Cubs fans quickly embrace Samardzija
Irish product fills void for hurt closer Wood
MILWAUKEE – Jeff Samardzija refuses to sing.
He’s not at Notre Dame anymore, where it was standard practice to belt out the old fight song. Now, the Chicago Cubs rookie reliever will let his fastball hum and whistle for him.
“I will never sing in karaoke or anything like that,” he said. “I know my limits.”
The 23-year-old righty who grew up in Valparaiso, Ind. – smack dab between South Bend and Chicago – is already gaining staunch support with chants of “Let’s Go Irish” echoing in Wrigley Field for the team with the National League’s best record.
Not bad for just two appearances over the weekend, which included his first save on Sunday.
“I know Chicago is a big Notre Dame town, so going to school there, I knew there would be a lot of common ground,” he said. “The first couple of pitches were a little wild, but after that I kind of settled down and it was pretty fun.”
Yes, Samardzija was nervous Friday, but he looked confident and fired up in Sunday’s two shutout innings to preserve a 9-6 win over Florida. He closed out a 7-1 victory Tuesday night at Milwaukee, allowing one run in the ninth and helping Chicago improve to 63-44.
“This is definitely how you write it up,” he said. “If there’s one time you’d want to be joining a team and be helping the team out, it would definitely be now.”
Samardzija’s rapid rise to the pros could have just as easily been catching footballs in shoulder pads.
The two-sport star finished with a school-record 179 receptions for 2,593 yards and 27 touchdowns at Notre Dame, and also set single-season records for yards receiving and TDs.
But the wide receiver slipped to a fifth-round selection by the Cubs in the 2006 draft because of the uncertainty of him choosing baseball. The Cubs answered by giving him a $10 million, five-year contract in January 2007.
“I just really tried to be as aware and be as open-minded, like a sponge, as I could from Day One after showing up in spring training two years ago,” he said. “Ever since then, it’s just kind of been a learning process for me. Over the last month and a half, two months, things have started to come together.”
That coming together includes cutting down his walks and working on getting ahead of hitters. While the Cubs project the 6-foot-5 pitcher to be a top starter one day, he’s filling a bullpen role down the stretch with Chicago closer Kerry Wood on the disabled list.
“He’s definitely a boost. Anybody you can add to the bullpen to get quality innings and get quality outs near the end of the game is going to benefit a team,” Cubs reliever Neal Cotts said. “Plus, with Kerry not available right now, it’s going to really help us. We get him back and with Jeff still there, it’s going to be a big asset.”
“He’s such a great athlete,” said Cleveland Browns quarterback and former Irish teammate Brady Quinn. “He’s one of those guys who has been blessed with a lot of athletic ability.”