Perhaps the hardest part of managing the Cubs during their final 37 games of a lost season is knowing the general manager is interviewing other candidates while you are trying to win the job.
Mike Quade said early on that he’s focused only on what’s happening on the field rather than with his competition for the 2011 vacancy.
But there’s little doubt he went into Tuesday night’s rain-delayed game against the Giants knowing that a couple of thousand miles away, general manager Jim Hendry was interviewing Triple-A Iowa manager Ryne Sandberg in Arizona.
Quade and Sandberg are the only two in-house candidates and both believe they are ready for the job. Sandberg was Pacific Coast League Manager of the Year, while Quade has helped a losing club put on one last hot streak.
Either way, Quade said before the 1-0 loss to the Giants that he’s confident the Cubs will rebound in 2011.
“I’m an optimist,” he said. “You see this club play here at the end, and if they continue to play well and play this thing out in the next two weeks in good fashion, I’d go home and whoever gets the job next year should be excited about this club.
“That’s just the way I feel, and it has no bearing on what happens this winter with Jim or what moves we make. There are just a lot of guys here who have finished up well.”
After a 1 hour, 11 minute rain delay, Carlos Zambrano gave up only three hits and struck out eight in six shutout innings of an engaging duel with Matt Cain. But Buster Posey hit a one-out home run off Andrew Cashner in the eighth to give the Giants the victory and snap the Cubs’ six-game winning streak.
Before the game, Quade was asked if the team return with minimal changes and still contend.
“Maybe that sounds crazy, but I think so,” he said.
Zambrano had a 0.89 ERA over his last six starts, finishing the season with a bang. But overall, he’s not satisfied with his performance this year.
“Bad,” he said. “The Cubs pay me to win and the fans want me to win, and I only have nine wins. For me, it’s another disappointing season. But the most important thing is I have my confidence back and I will be back next year with the same attitude and with the same passion for the game and ready to do some damage.”
Zambrano wasn’t referring to Gatorade coolers. The right-hander was in a good mood, buoyed that his 9-year-old nephew in Venezuela, who had been in a coma, is out of the hospital.
“He can’t walk, but he has a nurse who is doing rehab for him,” he said. “He can talk, and I spoke to him (Monday). It was pretty nice — to be alive, to be at home. I called him and wished him many, many more birthdays.”
Zambrano said he has one more start Sunday in the home finale at Wrigley Field. Quade said beforehand that Jeff Samardzija would get the nod. So does Quade know that Zambrano intends to start?
“I will let him know,” he said with a grin.
psullivan@tribune.com
