Mark Jazzington - a managerial career

[cibl commish]

Great to see this one back!

[Jazzmosis]

Thanks for the comments people. One of the best part of having this story is the fact that I can still exploit the youthfulness of Jazzington - since he's essentially an alternate version of me (with the same birthday), I can let him run loose and do things a regular manager can't/wouldn't. Let's face it, it's hard to write a story about a manager doing his job, there has to be a little "extra".. something that makes him unique. It's just so happened in the game that I've been an abominable failure in my years, and that's played into the story so well... I've been trying to capture the kind of constant fear Jazzington has of judgement and failure, and I've only done it half-well. Although on a personal level, I do enjoy having the ability to switch kind of from an 'antic', personalized experience (such as the last chapter) that he has, and then switch to a more broad view - it kind of lets me see things from the bigger picture but still keep that inimate feeling with the character.

Meanwhile: I've been so excited that I've already finished the next chapter. I'll hold off posting it for a bit (maybe tonight?.. likely tomorrow) to edit it, but I can say with no gloating that it's my favourite chapter, and probably my best written one. And one of the longer ones, too.

[GoCubsAndJays]

Originally Posted by Jazzmosis

Meanwhile: I've been so excited that I've already finished the next chapter. I'll hold off posting it for a bit (maybe tonight?.. likely tomorrow) to edit it, but I can say with no gloating that it's my favourite chapter, and probably my best written one. And one of the longer ones, too.

Woot! Great to hear.

[Jazzmosis]

As promised, here's the next chapter of Mark Jazzington. I can't say enough about how much I like this chapter, so I'll just leave it up here for you, my fans, to be the judge of.

Coming soon:Chapter 43: Streaks and Setbacks

[Jazzmosis]

Chapter 43: Streaks and Setbacks

April saw the Cubs off to the hottest start they’d seen in the last 25 years. Many of the wins were based on a strange mix of hot-start pitching and some timely hitting streaks. Bartolo Guasch was mashing the ball to all angles of the field, and it showed. On April 16th, he passed his career high streak of 20 games, but he wasn’t alone. On April 20th, Jacques White posted his 20th straight game with a hit, and on the 27th, 25-year old third-baseman John Harshaw connected for his career high 20th straight hit game. These three formed a deadly 1-2-3 in the lineup, and it was simple to see the results - the first two got on, Gausch drove them in. Of his 20 RBIs in April, 19 of them came from the former two men and himself. Unfortunately, White’s streak was snapped the day he got to 20, but Harshaw kept going.

Guasch brought headlines to the papers on the 26th when he went to 30 games, which was a franchise record. Harshaw meanwhile, lead the National League for April with a .394 average. It wasn’t surprising to see the amount of runs being scored.

It seemed only fitting that when the month changed to May, Harshaw and Guasch both saw their streaks snapped on the first. It didn’t matter though, because the team went 19-5 and had a three game lead in the always-strong Central.

But covered in this array of optimism, perhaps even swallowed by the media, was the overshadowing first blow dealt to the club. On April 25th, 2008, the sensation Ji-ku Koan, or “Koaney”, as everyone had been calling him, stepped out onto the mound against Pittsburgh, riding a four game win streak and a 2.20 ERA. Last year had been his breakout year, and so far he had shown no signs of slowing down. But in the third inning, he came into the dugout between innings and complained of a minor pain in his arm.

“Do you think you can still pitch?” I asked, waiting nervously as his translator listened to his response. There was always something curious about talking about an anxiety-driven situation through a translator - part of the fear and emotion of the situation seemed to simultaneously be subdued and heightened. The translators always responded without the emotion of the original speaker - but waiting for them to speak always built up the suspense. It was like listening to your own personal thriller.

“Ji-ku says, he thinks he should be okay for a few more innings.”

A few more turned into a seven inning, three-hit performance, complete with eight strikeouts, and his 5th straight win. His ERA was lowered to 2.04, but it was all forgotten when he was sent to the specialist and I received the news.

A newspaper opinion column conveyed exactly what I was thinking at the time.

So much for the optimistic re-start to Jazzington’s managerial career. Now don’t get me wrong - it seems like Chicago’s new manager and the team are perfect fits - always falling short. But this young manager who has characteristically shown flashes of brilliance in his previous four years, has had to face harsh criticism since coming into the game at the ripe age of 18. I think that even he would admit that Erwin Canon made an idiotic mistake bringing someone with nothing more than amateur ball experience and a reputation of being able to “read pitchers” in to manage a baseball club filled with egos. He’s floundered and he’s succeeded (once.. Anyone remember Arizona’s 83-79 2006? Me either.). But ultimately, it seemed like Chicago was his last chance stop. He’s never made serious money, signing managerial contracts for well under half a million.

