Cubs rookie never quit believing he could achieve ultimate dream

Cubs manager Lou Piniella spent seven years in the minors before he made it to the big leagues, but he says he wouldn't have had it in him to wait as long as 31-year-old infielder Bobby Scales did to make it to the majors.

Scales was in his 11th season of minor-league ball when the Cubs promoted him from Triple-A Iowa on May 4.

"I probably wouldn't have had the patience or the perseverance to last 10 years," Piniella said. "I would've chucked it in sooner. A lot of other guys might have just said, 'This profession's not for me. Let me do something else.' He's persevered and endured. You have to give him credit, and hopefully he'll continue to play well for us."

Scales is making the most of his first taste of the big time, hitting .444 (8-for-18), and he has a six-game hitting streak, the longest by a Cub beginning a career since Jerome Walton hit in his first seven games in 1989. He was in the starting lineup again Friday before the game was washed out.

A lot of self-confidence and maybe a little stubbornness kept Scales from packing it in.

"I don't mean any disrespect to any guys who got called up before me or called up over me," he said, "but certain guys would get called up every year, and I'd see those guys and say to myself, 'I can play with that guy. I can play better than that guy.' It's not a slap in their face, it's just my competitive fire and believing what I could do. I never once thought I couldn't play or that I didn't have enough ability."

But Scales, more than anyone, knows talent isn't always enough.

"A lot of times I wondered if I'd ever get the opportunity," he said. "Those two things are sometimes mutually exclusive. There are guys sitting at home right now, guys working real jobs, who are quite possibly better players than I was or am right now."

The lack of opportunity had Scales on the verge of giving up his dream as far back as 2002, when he was riding the bench for the Padres Double-A team at Mobile (Ala.).

"They had prospects they (thought) were better than I was, so I was doing a lot of sitting and watching," Scales said. "At the all-star break, I was packed and ready to go."

That's when Padres' roving infield instructor Tony Franklin stepped in.

"He said, 'You ain't going nowhere,' " Scales recalled. "I said, 'I'm going to do other things.' But he wouldn't let me leave. The crazy thing was, the day after the all-star break, our second baseman (Bernie Castro) got hurt. I played the rest of the year and ended up putting a nice season together. So I'm a believer - that was God working his magic."

With all-star third baseman Aramis Ramirez expected out at least another six weeks, Scales will get plenty of opportunities as long as he continues to play well.

"He's swinging the bat," Piniella said. "He's brought some energy to the team, so we'll give him a chance to play. As long as he stays hot, we'll keep him in there."

Now that Scales has the opportunity that he's craved for 10 years, it's on him to prove he belongs.

"I got the chance, and now it's in my hands," he said. "I have to do my job. If I don't, I'm going back, period. And I don't want to do that right now."

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