Patterson gets chance with Soriano out
Of all the names bandied about as a replacement for injured left fielder Alfonso Soriano, former first-round pick Eric Patterson's wasn't even among the top five -- but there was Corey's little brother playing left and penciled in the leadoff spot Thursday against Atlanta.
"The big thing to me is just being in the lineup," said Patterson, who was called up Thursday morning from Iowa along with Micah Hoffpauir. "It doesn't matter if it's leadoff. You lead off once and everything after that is situational baseball. My job is to get on base as much as I can."
If Patterson, who was 1-for-5 Thursday, can do that, he might see some consistent playing time. If not, there are plenty of other qualified candidates.
"We'll find out what works," said Cubs manager Lou Piniella. "We've got to find out."
The Cubs will be without Soriano for about six weeks as he mends a broken hand suffered when he was hit by a pitch in the second inning of Wednesday night's win over the Braves.
"It's a big blow to us, but we've got a farm system and that's what it's for," Piniella said. "We've got a little more left-handed hitting here and hopefully they'll come up swinging the bats."
Jim Hendry, Man of Action: Minutes after Alfonso Soriano went down with a broken finger Wednesday night, Cubs general manager Jim Hendry was working the phones, and what he came up with was left-handed hitting first baseman Ben Broussard
"He was with the Yankees' Triple A club and two days ago had an out if he didn't go to the big leagues and he took it," Hendry said. "So we got aggressive during the game once Sori went down and thought he could augment the inventory in Iowa with (Micah) Hoffpauir coming up today."
Broussard, who will report to Iowa, hit 21 homers and drove in 63 runs in stints with Cleveland and Seattle in 2006. He played in 99 games with the Mariners a year later and 26 with Texas this season.
"He has been, at times in his career, a quality lefty-handed hitter," Hendry said. "He's had good pinch-hitting numbers against right-handed pitching."
Around the horn: In honor of the Cubs and Braves wearing throwback uniforms from 1948, the folks at WGN-TV showed the first two innings in crisp black and white, used camera angles from back in the day, didn't show any replays (the technology wasn't there) and best of all, reminded fans how nice it is to watch a game on an uncluttered screen. ... By the way, the Braves won the NL pennant in 1948, while the Cubs finished with a 64-90 record. ... Reliever Kevin Hart was sent down to Iowa on Thursday to make room for Eric Patterson and Micah Hoffpauir. ... League and playoff MVP Jason Krog of the AHL champion Chicago Wolves threw out the first pitch with the Calder Cup at his side Thursday.
He said it: Lou Piniella, on if he's already begun preparing for the upcoming series with the White Sox: "I just started to read my reports on Toronto. We stay one team ahead; that's enough."