But this April, things looked to be falling into place for him. Every fan out there, even Cub’s GM Richard Oberg, said this team was regressing into a youth movement, and didn’t expect to compete - especially since the organization was broke. But alas, picking up waiver claims and taking chances on incomplete pitchers seems to have paid off - the quixotic mix of inexperience between the team and the manager, and the pre-season understanding of having another below .500 season seems to have made this team fearless - they have nothing to play for, no expectations, and certainly no experience. And look what has happened so far? With the offence clicking, and the shaky pitching staff seemingly becoming demi-gods, we’ve seen this team storm out of the gates, putting down the usual contenders St. Louis, Milwaukee, and Houston in a brigade of team chemistry and free-swinging bats.

Alas, we all knew that the pitching wouldn’t last. Wesley Zang is getting up there in age, Dalton Cook has been relegated to bullpen duty, and Lamar looks like a hot-start flop in the waiting. But the one pitcher we all could count on - the one pitcher that doesn’t even speak English, but hasn’t slowed down since he was inserted into the rotation last year - yes, I’m talking about Ji-Ku Koan - gave us all hope. And now, that hope has been dashed, as he was placed on the Disabled List with a strained triceps. Reports are that he won’t be back until June. This is a guy the team sorely needed to keep this optimism alive. The guy that came out there every five days and made the Cubs scoring one run seem like a sure-win. Who’s going to fill that void? I’ll tell you the terrible truth. Nobody can fill that void. Instead, we’ll see another has-been pitcher or young pitcher attempt to limit the damage for the next six weeks.

If I was Mark Jazzington, I would be cursing my luck right now. He’s only here for one year, with a club option for the next. . . and now he’s lost a pivotal point not only of his team, but his career. As fans, we can only pray that the strange combination he builds will help these young players - Cubs indeed they are, fearless and playful - will still find a way to win. But I wouldn’t count on it. It’s just a matter of time before these youngsters start to cave under the pressure. A Cinderella season this isn’t - Jazzington will have to fight to the very last game to prove he belongs up here.


To make matters worse, on May 1st, Koan was named the pitcher of the month in the NL - which only cemented his worth. I blamed myself for keeping him out there for too long, deciding that it only made his triceps worse. Now, I was patching an already tattered pitching staff. Anderson gave up far too many hits, but the good fielding the team boasted allowed him to strand a lot of runners. Lamar’s history was chequered with control issues, but so far he hadn’t realized them. What could I rely on? It would come down to my bullpen, and praying that my offence would stay hot - which I was granted with new leadoff hitter James Hickman starting a streak of his own, which would be snapped at 20 games on May 9th.

Whatever it was about this team, they would not say die. Even without Koaney, they kept winning. The replacement pitcher was a 25 year old rookie with an absolutely brutal callup history named Rodrigo Guillen. He was dominant in AAA, but awful in the majors from 2006-2007, sporting a 6.22 career ERA in 15 games. He was to be my new Koan. And on May 6th, nine days after being called up, he took the mound against the Mets. He was noticeably nervous before the game, pacing around and fidgeting like crazy on the bench. People tried to console him, telling him it’d be okay, that it was “only the Mets” (Guasch), but nothing worked. He was scouted as having solid stuff, but control was his issue, and if batters were patient, he’d walk himself into jams and then give up the hits that undo him.

Apparently the scouts didn’t know what they were talking about, at least not for his first career start. He threw 8 innings of four-hit, one run ball, walking only one and whiffing six. The result? A 5-1 win, and Guillen drawing comparisons to being the Spanish Koan in the dugout after the game - of course, he was Dominican, and spoke decent, but cracked English - a noticeable language advantage. Regardless, he’d earned another start. After all, it was either him or Cook, who sported a stylish 14.73 ERA at the time.

The team continued it’s crusade, although we certainly weren’t as strong in May as we were in April. During the middle weeks of the month, we played merely .500, but this was after a five game win streak, and before a seven gamer to end the month. However, the biggest shock came on May 22nd, and what happened the following day.

[GoCubsAndJays]

Another great read... damn cliffhangers . You don't need to leave us hanging like that anymore, you've already immersed us in the story!

One quick grammatical error I noticed though:

Originally Posted by Jazzmosis

The team continued it’s crusade, although we certainly wasn’t as strong in May as we were in April. During the middle weeks of the month, we played merely .500, but this was after a five game win streak, and before a seven gamer to end the month. However, the biggest shock came on May 22nd, and what happened the following day.

That should be weren't.

[Jazzmosis]

Thanks for the notice.

Okay, I need a savior. I'm formatting my computer, and I need someone to take on the league file while I clean my computer off. I'll make the same offer Tib did in his dynasty... help me out, and you get a write-in the story...

