THE 90's, THE CUBS, & WHAT I DID WITH MARK GRACE

Youth is wasted on the young. And for a period in the late 90s, I wasted part of my youth as a rabid Cubs fan. Instead of spending the summers watching MTV’s Beach House like any normal teenager, I had a compulsive need to watch every Cubs game broadcast on WGN. Harry Caray and Steve Stone became my deliciously weird guides on my journey of Cub-fandom.

How does a California girl become a fan of one of the worst teams in baseball? It was partly my inherent masochism, but a trip to Wrigley Field in the summer of 1996 sealed the deal.

Wrigley is a magical place, surrounded by history and smell of beer and bratwurst. I would highly encourage any baseball fan to make the trek before it’s gone forever.

Aside from the historic ballpark, the Cubs have Bill Murray, the seventh inning stretch, the fans throw it back—hell—they even have a curse involving a goat. What’s not to love?

I happened to visit during a softball tournament when the Cubs were facing off against the Dodgers.

I sat in the stands with my parents before the game when someone from the front office approached us asking if we were Cubs fans. “Why, yes,” I lied. My first little league team had been the Cubs and I knew of Mark Grace, so I felt that was enough to qualify me as a fan.

This affirmative answer qualified me for the “Fan Take the Field” experience and I naturally chose to take the field with my new Cubs favorite Mark Grace. After all, he was a first baseman just like me.

What I did not know was that Grace lets you throw the ball around the horn, and it was truly an experience I would never forget. I was rifling the ball to Shawon Dunston, Ryne Sandberg, and Kevin Orie and they were catching it.

I met Mark Grace again when the Cubs played at Dodger Stadium and he was nice enough to sign a picture of me on the field with him. It was then that I turned—I was now a Cubs fan for life. Or so I thought. My infatuation with the team ended as soon as Grace was traded away at the end of his career.

This week the Yanks are engaged in inter league play with a three game series against the Cubs. And though the players have changed, the results have stayed remarkably the same—at 15-27 the Cubs are dead last in their division.

But this match up made me curious to check in on my adolescent heroes. Here’s what I found:

Ryne Sandberg

Ryne has had one of the more successful post-career runs. He’s now the manager of the Philadelphia Phillies.

Doug Glanville

Glanville is an MLB analyst for ESPN and contributes written articles to the NY Times, ESPN.com and ESPN The Magazine.

Shawon Dunston

After finishing his career in San Francisco, Dunston is now special assistant to the Giants and is still rocking a bad ass ‘stache.

Sammy Sosa

I had forgotten that Sosa even existed until last week when the Phillies celebrated the Phanatic’s birthday by having a Clammy Sosa mascot eat an umpire. (It appears the Cubs organization has forgotten about him too.)

“Whatever happened to that guy?”, I asked. The only thing I could remember about Sosa post-retirement was his 2009 appearance where—after trying to pull off his best Michael Jackson impersonation—he appeared to have a MUCH lighter complexion. (He says it was due to skin creams.)

He now heads a company that is developing technology for needle-less drug injections. I kid you not.

Mark Grace 

My once favorite player retired in 2003 as an Arizona Diamondback. He became an announcer for Fox Saturday Baseball and was signed as a commentator for Fox Sports, but took a leave of absence after the 2012 season. Shortly thereafter, Grace was arrested twice for driving under the influence and found himself juggling time between being an inmate in an Arizona desert tent prison and as a hitting instructor with the Diamondbacks organization.

I remember as a youngster writing Grace a fan letter thanking him for signing my picture and begging him not to star in any Pert Plus commercials a la Mike Piazza.

Looking back, I probably should have just told him to lay off the sauce.

--Alexis Garcia, BYB's "Eye on MLB" Columnist
Twitter:  @heylexyg



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IT'S NOW "ANKLE-WATCH" AS YANKEELAND WAITS

"Bust an ankle, you're never the same." I've heard it a thousand times.  Combine that with us thinking Derek Jeter was unstoppable and finding out last week that he wasn't, and the whole thing sucks, but it's life.

The Associated Press (HERE) chats about Jeter at the Tampa facility, saying: "Not wearing a boot and walking without a limp, Derek Jeter spent 45 minutes at the Yankees' training complex Friday while he awaits more rehab for another ankle injury."

It went on, "Jeter plans to fully address his latest injury in New York next week.When asked about his disappointment, he said: 'Of course.'"

We'll eventually do a full, in-depth analysis of the media's handling of the Jeter story later on sometime, but it's amazing to me how the media sways this story presenting "Doom" to Yankeeland.  Like for instance, when ESPN wrote (HERE) "Baseball Tonight's Curt Schilling and Doug Glanville break down Derek Jeter's injury and where he plays when he returns, if he returns." IF HE RETURNS?  Really?

The YES Network would never write that. We wouldn't at BYB either, but leave it to ESPN. And back to that previous quote for a moment.  As a journalist, do you really ask a player whose return was halted about "his disappointment?" Really? I mean, doesn't the normal man or woman know that Jeter's disappointed? Leave that question at the door. Why? Because it's obvious, and stupid.

I love Bob Nightengale's title in USA Today, "The 'real' Derek Jeter won't be back." Gee, that's for ruining my morning.  Sure, you can have an opinion like that, Bob's entitled to, but how about backing it up? No where in his piece does he even feature a physician with an opinion on the injury. Why? Just curious. I'm not really ripping Nightengale, but he is one of those "baseball insiders." Well, let's get inside... is this opinion or fact?

The best quote and analysis I read comes from Mark Feinsand of the New York Daily News who says that Mariano Rivera said Jeter needs to be "selfish" in order to recover from his injury, HERE. "'This time, he has to be selfish and think about himself,' Rivera said. 'For once, you have to think about yourself, think about what you have to do to get ready. Forget about what I can do for the team; you can’t do nothing for the team right now. What you can do for the team is make sure you’re 100% mentally and physically, then you’ll be ready to help the team.'"

Mo is right, and that's why we're on the same page. BYB believes that Jeter is a team player, only thinking about the team and what he needs to do as an individual to get back.  I wrote DARK DAYS FOR DEREK JETER not to disappoint. If you just read the title, you might suggest I'm ripping our Captain, but there's more to it.  He's a winner, he's a champion, and like I wrote he did want to get back and maybe he pushed himself too much, but "Derek Jeter would want the team to go on without him and win. And yes, he'll be back one day, be it after the All Star break or later on.  But one thing we can't do as a team and as fans is think the we can't win without him, because the Cap wouldn't stand for that." All true, but Mariano is onto something.

Look, here's what we do know.  Jeter's out and he'll be out until after the All-Star Break. Sure, we shouldn't put a hard return date on this, but we also shouldn't give up on Jeter like the media has already done. After all ,they were wrong about the slow Yankee start with our old guys... what do they really know anyway?

According to the Associated Press, Cashman defended Jeter: "'Clearly he hasn't done anything wrong,' (Cashman) said. 'He was cleared to play.' Cashman stressed this is 'a new fracture, but a small one. That's, I guess, the only good part. They kept saying the word 'small.'"

With Jeter it's a mystery. Partly because he won't tell you anything and suggested a while back that he's through talking about his ankle. So, we all wait and wonder and think the worst but hope for the best.  But as fans, you never give up on your captain. Something the media will never understand.

True, it's a hard injury to gauge. It's a long recovery, we know that now.  But the Captain will be back, know that.  Whenever we have an update, we'll bring you an update, but never doubt the Cap... never think that Jeter CAN'T... because if you do... well, you'd be wrong.

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