From the Mind of Meegs

"You're not persecuted for your faith when those in power hit an obstacle on their way to total domination."
--Rev. Joe Phelps, speaking at the "Faith and Freedom" rally, a counter event to the religious right's "Justice Sunday."

Hehehehehe. Bravo.

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LaTroy Hawkins was finally deposed as the Cubs closer after his latest debacle. Let the Chad Fox era begin in earnest. Fox saved Sunday's game with minimal drama, meaning all would be well in Cubs pitching land if Kerry Wood hadn't left after a mere 76 pitches with shoulder stiffness. This is simply a "precautionary" measure, though alert Cubs fans will remember that this is exactly how Wood's problems began last year.

Meanwhile, on the other side of town, the Sox continue to improve upon their best-in-baseball record. You know what I love about the Sox right now? They win. This is not as simple as it may seem. No Cubs team in the Dusty Baker era has ever just plain old won. There's always some sort of drama, some sort of politicing, some sort of theory to be peddled or player to be coddled. I honestly don't think Dusty believes winning is priority #1. Dusty's got a host of other priorities and things he wants to do (most of them aimed at safeguarding himself and his players, insuring that they stay safely insulated within the cocoon of their self-legislated status quo), and he sure as heck hopes that winning will be compatible with those things. If it's not, Dusty would rather not win than change.

Exhibit A: LaTroy Hawkins. Dusty long ago decreed that LaTroy was their best option for a closer. And so Dusty stuck with that, unwilling to admit that the experiment was a failure by terminating it. Doing so would have upset both his and LaTroy's apple cart, and the good Lord knows there's nothing Dusty would hate more than to see his "players' manager" strategy shamed in public. Those lost games were just a secondary consequence.

LaTroy took over just about one year ago as the closer. Now maybe it's just me, but why would players want to play for a manager who's been giving away games for the last year? I always thought players wanted to win. Dusty could learn from Ozzie. It took Ozzie one week--not one year--to start fiddling with the closer slot when it became obvious Shingo was struggling. Yes, he must tread carefully lest he damage Shingo's confidence. But winning, not making the players feel better about themselves, is job #1. Take care of your first priority, and the rest of it will fall into place. Don't take care of everything else, and then expect your first priority to magically fall into place.

Oh and btw, Shingo recorded a 1-2-3 save this weekend, proving that an occasional step back needn't fatally damage a player's confidence or his ability to deliver when called upon by his manager. Sometimes the "winning formula" is just winning. Winning breeds winning. Winning covers a multitude of sins, and so forth.