Losing 40-40 vision
CUBS | With better lineup, Soriano doesn't have to do it all
Soriano, who was the All-Star MVP in 2004 as a second baseman with the Texas Rangers, was asked whether he could duplicate his 40-40 effort -- 40 home runs and 40 stolen bases -- of last season with the Washington Nationals.
Soriano laughed and shook his head no.
''Oh, man, that's a little difficult now because we have a lot of power hitters on the team, so it's not like Washington,'' said Soriano, who entered the All-Star break with 15 home runs and 13 stolen bases, putting him on pace for a 29-25 season. ''We have a better team and they don't need me running too much. I only want to run when the team needs it. Last year, I had to run a little bit more to get in scoring position.''
Sitting next to Soriano was one of the Cubs' main power threats -- first baseman Derrek Lee, who has had a well-publicized power outage in the first half with six home runs, his last coming on June 3.
''That's the great thing about our team, right now I'm not hitting home runs but we're still winning,'' Lee said. ''At some point, I'm going to need to step up and carry this team and start hitting some balls out of the ballpark. And I think that's going to happen. But right now, we are sitting in the thick of it and I haven't hit my stride yet, so that says a lot about our team.''
And Lee believes he knows why the Cubs are thriving without his power.
''He has caught fire now -- he's carrying us,'' he said, pointing to Soriano. ''When you have a guy in the leadoff spot who can make it 1-0 right away or get on base with a single and steal a base, it's a huge threat. Right now, we're on his back and he has been fun to watch.''
So have the Cubs as a team, closing to 4½ games behind the NL Central-leading Milwaukee Brewers at the break.
Everyone has been searching for the turning point that rescued the Cubs' season. Many fingers point to an ugly dugout scuffle between ace Carlos Zambrano and since-traded catcher Michael Barrett on June 1. Others point to manager Lou Piniella's tirade against umpire Mark Wegner the next day.
The day after Piniella's show, the Cubs went on their best stretch of the season, winning 21 of their next 31 games.
Lee's not sure if there was a specific turning point, but the odd early days of June provided the base for a rebound.
''There were a lot of things going on that week and it was kind of like, boom, we hit rock bottom,'' Lee said. ''It was time turn it around and go back in the other direction, and that's what happened.
''It was almost better that we got really bad, instead of feeling like we were playing decent and not winning. We kind of had to make adjustments.
''I think it was kind of a combination. We were playing horribly, we had lost six or seven in a row and the Barrett-Zambrano fight happened, and we kind of just looked in the mirror and we were embarrassed. Just flat out embarrassed. We were like, 'We can't continue like this.' I think guys looked in the mirror and said, 'Let's turn it around.' Ever since then, we have played much better baseball.''