Williams statue to be unveiled Tuesday
Cubs give Castro a couple days off
Aramis sits, receives treatment on quad
DES MOINES, Iowa — Mark Hamilton homered with two outs in the ninth inning to lift Memphis to a 7-6 victory over Triple-A Iowa on Monday, ending the I-Cubs' season.
Hamilton connected off Hung-Wen Chen (3-4), who was the third pitcher in the game for Iowa. Jay Jackson started and gave up four runs on seven hits over six innings, striking out two. He exited with the lead and received a standing ovation from the crowd of 10,069 at Principal Park in Des Moines.
Jason Dubois hit a pair of solo homers for Iowa, which ended the season with the same record as Memphis, which owned the tie-breaker as the Redbirds had a better head-to-head mark than the Cubs.
This was Hall of Fame second baseman Ryne Sandberg's first season managing the Triple-A team, and Iowa finished tied for first at 82-62.
Williams statue to be unveiled Tuesday
CHICAGO — Billy Williams drove by the corner of Addison and Sheffield streets outside Wrigley Field on Monday as he always has. And once again, he was tempted to stop the car and peek under the blue cloth hiding the bronze statue of the Hall of Fame outfielder, which will be officially unveiled on Tuesday.
"I've thought several times about going there and taking it off to see it to make sure it's all right," Williams said Monday.
The Cubs will formally unveil the statue on Tuesday in a ceremony at 5:30 p.m. CT. Several of Williams' family, friends and former teammates will be on hand, including Hall of Famer Ernie Banks.
"I'm excited," Williams said. "I've been excited since [Spring Training in] Arizona when it was first mentioned that a statue would be unveiled here on [Sept. 7]. I've been looking forward to it and anticipating. The closer you get, the more excited you get.
"[Tuesday] is going to be an exciting day, and not only for me, but fans and friends and family," he said. "I look at it as a monumental thing."
Williams and his wife, Shirley, did get a peek early in the process before the statue was installed on the corner outside of Wrigley.
"I don't care how it looks," Williams said. "Just to have a statue on the outer walls of the ballpark where you performed, where you had a great time playing the game, that's something you don't dream of.
"You can dream about playing Major League ball," he said, "or dream about doing something in the World Series — I never had a chance to do that — but the Hall of Fame and the statue are beyond your dreams because you don't think that way as a kid."
Williams used his sweet left-handed swing to bat .296 with the Cubs from 1959-74, and was inducted into the Hall of Fame in July 1987.
Cubs give Castro a couple days off
CHICAGO — Rookie shortstop Starlin Castro is going to get a little breather.
Cubs manager Mike Quade decided to sit the 20-year-old Monday and Tuesday for a little mental health break. Castro forgot how many outs there were in the seventh inning on Sunday and missed a play at second base in the fourth on Saturday.
"Every so often, it's better for a player to observe than participate," Quade said Monday. "He needs to watch a game or so and can sit with some very smart people on my staff, and keep an eye on things and maybe reflect a little bit.
"He's had so much thrown at him, that I think sometimes to step back and take a look at things and take a couple days might help him," Quade said.
The Cubs have all of their roving Minor League instructors with the big league team, including infield instructor Franklin Font.
Quade, who recalls working with a young Miguel Tejada in the Minor Leagues, talked to Castro on Monday.
"Do I want to scream and yell about it? No," Quade said. "I want the guy to take a step back and look at it from a different perspective and give himself a chance to clear his head and how he can compartmentalize — if that's the right word — all the different tasks that go with that position playing at this level. I think a break will help him."
Castro, who never played at the Triple-A level, ranks third in the National League in batting at .317. His offense hasn't been a problem. Sometimes it's hard to remember that he's only 20.
"I'm a lot more patient and a lot more understanding that this is not [the Minor Leagues in] Huntsville, this is Wrigley Field," Quade said. "This kid has a chance to be so incredibly valuable to this franchise that the more he can do to help himself and clear his mind and be consistent in what he does, is going to determine just how good he's going to be."
Aramis sits, receives treatment on quad
CHICAGO — Cubs third baseman Aramis Ramirez did not start Monday so that he can receive treatment on a sore right quad. His status was day-to-day.
Ramirez came out of Sunday's game against the Mets after grounding out in the eighth inning. He was to be examined by the team's orthopedic specialist, Dr. Stephen Gryzlo.
When Ramirez is ready to return will depend on how he responds to treatment, Cubs manager Mike Quade said.
On Sunday, Ramirez notched his 1,600th career hit with an RBI single in the first. He also hit his 22nd home run with one on in the third. It was his 25th multihit game of the season and Ramirez now has hit safely in 10 of his last 16 games.
Jeff Baker started at third base on Monday against the Astros.