Hubbub on The Cubs

By TIM KURKJIAN

The Cubs did not win a home game in April -- they went 0-9 in the unfriendly confines of Wrigley Field -- and began May by losing at home on Sunday, too. Following a 6-5 defeat at the hands of the Rockies last Friday, Chicago manager Tom Trebelhorn got an earful from Cub fans when he participated in an impromptu question-and-answer session at a fire station near Wrigley. In demanding reasons for the slow start by the Cubs, who were 6-16 at week's end and 8 1/2 games out of first place in the National League's Central Division, some of the questioners were abusive to Trebelhorn. He handled them with good humor, telling one to "go have another beer."

Chicago's bumbling beginning was probably more attributable to its faulty pitching staff than to anything done by Trebelhorn, who's in his first year as Cub manager. The rotation is built around three starters -- Mike Morgan, Willie Banks and Anthony Young -- who all have losing career records (they were a combined 116-186 lifetime through Sunday).

Chicago management decided that the way to improve the Cubs' performance was to start having strategy meetings before every game. They have had so many meetings, in fact, that the get-togethers are beginning to bother the players, who think the culprit is team vice president Larry Himes, not Trebelhorn. "We hold so many meetings that by the time we get on the field, no one knows what to think anymore," says Chicago third baseman Steve Buechele. "This game is played by instinct, not by radar guns and charts and computers and all that other crap they throw at us."

This latest minirevolt against Himes adds to his reputation as one of the least-liked executives in baseball. Don't be surprised if he is fired by the end of the season if the team's fortunes don't improve.