I'm coming off desparate here I know, but I don't trust all the previous backups I've made. This file is the essence of Jazzington.. and helping this story would make me forever grateful.

If you feel like helping, IM me (JazzmosisJays), or MSN me (turbonium56@hot..) and I will praise you for the next 6 hours.

Thanks to anyone that offers... Jazzmosis

[cibl commish]

Got you hooked up.

[Jazzmosis]

Many thanks.

[Jazzmosis]

I'm back - sorry for the delay, I was out of town for the Holidays.

This chapter looks to be very raw, as I don't have a word processor on this computer anymore (via the format), so I wrote this draft on my blog. If there's any grammatical errors, let me know (and I expect there to me more than usual). Anyway, this closes out that cliffhanger I left you all on.

Coming up shortly: Chapter 44: May 22nd, 2008 of Mark Jazzington!

[Jazzmosis]

Chapter 44: May 22nd, 2008

May 22nd set off a series of events that would end up changing the focus of the team. And it all started with Zachary Smith, the team's 27 year old closer. He had been cruising on top of the league on May 22nd with 11 saves. He had encompassed 23 saves the year before, picking up the job before the All-Star break and compiling a 3.96 ERA in 61 innings. He was by no means a devestating closer, and early in 2008, it was apparent he was benefitting from the Cubs' hot start. His ERA was a disappointing 5.40 in April, and every time he stepped out it was hit or miss whether or not he would implode. After he blew the lead on May 18th, allowing two runs while recording only one out, him and I got into a spat in the clubhouse.


I can't recall the exact words of what I said to him, but I remember it got ugly very quickly. I was upset because he was giving up too many runs; and I felt that it might be better to try him as setup man to Davey Dolman or James Popham - Popham was the better choice, but Smith retorted that his struggles were merely a disconfidence in my managing skills - which made absolutely no sense, considering a closer probably has the most set role a manager can give a player. Regardless, I didn't use him again until May 22nd - in fact, I didn't even talk to him again until after the game. The games inbetween didn't call for a save situation, but the tension in the clubhouse became very apparent, very quickly. Smith was well liked by most of the players, and had been on the team for some time, playing with many of the veterans, like Gausch, and Lamar, whom he'd come up through the minors with and had built a good friendship. Players did not want to pick sides in this dispute, especially with the manager of the club - and I didn't want more drama in my already turmoil-filled career. The bottom line was that one this bad could ultimately force Richard Oberg to make a decision on me - and I could almost guarantee it wouldn't end favourably for me.


I chose to avoid the situation altogether with Smith until I had to deal with it - in fact, during this time I was "lucky" enough to have some players approach me and tell me they would support me in the situation. That meant a lot to me, but I merely thanked them, and asked them to keep it quiet from the media. This was already a delicate situation, and I knew that if the media got a hold of it, it would simply make this a nightmare that would undoubtedly cost me my job.


As far as I knew, most players were trying to keep from picking sides - and during the ordeal, I only knew of one player that overtly sided with Smith and against me - backup outfielder Tyler Hollen. While that seemed like a small situation to deal with, it had an immediate remedy - Walter Banda, the 5th outfielder, had an atroscious start to the season and was placed on waivers on the 18th and claimed on the 21st, which resulted in the callup of Robert Gober, a 26 year old outfielder that was claimed off waivers in January from Houston. He would join the team on the 19th and immediately be thrown into the confusing situation he knew nothing about - but the best part was that until this point, he'd spent a total of one day in the majors, and didn't know anyone on the team except backup catcher Justin Gonser, who was called up with him a the same time. Both would end up remaining on the roster to the end of the season. However, Tyler Hollen came to me on the 19th saying how he was unhappy with how I handled the situation with Smith. More importantly, he threatened to take the story to the media if I didn't play him more - which granted, up until that point I had only given him 21 at bats, and 7 of them came in one game. I responded to that by benching him until the 22nd and giving Gober his at bats 3 out of the 4 games.


But the entire situation came to fruition on the 22nd. It was a save situation again, and I had played the disgruntled Hollen. It was an interleague game against Detroit that we led 7-5. I called Smith into the game to close the door. He responded by giving up two hits before getting a ground out. A balk scored the first run, and then with two outs and runners in scoring position, he gave up a base-clearing double that put Detroit ahead 8-7. Another batter came up and brought him home with a double - and at this point I called Dolman into the game. Dolman gave up a single to let in the fifth earned run against Smith, closing his line. After one more run crosses the plate, totalling six in the top of the ninth, the inning finally ended. We lost the game, 11-7. This set off the chain of events after the game.


Smith immediately started before I could say a word in the clubhouse. "Why the hell did you pull me?"

"Um. . . because you gave up the lead." I responded.

