1984 Cubs hero Moreland has design for winning it all

Claude Passeau threw a 1-hitter in the 1945 World Series. Which future Cub will be able to similarly come through under such pressure? (image via flickr.com/photos).

Mark down reliever John Grabow as yet another fella who’s opted to sign with the Cubs knowing he’s in the middle of a fishbowl, that there’s crushing pressure with every step a player takes in Wrigley Field.

When Grabow officially inked a two-year deal to serve as their primary southpaw bullpen guy recently, he admitted to the huge expectations that go along with playing for a big-market team that hasn’t won a World Series in 101 years. At least Grabow has his eyes wide open. The likes of Milton Bradley and Jacque Jones barreled in, grabbed the Cubs’ megabucks and then folded quickly upon the first setback with literally the whole world watching.

That’s not even counting the playoff flops of recent vintage. More than one pundit suggested manager Lou Piniella, who possesses three World Series rings, may have succumbed to a special kind of postseason pressure he never experienced with the Yankees and Reds. One suggestion was the jittery, nervous Cubs of Oct. 2008 reflected the personality of their manager. It made no sense that lifetime tough-guy Piniella suddenly would become knock-kneed, but we only have his 0-6 Cubs playoff record as evidence.  The unique pressure affects everyone. No one is totally immune.

There’s got to be an antidote. Keith Moreland has no psychiatry training, but he’s going to try some homespun remedy from his own experiences. Sure,  he’s just a good ol’ Texas boy, a former Longhorns defensive back.  But he also had a big hand in breaking a 29-year Cubs dry spell on first place, back in 1984. Remember, as the right fielder that season, “Zonk” was the Cubs’ best clutch hitter. He was National League Player of the Month in August — when he led the charge into first place past the hated Mets — on the strength of a .360 average with 8 game-winning hits among his 5 homers and 32 RBIs. Yet he’s probably best remembered for his roll-block take-down of Mets pitcher Ed Lynch during a beanball duel at  Wrigley Field. Wise guys wish Moreland had also tackled low when Lynch made some of his lousy deals and free-agent signings a decade-plus later as Cubs GM.

Cynics will laugh here, claiming what does Moreland really know about pressure? The ‘84 Cubs blew a 2-0 lead against the Padres in the five-game National League Championship Series. Ah, not on his account. Moreland was 6-for-18 in the NLCS. He also was 6-for-13 for the Phillies in the 1981 division series against the Expos. Alfonso Soriano and Aramis Ramirez would kill for such a postseason record.

So we’ll give Moreland the floor, months after he acquitted himself well as a fill-in Cubs announcer for Bob Brenly and Ron Santo.

“You cannot help as a player but think about the fact you’re with an organization that has not done this,” he said of the Cubs’ century-plus drought. “I think it crosses every player’s mind. It may not be as conscious as we want to admit it. It may be more subconscious.

“There’s intense pressure in the playoffs more than any other place. Once you get to the World Series, and I’ve been there (1980 with the Phillies), it’s just about relaxing and having fun. You’ve gotten to the pinnacle. Look at some of these (2009) teams that got eliminated, great teams in the regular season like St. Louis. We (Phillies) had four of the five (1980) playoff games against Houston go extra innings.”

“Zonk” says in the end, it’s up to the player to achieve an iron-clad level of concentration with distractions bouncing harmlessly off that shield.

“At some point, you’ve got to as a player focus on what you’ve got to do and maintain your balance,” he said.  “The fans can’t maintain that balance – they’re exuberant and (the emotion) overflows and gets involved in you. What gets in the way is your mind.

“The team that gets it done in Chicago will be a team that has as a unit has a great mindset, that can push through this and not worry what everybody around them is thinking, but what they’re thinking as 25 guys and as a coaching staff. We saw it in Boston a few years ago.”

Moreland’s specific design for a winning postseason roster is as follows: “You’ve got have at least three great starting pitchers, a guy who can close games out and you better be good behind the plate, up the middle and in center field. It’s no secret how teams win and why Derek Jeter has been in as many championships as he’s been. You can win games in the regular season by outslugging people, but it’s very difficult in a short series when you’re going to face a couple of aces.”

That all said, Moreland, 55, believes he has enough mortal existence left to witness the breaking of the drought.

“There’s no question that in my lifetime it’s gonna happen,” he said. “The Cubs are going to go to the World Series and win one, and I’m gonna damn sure be there.”