Hoffpauir hopes to stick with Cubs

PITTSBURGH -- It was a bittersweet night for Micah Hoffpauir on Wednesday in Houston.

The Cubs lost 5-3 to the Astros, but Hoffpauir notched his first 2 major-league hits, both doubles.

"I felt pretty good," he said Friday. "The first at-bat, I was pretty nervous. Of course, I had a lot of family in the stands and stuff like that. You always want to perform well in front of your family.

"To get that first one out of the way is a really good feeling. I did it early in the game and got a lot of congratulatory statements from the guys. It was a lot of fun."

It has been a long road and a lot of work for the 28-year-old Hoffpauir, a first baseman-outfielder the Cubs drafted in 2002.

He might have gotten his first call-up last year, but he injured his knee and needed season-ending surgery. This spring he impressed the Cubs again, but they had no room on the roster and sent him to Class AAA Iowa. An oblique-muscle injury cost him time in April, but the call finally came May 18.

"Just the fact that I got here says a lot, I think, for the kind of work ethic I've had throughout the few years that I've been with the Cubs," Hoffpauir said. "Just given the chance, it's a great thing.

"The old saying is that a lot of people get to the big leagues but not a whole lot stay. My goal now is to try to stick around and play for a long time and see where we go from here."

Those 2 hits Wednesday looked mighty good to Cubs manager Lou Piniella, who said Hoffpauir could get more playing time.

On Friday, Piniella toned it down a bit, but only because the Cubs have Alfonso Soriano in left field, Kosuke Fukudome in right and Derrek Lee at first base.

"It's not the easiest thing in the world to get him steady play," Piniella said. "I was pleased with his 2 hits the other day. Like I said after the ballgame, and I meant it, we've got to get a left-hand bat in there that can drive the ball. If this young man can do that, yeah, we'll get him some playing time, and we'll have to make some adjustments."

Piniella would not "speculate" on whether that would mean moving Fukudome to center field to accommodate Hoffpauir in right.