Theriot, DeRosa are Cubs' clown princes
Mark DeRosa couldn't imagine it getting any better than Thursday, when he went 5-for-5 for the first time in his career and drove in 4 runs in the Cubs' 12-4 pounding of the Reds at Wrigley Field.
But it can, and maybe even as soon as today when the archrival Cardinals come to town for a four-game series with first place in the NL Central possibly on the line.
The Cubs and Cardinals don't like each other, even when they play out the string this time of year.
"I expect it to be rocking," DeRosa said after delivering a double and 4 singles in the win over the Reds that pulled the Cubs within a half-game of division-leading Milwaukee. "I hope we can give the fans what they want."
DeRosa and Ryan Theriot gave the Cubs what they needed Thursday at the top of the batting order. With Theriot batting first and DeRosa second, they combined for 8 hits and 5 runs.
"That set the tone. They got on base," said Cubs manager Lou Piniella.
"It's unbelievable," DeRosa said of his memorable day. "I've done a lot of good things in my careers and I've done a lot of bad things. This is a good thing and it comes at a good time."
DeRosa and Theriot actually helped set a tone hours earlier in the clubhouse. DeRosa, dressed in camouflage fatigues and his face painted, playfully tip-toed through the tables and chairs amusing his teammates -- while Theriot blew a duck call while wearing a camouflage hat of his own.
A win and 5 hits later, DeRosa was asked if wearing the fatigues needed to become part of his routine on game day.
"It might have to be, I don't know," joked DeRosa.
Even Piniella made it a point after the victory to say how happy he was to see the team so loose despite coming into the game with just 3 wins in the last 13 tries.
"This place is never really uptight," Theriot said. "It's a good group. Everybody likes to have fun and you can't take things too seriously. Today was a good example that when you do go out there and have fun, good things happen."
Theriot went 3-for-4 with 2 doubles and a walk batting in the leadoff spot he is trying to keep warm until Alfonso Soriano returns from the disables list.
"He's the spark plug of our team right now," DeRosa said. "The guy's playing a heck of a shortstop and getting on base."
In fact, in so many ways Theriot is giving the Cubs the kind of spark all over the field the Cardinals get on a regular basis from David Eckstein, their gritty shortstop.
The Cardinals have won five in a row, finishing a sweep of the Brewers in Milwaukee on Thursday 8-0, to pull within 2 games of the Cubs.
Whatever happens this weekend, it would be difficult to top the memorable five-game series the Cubs and Cardinals played Sept. 1-4, 2003, when each game seemingly topped the last for thrills.
The Cubs took four of five to move within a half-game of first-place Houston in an NL Central race they ultimately won. After the series where tempers flared, beanballs were thrown and things got heated between managers Dusty Baker and Tony La Russa, Baker called it the best five-game series he was ever part of.
The potential is there for more explosiveness this weekend.
"This will be an interesting weekend of baseball," Piniella said. "The defending world champions are coming in here and they're on a roll. It's our job to slow them down a little bit. It's going to be fun for the players and the fans."