Hairston's Harangue

OK, did Jerry Hairston Jr. have a legitimate beef with Dusty Baker's decision to start Neifi Perez over him in Monday's game against the Padres?

Should he even be speaking out? Two different questions. Even if he has a point, I don't think he should be airing it in public. Walk into Dusty's office and face him man to man.

Now, for the original query. Baker said he played the match-ups. Hmmm. Considering that Hairston has never faced Adam Eaton before all he had to go on was Neifi's record and the record shows going in that Perez was hitting 6 for 21 which places him above .300. Score one for Dusty. And Perez did deliver, getting his first hit of the young season, going 1 for 3. Later, he laid down a sac bunt getting Lee in scoring position so no one should question Neifi's presence in the game.

One would have thought that Todd Hollandsworth would have had a blowout game as he has owned Eaton in the past, going 9 for 16 with 2 homers and 2 doubles. The percentages didn't work out this time, however and Todd went 0-2 against Eaton and 0-4 for the game with two strikeouts against the relievers when the game was on the line

By the way, Ryan Dempster is now hitting .500 (1-2) against Eaton so at the very least I expect to see him pinch hitting the next time the Padres and Cubs meet in battle. Shoot, Dusty, you might even want to rearrange your rotation so Ryan can get more than one crack at Adam Eaton.

Let's predict what Dusty might do today in the double-header based on the numbers. In game one Jake Peavy faces our Boys in Blue. Doesn't look too good for Neifi in game one. 0-10 with just a base on balls. In fact few of the Cubs have had any success against this guy. Aramis is 2-5 and Corey is 3-5.

Now don't get too excited, Jerry. Jose Macias is 1-2 but that one is a Home Run! I wouldn't be surprised to see Jose start in game one. Besides, Dusty may just be teaching Jerry a lesson in public griping Again, Mr. Hairston Jr. has never faced the big Jake.

Game two pits Prior against Brian Lawrence. Checking the history shows the Naperville native's best chance of playing before family and friends yet. (One wonders if this has something to do with his remarks) At least he has seen Lawrence in a game. But an 0-3 performance may tip the scales once again for Perez who is 2-7 against the pride of Fort Collins, Colorado.

Look for Lee and Burnitz to get some good cuts at Lawrence. Both have cleared the fence on him before.

Even Prior is 1-2 in past meetings. This twinbill has a make or break feel to it. A sweep for the Cubs could infuse enough confidence to propel them to a strong run. On the other hand, a Padre sweep could deflate the team even further and this could mire them into mediocrity or worse for quite a spell.

And a split would probably keep them in a perpetual state of enigmatic flux.