"Bad managing! I knew you didn't have the confidence in me, and I couldn't focus at all! I know you just wanted to pull me the whole time!"

"What?"

"You don't have any confidence in me, just admit it! You play favourites, and when someone fails you, you just cast them aside! I'm unhappy, so what do you do! Ignore me for four days, and look what happens! Good job, Skip!"

I just stared at him momentarily, at a loss for words. It was inconceivable to me how his failures were my fault, especially considering I hadn't made a huge display and wasn't asking for anyone to take sides during the time. Before I could let my anger realize what was going on, I took a look around and noticed how many players were put off by this awkward display. But before someone could stand up for me, Hollen chimed in from behind Smith.

"Yeah, thanks Skip. This is how you deal with unhappiness in the club? You bench me for the same amount of time and give the playing time to some rookie kid with no experience?" He jerked a thumb in Gober's direction, who's eyes widened and he took a step back against into his locker door, clearly offended but not wanting to say anything. "Good job Skip," Hollen continued, "but now I'm taking this to the media for sure."

Surrounding players that weren't trying to ignore what was occuring either put their head in their hands or moaned in dispair. However, it was time for my anger to take the stage. "Alright, listen up. You're both good players, but if you can't handle how I manage -" I pointed at Hollen - "or how you can't take responsibility for your own failures at your given role -" my finger slid across to Smith - "then you might as well go right up to Oberg and ask to be traded, because regardless of whether or not you two like it, I'm going to play the players that I feel give this club a chance to win every time out, and if that means that some players get less time, or that I want someone else to close out games, then that's my choice and not yours! So don't sit here and bitch at me about how to manage, because last time I checked, we were in first place!"

"You're just getting lucky right now." Shouted Smith, and was echoed by Hollen.

I couldn't believe what I had just heard, so I stormed out of the clubhouse change room, shouting "you'll never play under me again, ****tards!"

I then hurried up into Oberg's office, bursting through the door unnannounced. He was busy eating a sandwich, as he so commonly did. I'd swung the door so hard it made a satisfying crashing noise as it smashed against his wall, and he jumped in his seat. Before he could even ask what was wrong, I started my tirade. "Smith! Hollen! I want them off this team! Trade them, release them, whatever! I don't care, but I refuse to play either of them again this season! If you listen to the filth coming out of their mouths right now, you'd trade them too! Unbelievable!"

Oberg took a minute to calm me down before he got the whole story. He had heard rumours about some tension between Smith and myself, but things had developed so fast he didn't really see it coming. Hell, nobody did. He spent the rest of the night getting the full story from players that were still around and hadn't quickly left the clubhouse.

I went to bed that night after calling Irene and ranting for a moment - and which she promised to meet me after the game against Cincinnati the next day.


I was called around 9AM the next morning by Richard Oberg. He wanted to see me in his office. My heart sank immediately, as I could tell by the tone of his voice he wasn't bringing positive news.

I got to his office as soon as I could, skipping breakfast. "You wanted to see me?" I asked, skipping the hellos.

"Sit down, Mark." He motioned to the chair across his desk.

"I know you're young, and I know that you've had some bad luck in baseball thus far," Oberg started, "but would you agree that perhaps your youth puts you at a disadvantage in managing?"

I thought quickly. "Not necessarily. It's a challenge gaining respect from players, but I think I bring something different to the clubhouse." I closed my eyes immediately, realizing how bad the latter part of that sentence sounded.

Oberg sighed. "No doubt. A lot of people were skeptical in my hiring of you to take over this club, but I decided to take a chance - although I would be lying if your cheap pricetag was also not a selling point."

My heart sank further. "What are you saying?"

"I'm saying that this organization is short on cash, which played a part in you getting the job. It really came down to you and James Sanson for the job here. Sanson maybe would have been the better choice, but he asked more than we could afford."

I just listened, waiting for him to hand me my letter of release.

"That being said, you've formed some kind of a niche so far here - and with the exception of the two players you have issue with, you're liked around here."

". . . Yeah?"

"Now we're both lucky in this sense. If this got out to the media, it could have been a very different situation. I had to make a snap decision as it is, but I've decided to keep you as a manager here."

I stared in silence before a smile creeped across my face. I wasn't being fired.

"After all, it doesn't make much sense to fire you when you're piloting the team with the best record in the game, does it?"

"What about Hollen and Smith?" I interuppted, as curiousity had quickly surrounded me. I didn't know how I would continue to deal with them, considering I was going to stick to my guns and not play them in the season to prove my point.

"Well you said you wouldn't play them again after what happened - and since that would leave two blank roster spots this team sorely needs, I made a few phone calls to see what they're worth to other teams."

"And?"

"Well, around 8:30 this morning, I sent them off to Arizona in exchange for a young pitcher - Cole Aitken."


