Hendry confident as ever, but still cautious

Jim Hendry is not, by nature, a guy who goes to bed early, or sleeps in the next morning.

But this time of year the Cubs general manager gets even less shut-eye than usual.

It's not that he doesn't have faith in his club. On the contrary, he knows he's got a very good club, but there is one subject about which he always worries.

"In '04, everyone picked us to win the World Series, and you couldn't blame anyone because it looked like we had a chance to have a really, really good club,'' Hendry said by phone from Houston on Monday, only a few minutes before his season opener. "By the middle of May I think we had six or seven guys on the disabled list.

"So this time of year I always have that '04 thing on my mind. I think about health a lot. That does keep me up at times.

"But if we stay healthy, I think we'll have a pretty good club.''

Other than concern over something he can't control, Hendry feels confident about what he did control over the winter.

"You know, you're always tense and feeling the butterflies on Opening Day but looking forward to finally getting going after a long spring,'' Hendry said.

"We feel good about our pitching depth and Lou (Piniella) did a real good job not overtaxing our guys this spring.

"What we didn't do was pitch well out of the pen the last week - besides (Kevin) Gregg and (Carlos) Marmol - and (Sean) Marshall and (Rich) Harden didn't pitch well late (in camp).''

As for Harden, Hendry isn't worried about that ugly start over the weekend.

"If he was hurting, we wouldn't have left him in there to get his work in at Yankee Stadium,'' Hendry said. "He's fine. There's nothing new with him as far as health, and hopefully we'll see a better guy Friday night in Milwaukee.

"But he's been nothing but smiles about his health all spring.

"Look, we know there will be some adversity, but we know we have enough talent to overcome it and the right manager to handle tough times and injuries.

"We don't stay behind the 8-ball for long the way Lou runs club. That's one thing I'm sure of.''

Fields and dreams

There's little doubt Josh Fields is going to hit, but it'll be interesting to see him on the other side of the ball.

White Sox manager Ozzie Guillen only has so much patience, so it's important for Fields to get off to a good start with the bat to make up for what occurs in the field, or you're liable to see Gordon Beckham up here playing third base by the beginning of June.

Spring to Dye for

Lest you worry about Jermaine Dye, he has had a lot of really brutal springs and then come out smoking on Opening Day.

Whether Bud Cares

This really isn't that complicated.

You have 16 teams in the National League and eight warm-weather/dome sites at which you can start the season without blizzard conditions, including San Diego, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Arizona, Houston, Florida, Atlanta and Milwaukee.

In the American League, there are 14 teams and seven locations that, in theory, needn't feel like December on Opening Day, including Los Angeles, Oakland, Seattle, Texas, Tampa, Toronto and Minnesota.

It's no guarantee, naturally, that it won't snow again, but at least another week or 10 days gives you a fighting chance to avoid frostbite on Opening Day.

Go figure

Tampa at Boston postponed Monday, while it's 72 degrees inside Tropicana Field in St. Pete.

Michael Jordan

Shouldn't they name it, "The Hall of Jordan'' instead of the Hall of Fame?

Just adding Jordan to the Hall doesn't do justice to what he did for the game.

He was the game, period.

And that made Monday's announcement - akin to Babe Ruth or Wayne Gretzky getting a Hall pass - about as anticlimactic as it gets.

Ivan Boldirev-ing

The Blackhawks are hoping Patrick Sharp will recover quickly from what we hear was a scary leg laceration suffered during a collision with Nashville goalie Pekka Rinne on Friday night.

Head coach Joel Quenneville certainly would like to get Sharp back for the weekend in order to get some lines clicking before the postseason begins, but that might be a tad optimistic.

Stay tuned.

The line

While the pick here was for the Sox to win the AL Central, the guys generally wise don't like the Sox' chances, with the division odds as follows: Indians (2-1), Twins (3-1), Detroit (4-1), the Sox (5-1) and the Royals (8-1).

Motor city

Comedian Alex Kaseberg: "This Monday we get down to the final two. And besides the U.S. auto industry, we have the NCAA title game.''

And finally -

Greg Cote of the Miami Herald, on the Final Four in Detroit: "Michigan State being in it had police on high alert should the home favorites somehow win the championship. Remember that people in Detroit have a tendency to react by rioting and setting everything on fire. And that's just on a normal day."

brozner@dailyherald.com