Cubs blast Glavine in opener
Paul Sullivan
Chicago Tribune (KRT)
NEW YORK — Dusty Baker’s
debut as Cubs manager, Kerry
Wood’s first Opening Day start
and Sammy Sosa’s assault on No.
500 were the main story lines go
ing into Monday’s season opener
against the New York Mets.
But Corey Patterson turned out
to be the man of the moment,
outshining his more illustrious
teammates and playing the game
of his life on a wild and windy day
at chilly Shea Stadium.
Patterson went 4-for-6 with two
home runs and a career-high sev
en RBIs, leading the Cubs to a 15
2 romp over the Mets before
56,749 shellshocked fans.
“It’s right there with the best
Opening Days I’ve ever seen,”
Baker said. “He’s still going to have
some rough days, but that helps
big-time to start like this, especial
ly considering that he was strug
gling in the spring. That was a
r
huge day for Corey, I’m sure some
thing he’ll remember forever.”
Patterson hit .220 this spring
and was dropped to seventh in
the order against Mets left-han
der Tom Glavine. After RBI sin
gles off Glavine in the first and
third innings, Patterson greeted
lefty reliever Mike Bacsik with a
three-run homer to right in the
sixth and a two-run homer to left
in the seventh.
Despite a horrendous second
half last year, Patterson never lost
faith in himself.
“I never questioned my ability,
and I never got down confidence
wise,” Patterson said. “Some
times things got a little frustrat
ing. When you’re frustrated, you
think of the wrong things and you
overcompensate trying to do
something else. It gets you into
one bad habit and it snowballs.”
Patterson’s seven RBIs were the
most of any Cub in their 128
openers and the most by any ma
jor-leaguer since Minnesota’s
Brant Alyea drove in seven
against the White Sox in their
1970 opener. The Cubs set or tied
a few team records for an opener,
including the 1899 club record
for most runs.
Wood (1-0) earned the victory,
yielding two runs on two hits in
five innings. He also hit an RBI
single. The Cubs wound up with
16 hits off Mets pitching and were
aided by 12 walks and two errors.
Reliever Juan Cruz also provided
a highlight, striking out six
straight batters in the seventh
and eighth innings to tie Bruce
Sutter’s Cubs relief record set
against Montreal on Sept. 8,1977.
If first impressions are lasting,
the Cubs’ first inning will linger for
a while. Six of their first seven bat
ters reached base, leading to a
four-run inning. Sosa had an RBI
single, Moises Alou a two-run dou
ble and Patterson an RBI single.
The four-run first was the first
time the Cubs had scored that many
to begin an opener since a 14-10 vic
tory over St. Louis on April 12,
1892, when they still were nick
named the White Stockings.
Sosa failed to connect on home
run No. 500 but went l-for-2 with
three runs and three walks as the
Cubs waited out the out-of-con
trol Mets pitchers. Patterson also
contributed with his glove, mak
ing two fine running catches near
the wall in center field when the
outcome still was undecided.
It was only one game in a 162
game season, but after the deba
cle of 2002 and all the changes in
personnel last off-season, scoring
15 runs in the opener is some
thing Baker said fans and players
alike both can cherish.
“Let them enjoy it,” he said.
“We realize it was one game, but it
was one very good game. It’s a long
race, but it’s a very good start.”
© 2003, Chicago Tribune. Distributed
by Knight Ridder/Tribune Information
Services.
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Softball
continued from page 11
In Saturday’s game, senior Am
ber Hutchison hit her second home
run of the season for Oregon’s only
run — and only hit — in the 4-1
loss. Sunday, the Ducks were held
to three hits while the Wildcats had
13 hits behind their eight runs.
“We need to build momentum,”
Arendsen said. “We need to build a
positive feeling going into this week
end’s series so we have to come out
ready to play, intense and with a lot of
respect for Portland State, and hope
fully the weather will allow us and our
focus will allow us to do well.”
After practicing in mild Eugene
weather, the trip to Arizona warmed
the team up — even if they didn’t
come away with a win. A cold and
windy doubleheader will be a large
contrast to the weekend’s sunny trip.
“I’m not sure it can get too hot,”
Arendsen said about Arizona’s weath
er. “It probably sets us up, if it would
be cold tomorrow, to feel the cold a lit
tle bit more than we would. ”
The cold may be just what the soft
ball team needs to turn its season back
to the winning pattern it had in five pre
season tournaments. The Ducks won
three tournament tides during the pre
season, beating nationally ranked op
ponents in each tournament.
The Ducks and the Vikings were
scheduled to play a doubleheader in
Eugene on March 13, but the games
were rescheduled due to weather. The
teams will play each other four times
in just over a week when the resched
uled doubleheader opens the Ducks’
home season April 9.
Between Portland State double
headers, Oregon jumps back into the
Pac-10 for a weekend. The Ducks will
head to California to face No. 12 Stan
ford on Friday before playingNo. 7 Cal
ifornia on Saturday and Sunday.
Contact the sports reporter
at mindirice@dailyemerald.com.
Cycling
continued from page 11
for shorter distances in order to be in
top shape for his or her peak race.
The Ducks had better luck with the
weather last weekend as they hosted
the Oregon Omnium. Three Oregon
cyclists placed in the top three in their
respective divisions. Ben West cap
tured first place in the men’s “B” while
Zach Winter took second and Rock
took third in the men’s “A” division.
“Solid,” is how Ritter described the
Ducks’ performance. “We had a good
performance in most of the races. ”
Despite the good showing from
the Ducks, Ritter said he’d like to
increase female participation in the
cycling club, as only four female cy
clists showed up for the race. Those
who did show up performed well,
placing second and fourth in the
women’s “B” criterium.
“There’s a lack of female cyclists,”
Ritter said. “Women just don’t take to
the sport like men do.”
The weekend’s results moved the
Ducks into second place in the North
west Collegiate Cycling Conference,
ahead of Washington State and behind
Idaho. As the Ducks chase the Vandals,
they will also keep their eye on May 9,
the first day of the National Collegiate
Cycling Association finals in California.
The Ducks will once again have
to postpone thoughts of warm
weather as they travel to Spokane,
Wash., Saturday for the Frozen Flat
lands. From there, it’s on to Mis
soula, Mo., before returning to the
Evergreen State with stops in Pull
man and Walla Walla.
“It’s usually pretty cold (in
Spokane),” said Ritter, who plans to
battle the elements on his 18-speed
Cannondale bike. “Cold and windy.”
Hey, there’s always nationals
in California.
Jon Roetman is a freelance writer
for the Emerald.