35th Annual Cubs Convention – January 17-19, 2020

Here is my annual report on the Cubs Convention.  As in the past, I will talk about things that didn’t make the mainstream media.  First, though, and indicative of the tone of the Convention, here is my tweet from last Friday morning, before the Convention started:

“In 1998 the Cubs signed Rod Beck the first day of the Cubs Convention! At the 2011 Convention the Cubs brought back Kerry Wood! This year they traded Tony Kemp for Alfonso Rivas? @Cubs #CubsCon #WheresOurWheelbarrowsFullOfMoney”¹

One of the most interesting sessions was an interview they had with Miguel Montero.  Miggy, if you remember, hit that two-out, 0-2-count, bottom-of-the eighth-grand slam to win game one of the 2016 NLCS, as well as driving in the eighth run in Game 7 of the World Series.  But when Miggy was asked what his biggest memory of the 2016 postseason, he said another one was catching the bottom of the ninth in Game 7.  It was the first inning he had caught in the entire World Series.  The score was tied.  One run, and the game, and World Series, was over.  And his pitcher was crying (because of the bottom of the eighth).²  

Some more points from the session with Miggy:

• He spent nine years with the Diamondbacks and two-and-one-half with the Cubs, but he remembers the latter more.
• As a visiting player, you love the city of Chicago and hate the (very small) visitor’s clubhouse.  (The visiting team’s clubhouse has finally gotten bigger; though it took until the last year of the renovations at Wrigley Field.)
• Visiting players do not like the day games.  As a home player, you get used to the day games, and you start to really like them.
• Even visiting teams like the fact the park is always packed.  It is more fun to play in front of a big crowd.
• He would always play in the Winter Leagues, too.  The Winter Leagues always had a World Series-atmosphere.  But the big leagues are where the money was.
• The language barrier was tough when he signed with the D-Backs and came to the U.S.  But his number one goal when he signed with the Diamondbacks was to learn the language.  As a catcher, he needed to do that, so he hung out with Americans and watched a lot of TV. 
• He figured that getting to the big leagues was not in his control, but learning English was.  And if he knew English, he could stay in the game once he was done playing.
• The Tuesday before the NLCS, his back locked up.  It was hurting on Wednesday.  He could hardly walk on Thursday.  He went to the doctor on Friday.  The guy worked on him for an hour, and then said, I need to call in an expert.  He was thinking, aren’t you the expert?  Then a second doctor came in and gave him an epidural.  He came back to the clubhouse and told the trainer that he could play because he figured that, if he got off the roster, he would never get back on.  During the game on Saturday (i.e., game one), he was in the hot tub in the fifth inning.  But, obviously, he was good enough by the eighth inning.
• In the bottom of the tenth inning of Game 7, he told C.J. [Edwards] that, with a two-run lead, solo home runs cannot beat you, but base runners create momentum.  So, with two outs, C.J. walked a batter and then gave up a hit.

Some notes from the “Welcome Back” session with Darwin Barney, Reed Johnson, Miguel Montero, Geovany Soto, Jason Hammel, and Travis Wood:

• Reed Johnson noted that even Eric Karros, who people thought of as a Dodger for life, said that, if you ever get a chance to play a season at Wrigley Field, do it.
• Geovany Soto said he only understood what it was like to be with the Cubs when he was traded away in 2012.
• Travis Wood said that, when he played left field in the game on July 31, 2016, he wanted a ball hit to him, but he did not want that ball.³
• Darwin Barney’s favorite player when he was with the Cubs was Alfonso Soriano because Sori worked so hard.
• Jason Hammel said his favorite memory with the Cubs was his single against John Lackey in game four of the 2015 NLDS against the Cardinals.
• After striking out three straight times in a Friday night game in Washington and five more straight times on Saturday, Lou Piniella called Geovany Soto into his office and said, “Son, I’m going to give you a day off so you don’t set any kind of a record.”
• Darwin Barney was so focused when he batted, that he did not realize for over two years that Cubs organist Gary Pressy was playing the Barney song⁴ when he went up to bat.
• Geo Soto said the players like it when the fans throw back home run balls.  The players feel the fans are part of the team, too.  The fans were like a 26th player.  (Now, 27th)
• Darwin Barney was asked if he had any advice for kids playing baseball.  He said to go to college before playing pro baseball.  (But then he would say that since he won the College World Series twice while playing for Oregon State and has his picture up at TD Ameritrade Stadium in Omaha.)⁵

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¹ The reference to “Wheelbarrows Full of Money” refers to a comment that Crane Kenney made years ago about his job being to take a wheelbarrow, fill it with cash, and take it to Theo Epstein’s office.
² If you have to wonder why, see here.
³ The Cubs may have been down 6 to 2 at the time of the catch, but it was important.  See here and here.
⁴ From “Sesame Street.”
⁵
(Picture taken by author on June 15, 2014.)
UPDATE (1/20/20 8:35 pm): Made a couple of minor editing changes.

Comments

[Bob]

Look forward to seeing your take on the Sox convention.