Cubs use in-game 'retreat' to blow off steam
You can call it an impromptu team meeting. Anthony Rizzo prefers to call it a "retreat."
During recent games, the Cubs dugout has emptied, and the players have beat a hasty retreat to the clubhouse to do a little "venting."
Javier Baez said Friday he didn't want to be the guy to spill the beans, but he let reporters in on a little of the fun before directing them toward ringleader Rizzo.
"We got this new thing," Baez said. "I don't want to be the one saying it. I'll just let him say it. It's really fun. When somebody's mad, everybody walks in and we do some fun thing that kind of gets us hyper. You guys ask him."
According to Rizzo, it's another in a series of team-building exercises for the Cubs. When something goes wrong or someone is upset, the team heads for the clubhouse.
"It's like a team retreat," Rizzo said. "If anyone needs to let out some steam this late in the season, it's a team thing, though. It's a long season, and you go through ups and downs. There are times when you get to that boiling point and you just want to kill anything in your way. It happens anywhere upward of 25 times a year."
Rizzo added that the group dynamic is there to show that "we're all in it together."
"Throughout the year, you go down the (dugout) tunnel," he said. "I've been through 20 helmets this year. You go through bats. You've got to take it out on something. You can only stay sane so long. In September, we came up with, 'It's a team now.' It's worked. We're 3-for-3 on it. It's not me. It's whoever feels like it's time. You'll see the team rushing off the bench and going for a nice little retreat."
Thinking of home:
Javier Baez and teammates Rene Rivera and Victor Caratini have had their minds on friends and family in Puerto Rico, where Hurricane Maria has caused widespread devastation.
"Today, just right before I got here, I finally got through to talk to my brother," Baez said. "He found a spot that has service. But I knew everything was fine. Everybody's disconnected. They don't know what's going on outside of Puerto Rico. It's tough. But you've got to get through it, and hopefully everybody's OK over there.
"It was something that was never seen before. They say there are no trees in Puerto Rico right now. You can see over miles away.
"My mom is just traveling around and making sure all my family is fine."
Quite the turnaround:
Left fielder Kyle Schwarber's home run in Thursday's series opener was his 29th of the season, second most on the team to Anthony Rizzo.
"That's incredible, isn't it, being sent out this year?" said manager Joe Maddon.
Maddon was referring to the stint Schwarber spent at Class AAA Iowa from June 22-July 6.
Schwarber had a line of .178/300/.394 with 13 home runs and 29 RBI before the all-star break. He entered Friday at .251/.339/.575 with 16 homers and 25 RBI since the break.
Out of sight:
Reliever Koji Uehara is not with the team at Miller Park. He is back in Chicago as he continues to recover from back problems. Uehara has not pitched since Sept. 2.