I recognized the name, but it took me a moment to grasp everything that had happened. Cole Aitken turned out to be the first round pick from 2007, a 21 year old fireball reliever that was actually younger than me - I remember hearing that scouts had called him to be a closer, but after half a season in the minors, Arizona called him up to the parent club - to which he had struggled, posting a 5.50 ERA in 25 games. Instead of sending him back down, Arizona had agreed to strengthen their pen by getting Smith, and strengthen their outfield with Hollen - completely unaware of the drama that had taken place over the last few days.


I was ecstatic after that meeting. It showed me that Oberg was serious about having me around, and for once, the lowballing I'd done on contracts had kept me in the game instead of lowering people's opinions of me. I met Aitken in time for the night's game, and journeyman utility fielder Waldo Kolodjiez was called up from AAA to take Hollen's place (and play backup for the corner infielders, as well).


The result of this shuffle? The team won the next seven games in a row, and had an 18-9 record in May, which put the team at 37-14 by June 1st, 6.5 games ahead of St. Louis. But this move started a roster shuffle that Oberg would do throughout the season, leaving many players wondering just how long they would be on this club. The bigger question that faced me was how was I to keep this team winning when I would have to deal with so many new faces?

[Jazzmosis]

I'm in some kind of zone, because I've written another Chapter of Jazzington! I don't have much to say about this one, apart from there's not alot of baseball in it - so I'll just drop it and leave it up to you to decided if you like it or not.

Momentarily: Chapter 45: The Drive of Mark Jazzington

[Jazzmosis]

Chapter 45: The Drive

As far as Junes go, given the amount of activity Oberg was preparing for, the month itself was fairly quiet. Koaney came off the DL on June 4th, which pushed Rodrigo Guillen into the bullpen - which was almost a shame in itself, since in the five starts he’d made, four were incredible - his ERA in May was 1.61. However, after getting lit up for 7 runs (6 earned) on June 3rd, his fate was sealed - he was heading to the pen. This was all an improvement over what was expected of him, which was a trip back to the minor leagues - instead, veteran reliever Augusto Perez, whose ERA was 4.96, was placed on waivers and ultimately claimed by Pittsburgh.

Koan picked up exactly where he left off, making six starts in June and compiling a 2.21 ERA with a 3-1 record.

The team came off the 7 game win streak to end May by stumbling into June, however. After splitting the first two games of the month, they proceeded to go on what would ultimately be the longest losing streak of the season, a slide of five games. Nobody panicked, though - it seemed that everyone on the team knew that eventually we’d slow down. That didn’t mean we had to enjoy losing that many games in a row - no matter how hot we played, St. Louis and Milwaukee were never far behind. In fact, during the Cubs’ reign as the top team in baseball, St. Louis was the second best, and Milwaukee the third. Needless to say, the team never really got comfortable on top of the division, especially knowing that both those teams were just waiting for us to cool off.

The pitcher that finally managed to stop the slide was #5 man Jeff Anderson, of all pitchers. He threw a 7-inning, 5-hit performance that netted him his fifth win of the season and gave us a 5-0 victory over Tampa Bay. That would be his last win of the season for us.


Meanwhile, John Harshaw continued his hot hitting. It would turn out that the 25 year old third-baseman wouldn’t hit below .300 for any month in 2008. Situation had placed the spray hitter at third, rather than his natural second base - which I had given to veteran Michael Butler, who was well on his way to a career year in every sense of the word. Butler had only 14 home runs in his previous five years of major league ball - and by the end of June, he’d hit nine. He had played backup after being claimed off waivers in 2007 by Chicago, but putting the slick-handed second baseman in the starting lineup every day ended up being one of the smartest decisions I ever made. He would set career bests in absolutely every offensive category except triples, which he fell short of by one. His career was no fairy tale by any mention - Chicago was his fifth team, and he was 32 years old.

When I look back on the Cubs of 2008, I realized what an extraordinary mix of seemingly unwanted cast-offs from other teams were capable of. I was far too young to understand just exactly what I was dealing with in that team - before the September callups, the Cubs had 36 players on the active roster at one time or another. Four were in-season waiver-claims, and Basil Dominguez started and ended the season on the active roster, while Gober stayed on the active roster after being called up. But there were very few established players with solid careers on the team - Guasch was one, and on the other side of the outfield, 37-year old Lawrence Dechant was another. Jacques White manned shortstop, and he was possibly the only established “superstar” the team sported. He was 32 at the start of the season, and had already eclipsed 2000 hits. However, I digress.

On the off-days and when the team was out of town, John Harshaw, Dolman, Popham, and myself would carouse the streets. We were all lucky enough to be fairly unnoticeable as celebrities - in fact, more people seemed to recognize me rather then the three players I was usually with. In a sense, these three became the replacement Arizona crew.

