Besides his eight homers and 34 runs batted in, former Cub Glenallen Hill has brought some perspective and leadership to the San Francisco Giants.
Hill won the quiet admiration of more than a few in the Giants organization when he had a heart-to-heart talk with superstar Barry Bonds after third-baseman Matt Williams went down with a broken foot.
Bonds can be intimidating–even to his teammates. But Hill is one of the last guys to be intimidated by anybody. He told Bonds he knew everyone was looking at him–Hill–to pick up the slack when Williams went down. But Hill bluntly told Bonds he needed to step up big-time too.
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“I think that’s part of the reason Barry respects me,” Hill said. “He’s not only the best player in the game, but he’s a big part of this team. I’m just getting to know him personally, but we’re counting on him.”
Pitter Pratter: Counting Wednesday’s 4-3 loss, the Cubs have an eye-popping 1.93 earned-run average in the seven games that catcher Todd Pratt has started.
Tough call: Manager Jim Riggleman was helpless to make the moves he wanted with Wednesday’s game on the line in the 12th inning. A neck injury to regular starter Rick Wilkins meant Riggleman had just one catcher, Pratt. When Pratt walked to lead off the bottom of the 12th. Riggleman couldn’t put in a pinch runner. That, in turn, kept him from having Howard Johnson lay down a sacrifice bunt because Pratt is such a slow runner that he probably couldn’t have scored anyway from second on a hit because the Giants certainly would have pulled their outfielders in. Wilkins has a strained neck and probably will be out another two days, but the Cubs don’t have any plans to call anyone up.
Bully, bully: Right-hander Jim Bullinger pitched four scoreless innings in his first rehab start at Double-A Orlando. Bullinger, nursing a tender elbow, gave up three hits, walked one and struck out two in a 7-0 Orlando win over Carolina.
Century mark: With Wednesday’s loss, the Cubs have gone 100 games without being shut out. The club record is 126 games in 1958-59.
Overtime: Reliever Mike Perez has appeared in four of the last five games.