Manager Quade OK with Cubs' dust-up
Cubs manager Mike Quade is OK with shaking things up a bit - as long as his team gets better.
Quade held a team meeting before practice early Thursday to address the dugout fight Wednesday between pitcher Carlos Silva and third baseman Aramis Ramirez.
Quade said the matter has "been put to bed. You look it right in the eye," he said. "Sometimes a little revolt's not bad. I'm glad people were [upset]. But we need to channel that anger at the opposition and within ourselves. And that's all."
The scuffle was only one reason for the meeting, during which Quade said he was the only one who spoke. He pointed to the team's 14 errors and other mental lapses during the first four games of spring training.
"That little blowup notwithstanding, it was time for me - Day 4 or not - to say something about sloppiness and not just the physical errors but the mental errors, too," Quade said. "These are things we all know we need to overcome. And I don't think you waltz through spring and then expect to magically turn it on and be a sharp club when the season starts."
The trouble erupted when Silva groused about the fielding as he came off the field following a three-error, two-homer, six-run first inning against Milwaukee. Ramirez, who dropped a pop fly, had to be separated from Silva.
Bargaining starts
Baseball's union and management starting bargaining on a labor agreement to replace the deal that expires in December.
"It was a productive session. We had a very strong showing of players there," union head Michael Weiner said Thursday of Wednesday's session. "We had a good dialogue with the owners' representatives and good contributions from the players themselves."
Baseball's collective-bargaining agreement expires Dec. 11. Baseball has not had a work stoppage since 1994. - AP
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