I still talked to Hensley and McDonald, and I heard from those two about Malowinski from time to time, but he’d been banished to AA ball after the 2007 season, so they didn’t hear much from him. McDonald had the dream story - he was named closer after Look left, and was pitching full-steam ahead. He’d end up leading all of baseball in saves for 2008 with 43, but he’d also reunited with an old college friend and had recently engaged her. When I saw him on the highlights or in interviews, he’d look so much more overpowering then I remembered him - but he dedicated every save to her. The wedding date was set for November, after the World Series, and I was given the invite, free to bring a guest along. When I had mentioned this to Irene, she practically invited herself - she’d never been to a wedding before and was ecstatic to see my old friends again.

Meanwhile, Hensley had suffered a setback with a triceps injury in late April, but would come back with vengeance - when healthy. In fact, he became only the second pitcher in 5 years to strike out 15 batters in a game, doing so on July 26th. Unfortunately, another injury would later bite him again and put him on the DL through the end of the season. He would end up making 19 starts in 2008, going 5-4 with 113 K’s in 103 IP and a 3.84 ERA. And despite the injuries, he came second in voting for comeback player of the year.

But Harshaw was a quick-witted, blonde-haired player from Des Moines, Iowa. He was also a tall guy, at 6'2, and he filled a uniform at 190lbs. No matter what difficulties he had gone through in life, he remained positive. His ceiling was never projected to be very high, but when I had asked him to play third full time in the spring, he just smiled and started training like crazy. His game wasn’t home runs by any means, but he was the perfect two-hole hitter. I always wondered what drove him, so one day I asked him, and I found out just what kind of a person he is - and the conversation I had then changed how I thought of life.

I remember it so clearly it might as well have been yesterday; he and I were wandering down the streets of St. Louis, heading back to the hotel after eating a meal. And I asked him what drove him to perform at the level nobody expected him to.

“I was drafted by Chicago when I was 20 - so 2003, I guess.” He kicked a piece of garbage on the sidewalk out of his way. “I don’t know how well you know Des Moines, but there isn’t a whole lot for a guy like me to do there.”

“So you played baseball and got drafted?”

“Actually, I wasn’t going to go into baseball originally. My dad wanted me too - in fact, it’s all he could ever talk about when I was growing up. But I loved cars, and I was going to become an engineer, and then try to design my own cars. I just played baseball because I liked it, and because my dad wanted me to get drafted. People were interested, and there was a lot of people wanting me to declare for the draft when I graduated, but I instead took a year off to save money for University.”

We crossed at an intersection, and he continued after waiting for the signal to change.

“What happened? What made you choose baseball?” I impatiently asked.

I watched his pupils dilate and his smile change to a straight face before he answered. “I was travelling with my parents and my sister on the highway after we had gone to New Orleans for a vacation. We were just outside of Des Moines - probably about an hour or so. My dad was arguing with me about why I should declare for the draft before it was too late. I didn’t want to disappoint him or anything, but my heart just wasn’t there, and I was trying to explain that to him - heck, I’d been trying to explain that to him since I was 16. But I remember he said to me ‘My dying wish would be for you to realize the potential you have on the field.’ I went silent for awhile, and I remember kind of drifting off in my own thoughts - but I remember this car passing ours - a red Grand Prix - and I just knew something was going to happen.” He paused for a moment, his lips tightening for a second. “It all kind of happened in slow-motion at that point. . . this truck tire flew over the cement median and I saw it smash through that Grand Prix’s windshield. The car then literally did a full spin and slid into our lane in front of us. Mom was driving - she swerved to avoid it, but clipped a car on our right. We started to spin out, I remember looking at my sister - her mouth was in a scream but I couldn’t hear anything but the sound of a screeching tire. Our car flipped. The hood hit first, and we pinwheeled for awhile. When we finally came to a stop, it must have been about 100 yards that we flipped and slid upside down. There was glass everywhere. I remember the car was really hot and smoking. I don’t remember being in pain, but I’m sure I was. I managed to wriggle my way out of the car - I remember that nobody else was moving - and other people were just stopping their cars on the side of the road - so we must have been in the middle of the road or something. I tried to pull my sister out first, but she was stuck - so I pulled my mom out first. And then my dad. Someone helped me get my sister out. I just remember sitting there on the cement median with people everywhere. I remember seeing my family lying on the pavement, covered in blood and not moving and knowing the truth right then.”

A tear welled up in his eyes as he spoke, but I didn’t want him to stop talking - I was absolutely lost in his unimaginable past.

