While Nomar Garciaparra dressed in the visiting clubhouse at Shea Stadium Friday, he slid his batting helmet over his head, as though he needed to protect himself from falling light fixtures.
The Cubs would probably not have looked askance if Garciaparra wore an entire coat of armor onto the field. On Friday night, Garciaparra played his first Major League Baseball game since April 20, when he stumbled out of the batter's box at Busch Stadium in St. Louis and crumpled to the dirt, looking as if he had been shot in the hindquarters.
That snapshot has become the portrait of the Cubs' 2005 campaign. Starting pitcher Mark Prior struck a similar pose after he was hit in the elbow with a line drive in May. Kerry Wood has gone back and forth from the disabled list as if he were a prospect shuttling from the major leagues to Triple-A. But Garciaparra's torn left groin muscle was the most severe blow of the season.
For the first time since mid-April, Garciaparra and Wood are on the 25-man roster together. The Cubs activated both franchise cornerstones Friday from the disabled list, making Garciaparra their starting shortstop and Wood the latest starting pitcher to go to the bullpen. Boston's Curt Schilling became the Red Sox closer this season and Wood will be the best-known middle reliever in the majors.
At the trading deadline last year, the Cubs obtained Garciaparra from Boston in a four-team trade. Less than a week after this year's deadline, the Cubs have Garciaparra back from the DL, talking about him like a new addition.
"I'm not going to run a 3.8 or 3.9," Garciaparra said, referring to the seconds it will take him to get to first base. "But I can still contribute."
The Cubs do not need him to run as much as they need him to hit. Ever since Garciaparra was injured, the Cubs have basically been a two-man offense, featuring Aramis Ramirez and Derrek Lee. The Cubs are ranked 19th in the major leagues in runs scored, an especially unimpressive ranking considering that they play at cozy Wrigley Field.
The last time the Cubs came to Shea Stadium, in September 2004, they were contending for the wild-card spot and Garciaparra was coming back from a sore right groin muscle. Now, Garciaparra is coming off what he calls the most grueling recovery period of his career and must try to rehabilitate his sickly offensive statistics. After Friday night, he was batting .145 with no home runs and four runs batted in, not exactly the stuff of a difference-maker.
The best part of Garciaparra's season may have been watching from the dugout as the Cubs won two of three games from Boston at Wrigley Field in June. Asked at the time how he felt watching the Red Sox celebrate after winning the World Series last season, Garciaparra said, "I've never watched the World Series."
Garciaparra may represent the little hope that remains for the third-place Cubs this season. When General Manager Jim Hendry saw manager Dusty Baker and the pitching coach Larry Rothschild wearing long faces in the team hotel Friday morning, he reminded them that the club was only two games over .500 at this time two years ago, when they advanced to within five outs of the World Series.
"I'm hoping this gives us a jolt," Hendry said of Garciaparra and Wood. "We need to, somewhere here soon, have a pretty good streak. It's time."
The Cubs have been surrounded by almost as much drama this season as the Yankees or the Red Sox. Friday, Hendry tried shooting down speculation that Baker would not be back as the Cubs manager next year. Baker said that the demoted center fielder Corey Patterson was not playing well enough to be called up. And Wood declined to speak with reporters asking about his new role. "I haven't thrown a pitch yet," Wood said. "What's there to talk about?"
Wood said he has not spoken with Schilling about going to the bullpen, and Hendry said Baker has not spoken with him about the future.
After Friday's game, they are 54-55, with 20 games left against the St. Louis Cardinals and the Houston Astros. With the Cardinals so far ahead in the NL Central and the Astros five games ahead of Chicago in the wild-card race, the Cubs may have plenty of opportunities and plenty of obstacles.
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