Which Cub Is the Sore-est Loser?

By Karl Klockars in News on Oct 9, 2008 6:30PM

Sammy Sosa's boom box. Dugout electrical fans. Now we can add "Dodgers plumbing" to the list of things that frustrated Cubs players have taken out their aggressions on. Who broke the water pipe that caused the dugout to flood? No one's fessing up - and Cubs GM Jim Hendry doesn't give a rat's ass. He told the Trib:

"I have no idea, and I don't have any interest in finding out...To me, it's not even an issue. Believe me, if I had been in a uniform, it might have been me. I guess the nozzle was knocked off the piping on the wall, and it's probably in a convenient spot when you're leaving the dugout to smack it."

Hendry goes on to explain that if the players had come out of the dugout smiling like they didn't care, journalists would make that the big story the next day. Come on - no one expected Cubs players to come skipping out like nothing happens. But plumbing isn't like glass or ceramics. It doesn't just break. You've gotta hit those things hard.

It's understandable that the players would get upset, even embarrassed by their post-season play. But when professional sports players act like children, they deserve to be treated as such. When we were kids, if we broke something at someone else's house, we'd be expected to fix it, clean it, or replace it. But it's the same old tired "boys will be boys" defense, and sooner or later, it won't be just an inanimate object that gets hit.

Kyle Farnsworth was relegated to the Disabled List after kicking that dugout fan. Carlos Zambrano shoving and slapping Michael Barrett last season. What will journalists write about, Jim Hendry, when a player puts another player on the DL with a broken nose?