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Rick Morrissey nails it.
Well, somebody had to speak up. About something.
The Cubs are almost to the midway mark of the season and, despite ridiculously underachieving so far, have carried on as if they are running away with the division instead of bear-hugging .500.
Miguel Montero’s criticism of Jake Arrieta’s slow delivery to home plate of course is being framed as a selfish catcher trying to make excuses for his weak arm. Anthony Rizzo rushed to Arrieta’s defense because the comfortable tend to protect their own.
And that’s why the Cubs designated Montero for assignment Wednesday morning. They don’t want anyone disrupting the storyline of a team that believes its own fiction, the fiction that everything will turn out all right this season.
Miguel Montero (47) celebrates after hitting a grand slam during the eighth inning of Game 1 of the National League Championship Series last season. (AP Photo/David J. Phillip)
This isn’t really about the Nationals stealing seven bases on the Cubs on Tuesday night. It’s about a team floating on a sea of mediocrity led by a skipper who hasn’t demanded much from his players. The team’s official motto might be “That’s Cub,’’ but it really should be, “You Win Some, You Lose Some.’’ Maybe a photo of manager Joe Maddon shrugging to go along with it.
That it took half a season for something to boil over isn’t a miracle. It’s an indictment. You follow up a World Series title with an up-and-down season, even though you have more talent than almost every other team? And nobody seems mad about it?
“We win as a team and we lose at a team,’’ Rizzo said of Montero’s comments. “When you start pointing fingers, I think that labels you as a selfish player.”
You know what’s worse than calling out a teammate publicly? Playing like crap for a long time. And that’s what the Cubs have done.
Arrieta hasn’t been close to the pitcher he has been the past two seasons, but nobody seems concerned. Not Arrieta. Not Maddon. It’ll happen, they say. When? There is very little in his 7-6, 4.67 earned-average and majors-leading 13 wild pitches to indicate there’s a corner about to be turned. Nobody says anything about that.
But when a veteran catcher lets frustration take over and blames the pitcher for being slower than a tortoise to home plate, the villain is the one wearing the mask and padding. He’s the one who has to go.
“It really sucked because the stolen bases go to me, and when you really look at it, the pitcher doesn’t give me any time,” Montero said after the game. “So it’s just like, ‘Yeah, OK, Miggy can’t throw nobody out,’ but my pitcher doesn’t hold anybody on. …
“That’s the reason why they were running left and right today because they know he was slow to the plate. Simple as that. It’s a shame that it’s my fault because I didn’t throw anybody out.”
There are favored sons on the Cubs, and Montero isn’t one of them. He had the nerve after the World Series to say that Maddon didn’t treat him with respect and didn’t communicate his playoff role to him. He also said of closer Aroldis Chapman, “Of course he was tired’’ in Game 7 of the World Series. A shot at the manager. Also the truth.
Montero is blunt, probably too blunt. But he also was a leader in the Cubs’ clubhouse. When he talks, it’s best to listen.The Cubs want Rizzo to be a leader. They also wanted Kyle Schwarber to be a leadoff hitter.
You watch this team night after night, and you want to scream. Poor play. Bad decisions. Self-absorbed managing. But it’s the backup catcher’s fault. You can’t have him blaming one of the stars for doing something poorly!
Maybe Montero is wrong. Maybe he’s the one to blame for all the steals Tuesday night.
But the team reacts by designating him for assignment? The message is not that it’s wrong to call out a teammate. It’s that the Cubs don’t want their blue-sky approach to the world disturbed by someone’s alternate version of the truth. Yeah, this will solve everything. .
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Proud member of the white guy grievance committee
It aint the six minutes. Its what happens in those six minutes.
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The Score getting waxed on Cubs news lately .
