It's Especially Tricky the Way It Works

Time for another round of that famed Sesame Street game "One of These Things Is Not Like the Others!"

Here's the Chicago Tribune's Mark Gonzalez:

It was more than just a 3.71 ERA that White Sox closer Bobby Jenks needed to trim.


For Jenks, the bigger transformation involved his diet habits in an effort to change his daily life and enhance his baseball longevity.

"Honestly, it was a lot of everything," the 6-foot-4 Jenks said of the alterations he made to drop his weight to 275 pounds. "Not drinking helps. But really it was a lifestyle choice I wanted to make — not just for myself but for my family.

Really, the drinking part was hard. But once you did it, it was easy."

[snip]
The Sox's front office has been delighted at the way Jenks, 29, has responded. Four springs ago, following his breakout rookie season, Jenks reported to camp noticeably overweight and had to spend extra time with conditioning director Allen Thomas.

"In the past we've had to do two things — we had to get him in shape and his arm in shape," pitching coach Don Cooper said. "Right now it's just the arm because his body is in shape. It's great to see Bobby taking more responsibility and control of his career and life."

Jenks pitched through the 2005 postseason with a sore hip but managed to stay healthy until 2008, when he experienced discomfort behind his left shoulder blade. Last year he was sidelined because of kidney stones and missed the final 10 games because of a right calf strain.

As a result, Jenks embarked on measures to strengthen the shoulders, back and legs. He has also cut down on non-healthy food.

"Everyone knows not to eat certain things that aren't good for you, and the hard part is actually going to do it," Jenks said.

Good for Jenks.  As a guy who has made similar changes to his lifestyle, I appreciate how difficult it can be. But it's worth it.
 
Dr. Phil has another heart-warming story of a guy who's worked himself into shape:

Consider the highly motivated Andruw Jones. He arrived at the White Sox camp early and sassy, at one point calling himself the best center fielder on the property.

That seems unlikely, as Jones was only moderately adequate in the outfield for Texas last season. But the man has won 10 Gold Gloves and came to Glendale in good shape (minus the spare tire he packed in the last season or two of his 12-year stay in Atlanta). He's expected to get most of his playing time as part of a DH platoon, but if he could play well in the outfield he will give Ozzie Guillen a chance to use Carlos Quentin as the DH, lessening the chance he will have a recurrence of plantar fasciitis.

Ooohhhh...sassy! I like it!

And finally, it's our old buddy Sully, talkin' about the Cub's formerly pudgy catcher.  These are the first two paragraphs of his story:

After losing 40 pounds during the offseason, Geovany Soto looks like an air-brushed impression of his old self.

But losing weight means being under suspicion in the modern age. Soto laughed Tuesday when asked about talk show speculation he had been using performance-enhancing drugs.

"To me, (the rumors are) kind of ridiculous," Soto said. "I wasn't strong. I was just fat."

Sully shows superb self-restraint -- he waited almost two dozen words before he brought up the "speculation" that Geo's been doping!

To sum up:  the first thing we hear about Jenks is how he did "a lot of everything" to drop down to a sub-Fielder weight.  The first thing we hear about Jones is how he's "highly motivated."

And the first thing we hear about Soto is he's "air-brushed" (i.e., fake) and "under suspicion" for juicing.

So...which thing is not like the others?  The Soto piece, of course!

It's just another example of that damnable Tribune bias in favor of the Cubs.

Grin and Barrett Part II

Saw this nugget of joy from The Sporting News’ Stan McNeal last week:

One thing to keep in mind about next Tuesday's nonwaiver trading deadline: Deals don't always help teams. Last month, the Cubs sent C Michael Barrett to the Padres for C Rob Bowen, who went 2-for-31 and was dumped on the A's for C Jason Kendall. Back in the N.L. Central, Kendall, a longtime Pirate, was hitless in his first eight at-bats with the Cubs and was booed near the end of his first game.