“The ambulance came shortly after. The car was wrecked, and everyone involved in the accident was dead on scene - except me, and my sister. She died in hospital a few days later. I had a concussion, but that was it. In the course of a few moments, I lost my entire family. I didn’t have any uncles or aunts or grandparents. . . I was alone. So I did the only thing I could think of at the time - I couldn’t afford anything they had, and I just couldn’t stay in that house. . . so I declared for the draft - it was my dad’s dying wish, and I love my dad - everything I do now is for my family. That’s what drives me.”

I looked at him and saw the tears coming down his face, and I felt one on my own face. I didn’t know what to say. I couldn’t even begin to imagine at the time how he could even go on, but he had prevailed - and Chicago drafted him in 2003, a year after that crash, and he made his debut two years later. I suddenly realized what made him so good - after what he’d been through, putting a bat on a ball seemed so easy - this game of baseball wasn’t a challenge to him - when I had asked him to switch from second base to third, he handled it so well because it just wasn’t difficult for him to do. Baseball held no obstacles for him that he couldn’t conquer. If I had told him to go on the mound and give me a shutout, he would have gone out and done it and made it look easy. It didn’t matter to him what someone told him to do, he was just in a place beyond the challenge of baseball. He played for his family, not for the challenge, not for records, not for personal fame. Baseball wasn’t a way of life for Harshaw; it was a fulfilled promise from his father’s last words to him.

[GoCubsAndJays]

Probably my most favourite chapter so far.

[Y0DA55]

Well done with the Harshaw story. Bravo!

[Sdpm100]

Make it three. Reading through Harshaw's story sent a chill down my spine - it was that well written it felt really life-like to me as the reader. Great read, Jazz.

[Jazzmosis]

I'm on some kind of roll, here.. Another chapter completed! This one is more of a Reader's Digest version of the story, where I step back and take a look at things instead of the intensely personalized view I had been going with recently. I would have liked to do it a different way, but the story would become unbelieveably confusing. Plus, this chapter really adds to the general theme of the year. Fair warning though: I drop an absolute ton of names.

Coming soon: Chapter 46: Currently Untitled

[Jazzmosis]

Chapter 46: Winds Started Blowing

The Cubs slowed down in June, but still put a respectable record of 16-11 on the board. And truthfully, 6 of those 11 losses came before the 10th. After that day, they went 14-5, which looks a whole lot better. I was just starting to get comfortable with the team, especially after the Hollen/Smith incident. I chose to be very open with the team, and it seemed that the lineup I had set up was working wonders - or, at least the top four were playing very well off of each other. Hickman lead it off; Harshaw hit him into scoring position; Guasch knocked them in; Dechant hit him home. When those four played well, the team was virtually unbeatable. The team ERA was a league-best 3.87, so it didn’t put a lot of pressure on the offense to score runs. It resulted in the team scoring 5.5 runs per game up to the all-star break. At that point, Chicago was 58-30 and 4.5 games up on St. Louis.

It was strange how the public was reacting to this, however. Sure, the fans were excited, and attendance was increasing quickly (they had almost matched their attendance from 2007 by the all-star break, and would end up posting 1.5 times more in 2008) - but as excited as people were, everyone was seemingly expecting the crash to happen - after all, this was an extremely raw team. As of July 11th, 14 members on the active roster were making the league minimum salary, and six were classified as rookies or had less than two years of experience in the game. The newspapers printed articles with cautious optimism. I remember reading headlines like "Is this Chicago’s year? They have to make October First” and "On Top, But For How Long?" There seemed to be a lot of focus on the threat of St. Louis, which boasted a serious veteran team, complete with young superstars. Nobody doubted if they would make it to the postseason, even though Milwaukee was in a virtual tie with them for the wildcard. And those two were still picked as the favourites to win the division and take the wildcard. In the rankings, Chicago was projected to finish a distant third ‘when they inevitably collapse,’ as one newspaper article put it.


Despite all this, the Cubs had three All-Stars - all starting pitchers. Although our offense was good, it wasn’t the best in the league by any means. Instead, this team really rode the strength of pitching to stay on top up to this point in the season. Although Koaney was the no-brainer selection, the other two were surprises: Benjamin Lamar, who was 10-3 with a 3.88 ERA - he’d already eclipsed his career high for wins, and during his 4 years in the majors, he’d never thrown enough innings to qualify for the ERA title (and he’d spent two previous years as a full-time starter), but his previous low was 4.66 in 156 IP. Of all the success he’d had, everyone, including myself, expected him to slow down and end up with an ERA near 4.50. However, it was his first All-Star appearance, so he was relishing in heading to Seattle.

