[Chicago Sun-Times] Barrett, Baker call Astros dirty

http://www.suntimes.com/output/cubs/cst-spt-cub20.html

BY MIKE KILEY Staff Reporter Advertisement

MESA, Ariz. -- The Houston Astros might have edged the Cubs out of the National League wild-card berth in 2004, but catcher Michael Barrett has news for them: The Cubs were a better team than the Astros last season and will be again in 2005.

Some have contended that Barrett's clash with pitcher Roy Oswalt on Aug. 27 at Wrigley Field served as an emotional spark for a final-month push in which the Astros passed the Cubs to take the wild card. Barrett disagrees.

''If they knew what our team had gone through, [the critics] couldn't say that,'' Barrett said. ''It wouldn't have mattered if it pumped [the Astros] up or not. Our team healthy, our team not going through what we did last year, it doesn't matter how pumped up [the Astros] get. We're still a better team.''

The first chance to prove that will come April 29-May 1 in Houston. The Cubs will be juiced for that trip to Minute Maid Park.

Michael Barrett had a breakout season with the Cubs in 2004. Here's a look at his numbers from last season (134 games) compared with his numbers in six seasons with the Expos, per 134 games:

''Those series will be emotional for me,'' Barrett said. ''I'll probably be a little bit more ready to do what it takes to win those games. I'm comfortable with how I'm going to channel it, but there's a little payback due. All you hear about is St. Louis-Chicago. We have as much to prove against Houston as we do St. Louis. They both finished above us.''

Manager Dusty Baker said last month that the Astros played ''dirty baseball'' by hitting first baseman Derrek Lee in the ninth inning on Aug. 29, the final time the teams would meet.

''They had a pitcher just called up named [Dan] Wheeler do it, that's the bad thing,'' Barrett said. ''It wasn't one of the guys who had been on the team all year. I could see it in his eyes that he was supposed to do something. To hit Derrek, one of the classiest acts in baseball, that was bad.''

Oswalt was ejected Aug. 22 in Houston after hitting Barrett with a pitch. Aramis Ramirez's three-run homer had given the Cubs a 5-1 lead moments before Barrett was hit. Kerry Wood later was ejected for retaliating and eventually was suspended. Oswalt never was suspended.

''Oswalt did something out of embarrassment,'' Barrett said. "That was wrong, and everyone on the field knew it. There were things their team did from that point on -- in every aspect of the game -- that I thought were wrong. They got away with a lot of it, and I'm still frustrated about it.

''If I was a Cubs fan, this is what I'd be upset about: How does Oswalt not get suspended when our guys got suspended for doing a lot less? It wasn't justified, especially to allow Oswalt to pitch the next game against us. It doesn't make sense.''

Barrett said he thinks people judge him unfairly for clashing with Oswalt at Wrigley.

''Had we not had all the injuries and all the things we had, it would have done as much for us as it would have done for them and probably more,'' he said. ''The unfortunate part is that we would have retaliated in a different way if the league had not already suspended half our guys. We would have handled things differently.

''I was the only guy who had a clean slate and the ability to do anything without getting suspended as easily as some guys. It was up to me to take a stand. A lot of people think I did that for my own selfish or personal reasons. I have learned you can't personalize things in this game. We're not going to tolerate that from him or anyone. It's not just an Oswalt thing. We had altercations with [the Cardinals'] Matt Morris when he threw behind Derrek and Corey Patterson.''

Barrett hit .287 and made a strong offensive impact last season. Defensively, he admits he remains a work in progress.

''I had to earn acceptance,'' he said. ''Kerry came up and said some things that were really nice. Matt Clement was a great guy. The whole staff stuck up for me. But I felt I had to prove myself. All most people knew about me as a catcher is that I was a converted infielder. In reality, I've caught more now than anything else professionally. A lot of people still view me as a converted infielder, but in my mind I'm a catcher.

''I still have a long way to go, but from a year ago I think I'm a better catcher. At the end of the year, so much was riding on every pitch. That's when you truly learn -- when there is pressure involved and you have to make the right decisions.''

Barrett said Wrigley raises the stakes in itself.

''The most valuable lesson I learned is not premeditating before a game starts what your pitcher is going to do and what he's not going to do,'' he said. ''Things never turn out the way you expect them to in Chicago. There were times the atmosphere of the stadium changed the whole outcome of the game.

''One crazy play, one pitch the umpire didn't call or something that didn't go right just changed the flow of the game. At Wrigley -- or really anywhere with this pitching staff -- anything can happen. You just go pitch-by-pitch and hitter-by-hitter and do everything you can to find a way to win.

''There were times last year I had a hard time dealing with the situation because I was still thinking, 'Gosh, this guy threw a great bullpen at 97 and 98 [mph], and the team we're playing shouldn't match up well against him, but for some reason they are.' You have to adjust quickly. Opposing teams get geared up for this staff, especially at Wrigley.''



I don't like Dusty and always thought he was overated because no one likes him including players like Sosa, Bonds, Alou, etc. Barrett on the other hand is just a jerk who is trying to create something so he could be famous.