Just for the record: the Barrett trade went down on 21 June. Since then, the Cubs’ record stands at 26-12 (not counting tonight’s game, which is in progress as I write this). The Padres’ mark in the same time period is 19-21.

The Cubs were 8 and a half games behind Milwaukee when the trade was made. Now, we’re a game out of first. San Diego was in first place before they got Barrett. Now, they trail Arizona by a game and a half.

I don’t mean to sound like I’m piling on Barrett. I don’t think he’s a bad person, or a cancer in the clubhouse. Nor do I blame him for the many dumb things irate Cub Fan has blamed him for this year.

I do mean to take McNeal to task for his narrow focus. If, as many people have said, winning is what matters, why not mention in passing how the teams’ records have changed since the trade went down?

McNeal is right to point out how horrible Rob Bowen was for us. But he also failed to mention that Barrett was doing his best Bowen imitation in San Diego – to date as a Friar, Barrett has hit .227/.235/.289. That’s Ausmus bad.

And, yes, mean old Cub Fans booed Jason Kendall his first game at Wrigley. But even with the size eight collar he took to start his Cubs career, Kendall has hit .244/.354/.317 – not enough to make anyone forget Gabby Hartnett, but at least he’s getting on base enough to keep him from being totally useless.

I don’t know the Barrett deal has helped or hurt us. It might be prudent to reserve judgment until the end of the season, and not rush to give a big thumbs down after two games…

Report from Wrigley Field

Took the family to beautiful Wrigley Field Thursday to see our heroes take on the Giants. The Younger Heir and I were thrilled to be back among our people. The Older Heir and the Reason for Living, not so much.

It was a good game, won by the home team 9-8. Bonds hit two homers against a wind blowing straight in from center field at a reported 15 mph. I swear that the first was hit higher than the right field foul pole. Guess the Clear really does pay off, huh?

We got off to an early lead, thanks to Matt Morris being Matt Morris, and the Giants defense somehow letting Aramis get to third after a hard single to right in the first inning.

Fortunately, the Giant bullpen had been worn down the previous few games, so Morris was left in to give up a total of eight runs (five earned). I say fortunately, because Bonds wound up with six RBIs. It’s a good thing Marmol and Howry were able to shut down the Giants’ batters in the eight and ninth, because no Cub Fan in attendance wanted to see Bonds hit home run 754.

Other notes from the game:
** Jacques Jones went four for five, prompting the Younger Heir to ask me why I always complain about how much he sucks.

** Ted Lilly stole a base, and Cliff Floyd scored from second on a passed ball. Not a good day for Bengie Molina.

** It’s a good thing Derrek Lee is back from suspension tomorrow, because the lineup Lou trotted out that game was more than a little unimpressive. Daryle Ward batting third is bad enough – having to replace him with Mark DeRosa after an injury doesn’t inspire much confidence. Mike Fontenot should not be hitting sixth (nor should he have hit third, as he did earlier in the week). Jacques still is bad, and Jason Kendall isn’t an upgrade.

When losing Cliff Floyd to the predictable injury is a blow to the lineup, you know your team is approaching an Astros-like level of futility…

** On the whole, it was a splendid time. The rain held off, there weren’t any obnoxious drunks in our section, and the Bonds taunts were refreshingly free of vulgarity. Thanks to Todd the Mark Grace Fan for hooking us up with tickets. The Younger Heir is already asking about our next trip…

Rearranging the Deck Chairs

So first we ditch Rob Bowen to make room for another pitcher on the roster.

Then we trade Bowen (and a minor-league pitcher) for Jason Kendall.

You have got to be kidding me.

Kendall, basically, is the catching version of Jacques Jones. Teams in contention don't need one Jacques Jones, let alone two.

Forcing myself to look on the bright side, I've heard Kendall is in the last year of his contract, so he should be gone at the end of the year. And can he suck any more than Bowen did?

Don't answer that...

