CHICAGO — It's baseball's version of the chicken-and-the-egg question: Does team chemistry foster winning, or vice versa?
This old debate has come to the forefront lately as the Cubs have faded from playoff contention amidst the daily soap opera surrounding outfielder Milton Bradley.
Manager Lou Piniella said Thursday that the Cubs do not have the best chemistry of any team he has managed but that this was not the main reason for the club's struggles. On Friday, he re-addressed the issue of what factors lead to a team having success.
"I said chemistry is one of the ingredients," Piniella said, "but really, the biggest ingredient is getting the job done on the field."
The Cubs have not done that lately, going 7-14 in their last 21 games entering Saturday, when they will face the Mets on FOX, with Joe Buck, Tim McCarver and Ken Rosenthal on the call. Chicago was leading the National League Central by a half-game on July 30, but the team had fallen to nine games behind St. Louis entering play Friday.
Relief pitcher Aaron Heilman does not believe team chemistry is to blame.
"I think sometimes it's very overrated," he said. "Team chemistry is something you definitely like to have and it's good to have, but I've heard stories over the years of guys that absolutely hated each other and went out and won a World Series."
Piniella talked Thursday about playing for successful Yankees teams in the late '70s that did not have great off-field chemistry. New York made the World Series each year from 1976-78.
In recent years, the Giants advanced to the World Series in 2002 after Barry Bonds and Jeff Kent fought in the dugout earlier in the season. The Braves were a playoff team in 2000, even though closer John Rocker caused an uproar by making inflammatory comments about minorities that were quoted in a Sports Illustrated article.
Heilman does not think the chemistry situation is bad in the Cubs' clubhouse, though.
"I think we have good chemistry here," he said. "Could it be better? Probably, but I wouldn't classify it as bad chemistry, and I don't think Lou meant that we had bad chemistry. It's just the fact that every team is a little bit different and certainly when you have 25 guys, not everybody has the same interests and backgrounds and everything else. So it's natural to not have, I guess, great chemistry, but I think everybody gets along. Everybody goes out and plays the games as a professional."