The third Cub was rookie starter Jose Morales. He was relatively quiet during the usual rowdiness of the clubhouse, so many people overlooked him. But the truth of the matter was, he was the most consistent starter I’d have all year. It was strange how I’d overlooked him when he was only a month younger than me - during those earlier years it was far easier to identify with the younger players, and I generally made more of an attempt to associate myself with them (except in the case of Look and Dewberry). Perhaps it was the common ground they shared with myself - their jobs weren’t guaranteed, and they couldn’t approach the game with the attitude that they were always going to be around because they had always been around. They had to prove their worth, just like I did. Morales at the break had done just that, going 9-3 with a 3.35 ERA. When I told him he was going to the All-Star game he merely smiled and shook my hand, saying a polite ‘thank you.’

I was surprised that Harshaw didn’t make it, but he finished a close second in the balloting to LA’s Edwin Edlington, who was an absolute monster prospect. He was only 23, and would end up leading the NL in RBIs.


The All-Star game would pass without much note. Edlington won the home run derby with 12 home runs, and the NL won the game 4-2.


During this break, however, trade winds started blowing. Oberg had talked to me about what I thought of the team and how would I feel if he mixed it up, because there were offers coming in for many players.

“Do whatever makes this team keep winning.” I told him.

“I’m not sure I can do that - this team is in great shape as of now, and it’s great to be winning on such low money, but without adding salary, I really can’t build a contending team for now.”

“What are you getting at?” I asked.

“I said earlier that I was building for the future, which means that my best trading chips are at the major league level right now. Despite the success we’re having, I can’t abandon that plan for a shot at the title.” He took a drink of his coffee.

“That’s understandable,” I replied, “but don’t dismantle the team up here unless you can get the absolute best value.”

“Undeniably!” He smiled. “I must say, I’m very impressed with the way you’ve handled the team so far. If you can find ways to keep winning with all the changes, well. . . you’ve already done a lot to secure your job for next year. It’s not finalized, of course, but it’s tough to argue with numbers.”

I smiled, despite the irony. Argue with numbers?, I thought to myself. My whole career had been judged on numbers, and at the All-Star break I had just passed .500 in my managerial record, which would normally be important to me, but I was so wrapped up in the cynicism of the season that I just expected it to fall back again. I tried my best not to think about my job security either, because I had learned that people could be incredibly two-faced in this business. Given my experience in Arizona with Daniel Eastwood, who was busy turning Kansas City around after a 74-win ‘07 campaign, and how that inevitably resulted when Concordian took over and fired me, it was hard to really believe I’d have job security. I approached 2008 as if I was not going to have my contract renewed, and that my performance here would hopefully open up other doors. Bouncing around cities wasn’t ideal; but this was baseball, and like the players, managers had to relocate from time to time.


It didn’t take long for Oberg to start making changes. In fact, as soon as the all-star game finished, rumours started flying around everywhere about the potential deals - and Chicago was littered in many potential deals. It showed, as we lost the first two games after the break before winning the next four. However, during that time, Oberg started wheeling and dealing. I was informed of a deal on July 18th - a deal which stripped me of one of my bullpen arms in Byron Evangelista, who I hadn’t been using that much, but it also took away starter Jeff Anderson - which put me in a bind, since he had a 3.39 ERA despite his 5-4 record. He was traded to Cleveland, where at the time he immediately became the league leader in ERA. I would have to scramble to replace him in the rotation, placing callup Coy Kass - yes, the Coy Kass that absolutely was not ready for the big leagues - into the rotation. At least he’ll have a veteran catcher in Sebas Archuleta to guide him, I thought.

Later in the day, Oberg came and told me that Archuleta was heading to Tampa Bay. I had lost my starting pitcher, a bullpen arm, and my starting catcher (who was also on a hot streak, hitting .310 with 12 home runs at the time). What did I receive in return? 24 year-old catcher Lorenzo Cancio, who would immediately become the starting catcher (instead of Justin Gonser, who managed to survive all the trading without ever losing his backup catcher status), who of course, was another rookie who could work the strike zone when at the plate but called a questionable game (likely because of his rookie status; and all of this would be complicated by the fact that he would switch teams mid-season and have to learn a bunch of new pitchers). The upside to Cancio was that he was the first overall pick of 2007, and was called to the big leagues after half a season in Cleveland’s AA club. As such, he had a good bat and could take the physical grind of catching, as well as boasting power potential. He would have big shoes to fill in Archuleta’s absence, but there was definitely more upside (as well as a six-year difference).

The second player was utilityman Alexander Cuddy. He was a serious veteran at 35 with 10 years old MLB experience, but his most valuable asset was that he could play every single position of the field. With Kolodziej being sent down on the same day Cuddy was sent to Chicago, Alexander would bring the experience vital to teaching the younger players how to handle the pressure of the day-to-day. And even though his bat was slowly on the decline, he could still hit well enough to start in case of injury.

Archuleta netted Oberg two players from the Devil Ray