on a day like today. Today is a day of reflection and prayer. The Yankees, as has been well documented, visited Ground Zero, the Armory, the Javits Center, St. Vincent’s Hospital and many other places during that time. We continue to honor the 9/11 victims and responders.”
“On this day, he would have been better to have kept his thoughts to himself rather than seeking credit, which is very sad to me.”
Valentine said he would take Levine’s advice and say nothing further. But Valentine saying nothing? The world should only be so blessed. Valentine went on another show, did another interview and made himself sound more ridiculous than he already had.
In this interview Valentine basically challenged Levine to produce proof of the Yankees’ participation. Show us the pictures, he said:
“I just thought I’d speak for the record that, that week, there weren’t any Yankees out there,” Valentine said. “And if there were, Mr. Levine can just come up with a photograph of somebody at a firehouse or a funeral or at someone’s house. All I remember is people asking for the Yankees and me making excuses for them not being there.”
When I spoke with Levine, he offered no indication that he would put together a photo album and present it to Valentine at a special ceremony before a game at Yankee Stadium. But why not? At the same time the Yankees could show the pictures on the videoboard. Here’s to you, Bobby, for reminding everyone why we are so glad you are no longer in baseball.
Usually, I receive e-mail after a column has appeared here. But last week I received e-mail from readers who had read news accounts of Valentine’s comments. Here are two:
“The most hated man in baseball (I didn’t say that).”
“I’m asking a serious question here – do you think Bobby Valentine has mental issues….this is incredible. And I truly can only speculate that he might have a screw loose. What other reason could one give for this most recent gaffe?”
KIDS WILL BE KIDS; LET THEM BE
Jose Fernandez hit his first major league home run last week and became embroiled in his first major league controversy, which I don’t understand.
Fernandez is a 21-year-old right-handed pitcher who was born in Cuba and drafted out of a Tampa, Fla., high school by the Miami Marlins in the first round of the 2011 draft. A major league personnel executive whom I asked about Fernandez said he was probably the best young pitcher in the majors.
The alleged offense Fernandez committed occurred against Atlanta last Wednesday. The youngster hit a home run against Mike Minor and didn’t immediately begin his home run trot, instead standing at the plate and admiring his work.
Fernandez was criticized for standing and watching instead of trotting, even by his own manager, Mike Redmond.
“Jose is an emotional guy,” Redmond said. “That’s part of his game that is going to improve. We don’t want to take the ‘having fun’ aspect away from him. That’s what makes him him. But at the same time, I think maybe he can center that a little bit. … That might be a part of his game he needs to look at, and maybe try to do something different.”
“He’s going to be one of the top pitchers in this league for a long time,” the manager added. “But you want your players to be judged for the way they compete, not for the theatrics.”
The game in which Fernandez hit the home run was his last of the season because he reached the 170-inning limit the Marlins had set for him. He finished his season with a 12-6 record, 2.19 earned run average and 187 strikeouts in 172 2/3 innings.
Fernandez, perhaps intimidated by all of the criticism, wound up apologizing to Minor. But when and to whom did Reggie Jackson ever apologize to after he admired his majestic home runs? No veteran batter apologizes. Is it ok for a veteran to stand and watch but not a rookie, and a pitcher at that?
The executive who talked about Fernandez called the reaction to his home run an overreaction. “The kid has never hit a home run,” he said. “”He’s not used to home run trots. Chipper Jones hit a lot of home runs and looked at them a bunch of times. Hitters do it all the time.”
Despite his promising future as a pitcher, Fernandez probably won’t have many opportunities to watch home runs. That should make everybody happy.