Quade's ride has been anything but smooth
Cubs manager Mike Quade wasn't doing any anniversary celebrating Tuesday.
In case you had forgotten, and maybe Quade had, Tuesday was the anniversary of his first game as Cubs manager.
Back then, Quade had hoped it would be the start of something big, and it looked to be so as the Cubs finished a disappointing 2010 season 24-13 under Quade. That earned him the full-time gig over Cubs Hall of Famer Ryne Sandberg, and that's about where the fun stopped.
Tuesday wasn't much fun, either, as the Cubs fell 5-4 to the Atlanta Braves at Wrigley Field.
This year has been anything but a smooth ride for Quade, whose future is no sure thing following last week's firing of general manager Jim Hendry.
A little wilder ride than might have been expected?
“Yeah, for sure,” Quade said. “But that's what we've been up against here. We've gotten through a lot of tough times. We're going to keep working to make them better. I felt that last year when I took over, and I believe that now. I wish the record was better. There's nothing we can do about that now. We're going to try and make them better from here on out.”
Quade was asked by another questioner what he was proud of.
“Self praise is poor praise,” he answered. “There's plenty of stuff I'm happy with. There's plenty of progress that I'm happy with. But like I say about players, I'm never satisfied. The record's not good. Now, we're just trying to get better.”
They've not been better of late. Tuesday's loss was the Cubs' third in a row, as they dropped to 56-73.
In a bit of coincidence, Casey Coleman started Tuesday's game, just as he did Quade's first game last year, but with different results. Coleman got the victory last Aug. 23, but he gave up 5 runs in the fourth inning, all after two outs. An infield bouncer for a hit off the bat of Dan Uggla started the trouble, which culminated in a grand slam by Jason Heyward.
“You don't know what basehit's going to beat you, what play's going to beat you,” Quade said. “It looks harmless, the infield hit, but he just couldn't close out the inning. Otherwise, he threw the ball OK.”
On offense, it was the same old story, both good and bad, for the Cubs. One night after they went 2-for-14 with runners in scoring position and stranded 15, the Cubs were 1-for-13 with men in scoring position Tuesday, and they stranded nine.
The only positive was Aramis Ramirez, who extended a hitting streak to 12 games with a career-high 5 hits, as he went 5-for-5, including a double.
“I just wish we win some more games, hopefully stay hot and drive in some runs so we can win some games,” said Ramirez, who is hitting .311. “You've got to give them (Atlanta) credit. They've got a tough pitching staff, especially the back end of the bullpen is pretty good.
“When you get your pitch, don't miss it, because this is the big leagues, and they don't make many mistakes. When they do make some mistakes, you've got to make them pay. Sometimes, in those situations (with men on base), you get too emotional. You want to be the hero. It doesn't work that way.”