Darwin Barney, Shift in Mentality and Preparation Pay Off

"A lot of it was positioning around the bag along with positioning pre-pitch.   It all goes together.  Along with that, it was just putting in the hours and accepting the mentality of trying to be perfect every day." 

--Darwin Barney, Chicago Cubs second baseman, talking about his improvement as a fielder.

Barney, 26,  is in his second full season as a Cub.  With only one fielding error in 112 games, he is widely considered to be the best defensive second baseman in major league baseball.  He made the switch from shortstop to second base only two years ago.  He is four years older that the Cubs' current shortstop, Starlin Castro, a rising star in his own right.  Without the switch, Barney would be playing behind Castro.  This way, both young stars can start.  Along with their first baseman, Anthony Rizzo, 23, this young Cubs' infield trio has the makings of a great combination.  

Barney last made an error on April 17, 2012 against the Miami Marlins.  With the help of Cubs' infield coach Pat Listach, a former American League rookie of the year (1992), Barney has improved greatly. Barney and Listach study hours of game film to determine hitters' tendencies and help Barney expand his range through thorough pre-game planning and in-game anticipation.

Are you working on your fundamentals this hard every day?


Excerpt from "At Second, at Least, Cubs Are a Force", Benjamin Hoffman column Keeping Score, nytimes.com (8/19/2012).

Respecting Institutions: The Right Way to Compete

“I was in awe every time I walked onto the field. That’s respect. I was taught you never, ever disrespect your opponents or your teammates or your organization or your manager and never, ever your uniform. You make a great play, act like you’ve done it before; get a big hit, look for the third base coach and get ready to run the bases.”

“These guys sitting up here [previous Hall of Fame inductees] did not pave the way for the rest of us so that players could swing for the fences every time up and forget how to move a runner over to third. It’s disrespectful to them, to you and to the game of baseball that we all played growing up.

“Respect. A lot of people say this honor validates my career, but I didn’t work hard for validation. I didn’t play the game right because I saw a reward at the end of the tunnel. I played it right because that’s what you’re supposed to do, play it right and with respect ... . If this validates anything, it’s that guys who taught me the game ... did what they were supposed to do, and I did what I was supposed to do.”

--Ryne Sandberg, retired, Hall of Fame second baseman for the Chicago Cubs (2005).

Excerpts from New York Times op-ed column, What Life Asks of Us by David Brooks, January 27, 2009. For the entire article, click on: http://www.nytimes.com/2009/01/27/opinion/27brooks.html?th&emc=th

Jeff Samardzija, Chicago Cubs pitcher

"Once he got up where he could smell it, his character kind of took over. It doesn't happen often, but it happens with a guy lilke him. He's one of those guys who likes to shine in the big moment. We thought he'd be a guy who, when he got here, could deal with the second deck. He likes the big stage. We understood that early on."

--General Manager Jim Hendry, Chicago Cubs, discussing the ability of Jeff Samardzija to succeed in the major leagues after a less than stellar year and a half stint as a starter in the minor leagues.

Jeff Samardzija, a former star Notre Dame college football wide receiver, is currently a relief pitcher with the major league Chicago Cubs.

As if Monday, August 11, 2008, he has a low earned run average of 1.59 in 11 1/2 innings. Refusing a potential career in the NFL, Samardzija, a boyhood fan of the Cubs, signed a 5-year, $10 million dollar contract in January 2007 with Chicago.

Excerpts from the New York Times 8/11/08.