QuickGold Posted March 7, 2005 Share Posted March 7, 2005 Article Burnitz is no son of Sammy Published March 7, 2005 MESA, Ariz. ? Quite honestly, Jeromy Burnitz isn't sure what he's going to do the first time he takes his position at Wrigley Field. Maybe he'll sprint out to right field the way his predecessor did for the past 13 years. Maybe he'll tap his heart and blow kisses to the bleacher bums the way Sammy Sosa used to do. Maybe Burnitz will flip a ball gently into the stands, wave at a little boy, wink at an adoring grandma. He just knows some sort of showmanship is required to play right field for the Chicago Cubs. Sosa made it that way through the sheer power of his personality. "Oh, I mean, it's funny," Burnitz says one morning at HoHoKam Park, the Cubs' spring home. "The guys were all talking about it the other day: `You've got to do something. You've got to pump them up.''' He laughed at the very notion. "That's a tough one for a guy like me," Burnitz says in that surfer-dude, Crush the Turtle style of his. "It's not my style. It's not. I show up to play and basically my view of the entertainment is to play the game as hard as I can. That's how I look at it. "Running out and doing things is not my style, but I certainly will be happy to acknowledge the fans. Why not? Say hi. You know." He has talked about the tricky task with new teammate Todd Hollandsworth, who played 32 games in right last year while Sosa struggled with nagging injuries. Hollandsworth, the ex-Marlin, told Burnitz how he ran out to right, much to the crowd's delight. Even Kevin Millar raced out to right as a visiting Marlin a few years back. He got booed, but you can't just trot out to right at Wrigley anymore, can you? It's just about the most entertainment-oriented position in the sport. "Sammy made it that," Burnitz says. "The guy went out and hit homers every day, and the fans loved it. He was easy to love for them for a long time." Inevitably, the Summer of Sam closed down on the North Side. After 545 homers in a Cubs uniform, Slammin' Sammy will do his entertaining this year in Baltimore. Strange as it seems, it probably was time for him to move on. Everybody with and around the Cubs seems to believe that now, but that won't make Burnitz's transition any less compelling. Replacing a legend is never easy. Even a legend with a mondo boom box and, some would contend, an ego to match. At least Burnitz, with his sixth team and still looking for his first playoff trip, has a healthy perspective on his role. It probably helps, too, that at 35 he's just five months younger than Sosa. "Of course, I'm replacing a guy that was just awesome for years and years and years," says Burnitz, who has averaged 31 homers the past eight seasons. "But this is baseball. Baseball goes on without every single superstar, every Hall of Famer, every guy that's played the game. It goes on and it's going to go on. It's not going to stop." He runs a meaty hand across his smooth dome. "Is it different for the fans of Chicago?" Burnitz continues. "For sure. But for me it's a good job opportunity, and if the team is successful none of it is going to matter. None of it." If the Cubs fail to make the playoffs for the second year in a row, however, Burnitz knows there could be repercussions. Not that he's letting any such negative thoughts seep into his thinking. For him, there was absolutely no hesitation about signing a one-year, $5 million deal with the Cubs after hitting 37 homers last year for the Colorado Rockies. Not even being regarded as Son of Sammy scared him off. "Why should it be that way?" Burnitz says. "Let's be realistic about it. I don't care who you are, Babe Ruth, whoever. The game goes on, and that's the truth. What am I going to do? Not want to come into maybe the best job of my whole career and act like there's some sort of negative? No way." Remember, this is a player who has suffered through two fruitless stints with the Mets. A guy who spent five-plus seasons in Milwaukee. "This is all positive," Burnitz says. "All good. I'm not going to be Sammy. I never was. I've played 10 years and done my own thing. I'm not going to be him. I'm hoping I'm me that's part of a championship team and that's it. I don't have many goals beyond that." That would be entertaining enough. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Iowa Posted March 7, 2005 Share Posted March 7, 2005 HR hitters who strike out a ton.. peas in a pod Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Fritz Posted March 7, 2005 Share Posted March 7, 2005 HR hitters who strike out a ton.. peas in a pod 704767[/snapback] Sammy can hit. Beershitz is a Coors Field product. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Iowa Posted March 7, 2005 Share Posted March 7, 2005 sammy isnt what he used to be burnitz sucks yes, but he still hits a lot of HRs no matter where he plays Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Fritz Posted March 7, 2005 Share Posted March 7, 2005 sammy isnt what he used to be burnitz sucks yes, but he still hits a lot of HRs no matter where he plays 704801[/snapback] 13 HRs is a lot? :mischief2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Iowa Posted March 7, 2005 Share Posted March 7, 2005 like it said... averaged 31 hrs the last 8 seasons Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FutureGM Posted March 8, 2005 Share Posted March 8, 2005 The Cubs got absolutely hammered in the offseason, losing Sammy Sosa, Moises Alou, Kyle Farnsworth, and Matt Clement, among others. The fact that they replaced the legendary Sammy Sosa with an average player like Burnitz shows that they don't really care about winning.] I can almost guarantee they will be worse than last year. It would have made much more sense for the Cubs to replace Sosa with Magglio Ordonez. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Fritz Posted March 8, 2005 Share Posted March 8, 2005 The Cubs got absolutely hammered in the offseason, losing Sammy Sosa, Moises Alou, Kyle Farnsworth, and Matt Clement, among others. The fact that they replaced the legendary Sammy Sosa with an average player like Burnitz shows that they don't really care about winning.] I can almost guarantee they will be worse than last year. It would have made much more sense for the Cubs to replace Sosa with Magglio Ordonez. 705247[/snapback] If Prior and Wood pitch to potential, they're still capable of out-pitching anyone in the NL save the Braves. They could get the Wild Card. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Iowa Posted March 8, 2005 Share Posted March 8, 2005 I think their offense will be fine.. I think Ramirez is going to put up MVP type numbers.. I think Corey Patterson is going to bust out.. they get Garciaparra for a whole year.. Good solid core of Garciaparra, Patterson, Ramirez and Lee then solid role players like Barrett, Walker, and Hairston. Yea they got rid of a lot of players but the players they got rid of were cancers in the Clubhouse.. IE sammy, farnsworth, mercker and alou. I think they win the Central by over 5 games with the best staff in baseball and an underrated bullpen. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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