By the way, Jerry Blevins, the LHP we sent to Oakland as part of the deal, is 3-2 with nine saves and a 1.02 ERA while splitting time in Daytona and Tennessee this year. I bet Sully is able to get in at least one Dontrelle Willis reference in time to make tomorrow's paper...

Things Change

With the calendar flipped to the proverbial second half of the baseball season, it's been amusing to see how things have changed in the last few months:

** Cub Fans who were ready to run Michael Barrett out of town on a rail for his poor defense and puzzling base running choices now want to run Koyie Hill and Rob Bowen out of town for their Girardi-like lack of hitting. How could Hendry be so foolish as to trade Barrett? they cry.

** Cub Fans (and members of the baseball punditocracy) who were desperate for Felix Pie to take over in center field. It doesn't matter what he hits, they claimed. He's better than anyone else they've got.

Apparently not. After posting a .216 BA and .617 OPS, Felix is once again enjoying the sights and sounds of Des Moines. And those Friends of Felix? Now they're comparing Pie to Corey Patterson -- and blaming the Cubs for rushing the poor fellow.

Reports of irony's death seem to have been exaggerated...

** It's not just Cub Fans changing their tunes. Here's a nugget of joy from White Sox stalwart Paul Konerko:

Less than two years after winning a World Series title, the White Sox aren't even considered among the top four teams in Chicago included in an ESPN poll.

The Sox were omitted from an ESPN SportsNation poll that asked: "Which sports team do you most associate with Chicago?"

Listed were the Bears, Blackhawks, Bulls and the rival Cubs.

First baseman Paul Konerko took exception to the Sox's omission during an
interview Friday on ESPN News.

Can it really only have been two years ago Paul and his teammates proclaimed their total disinterest in what the vile media was saying about them? Things change, indeed...

By the way, who would Konerko cast his ballot for?

When asked which team he would vote for, Konerko answered "Bears."

Well, maybe not everything changes...

** ...like the latest missive from Big Mouth. Read it if you can stomach it. Here's a recap if you don't have the time or inclination:

Shorter Big Mouth: Cub Fans are stupid.

What with all the changes this month, it's good to see that we still count on something...

Who, Indeed?

Padres hurler Jake Peavy, discussing his new catcher:

Michael competes. That's the bottom line. He's a fierce competitor. He plays hard. I'm excited because this ballclub has gotten better by getting him. The thing he had with Zambrano – Zambrano took it to another level. As for the fight with A.J. Pierzynski, who doesn't fight with A.J. Pierzynski?

Grin and Barrett

Today's trade of Michael Barrett to the Padres was not exactly a suprise. Even before the justly-infamous scuffle with Carlos Zambrano, there were indications that Barrett was not long for the club.

Barrett was never considered a defensive whiz behind the plate, but I didn't think he was truly horrible, as many other Cub Fans did. Plus, the guy could hit a little bit. Not like Johnny Bench, but after years of Damian Miller, Benito Santiago, Hank White, and Todd Hundley, it looked pretty good.

Unfortunately, Barrett's game took several steps backward this year. His defense was getting close to that truly horrible level, and he wasn't hitting enough to make up for it.

Was he pressing because of his impending free agency? Had he started the decline phase of his career? Or were the previous two years flukes?

I'm not smart enough to tell. But, as any critic could tell you, he wasn't playing well, and if we're going to have any chance to get back in contention we need an upgrade behind the plate.

Alas, we didn't get an upgrade. Forgive me for being underwhelmed by Rob Bowen. We've already got Koyie Hill on the roster, and Hank on the DL. So by my count, that gives us three back-up catchers. Which still leaves us one catcher short.

Maybe it will turn out to be addition by subtraction. I'm not holding my breath, though.

One more thing: if the Padres win the NL West, look for one of Chicago's finest pundits to craft a "Why did the Cubs trade this guy away for nothing" column. On second thought, keep an eye out for that column if Barrett has a good week in San Diego before the All-Star Break...