Behind The Box Score

As the Chicago Cubs wrapped up a 5-3 win over the Pittsburgh Pirates last night at Wrigley Field, talks intensified between Isiah Thomas and the organization who hasn’t won a championship in 102 seasons. Thomas, who flew to Chicago on Tuesday, met with GM Jim Hendry about the job opening. Sources say the two had a 30 minute meeting concluding with Thomas talking to the media about the allegations. Thomas was questioned by many members of the media about his intentions for the club if he is hired. “World Series baby! That’s what we do here in Chicago. Jim and I had a nice discussion and talks have really caught fire lately.” What is more puzzling to the situation is that Thomas has no background with the Cubs, let alone baseball itself. In the early 2000s, Thomas was in charge of the Indiana Pacers, leading them to the playoffs multiple times but was eventually relieved of his duties. Then, the former Piston great was hired by James Dolan and the New York Knicks in an attempt to bring the New York franchise back to the level that it was at when Patrick Ewing sported the blue and orange. After acquiring Zach Randolph,  Fred Jones and Dan Dickau on a draft day trade with the Trailblazers, Thomas proceeded to sign Jared Jeffries and Jermaine Jones to full mid-level exception deals which recked the New York salary cap. Relieved of his duties on April 2, 2008, Thomas fell into relative obscurity until being introduced as the head basketball coach of Florida Internation in 2009. After securing a 7-25 record in his first season on campus, speculation raged whether or not the 12 All-Star would return. When family problems put an end to Lou Piniella’s career, somehow the Cubs came calling. The Cubs? Really?

When BtBS questioned Hendry about the situation at a press conference today, the GM offered a different story. “There’s no way in hell we would hire Isiah Thomas. He sucked at coaching basketball, what makes you think he could do baseball?” Hendry became more distraught when a reported questioned the job he was doing, as the reporter stated, “Well Jim, what have you done lately? Offer up your best pitcher for a scrub second baseman? Have you seen the standings lately? You’re 21.5 games out of first place and 20 games under .500, maybe you should worry about your job.” Hendry had a sharp response to the young reporter saying, “You should worry about whether or not you’ll be able to pay your car payment in the next month. I’ve seen your stuff, first reporter in history to write in ebonics, oh and tell your mother I’m sorry for the back pain.” The fued escalated as Aramis Ramirez barged into the media room to complain at Hendry. “How the hell you gonna hire Isiah Thomas? You already brought Alfonso Soriano’s bum ass in here and traded away Derrick Lee.” Hendry had no response to his best player, and opted to leave the room. Before walking out the door, a reporter in the back yelled at the emotionally torn general manager, yelling, “Hell, hire Steve Bartman!”

As for now it remains to be seen what’s going to go down in the Cubs organization. For a club who hasn’t won a championship since Teddy Roosevelt’s administration, you would think they would try a little harder to win, but with baseball you never know. If Isiah Thomas couldn’t build a winner with the most money and the biggest market in the NBA, maybe things would be different if he were to be hired by the Cubs. As long as the Wilson Chandler Project isn’t moved to Chicago, the Cubs can’t get any worse. It’s not like Thomas will unload their entire roster for a group of free agents three years from now. This is the latest from Chicago, a city where on game days, there’s more drive by’s than line drives.