BY TONI GINNETTI tginnetti@suntimes.com September 2, 2011 10:50PM
Chicago Cubs' Alfonso Soriano reacts after striking out in the ninth inning of a baseball game against the Pittsburgh Pirates, Friday Sept. 2, 2011 in Chicago. The Pirates won 3-1. (AP Photo/Charles Cherney)
Updated: September 2, 2011 11:02PM
The Cubs? dismal fortunes this season might look gloomy to most, but not to first baseman Bryan LaHair.
His career might yet be marked by success only at the minor-league level, but on Friday, his outstanding year at Class AAA Iowa earned him a trip to the big leagues.
??I?m really excited,?? said LaHair, who was named the Pacific Coast League?s most valuable player hours before he was promoted Thursday. ??I?m just going to have fun, be myself. I?m going to try to keep my same approach: hit the ball hard and see what happens.??
At 28, LaHair isn?t exactly a prospect. His promotion marks his second stint in the majors but first since 2008, when he appeared in 45 games for the Seattle Mariners, who chose him in the 39th round of the 2002 draft. He hit .250 (34-for-135) for the Mariners with three home runs and 10 RBI. He might see only occasional action with the Cubs in the last 24 games of the season, but for a team in transition with a potential opening at first base next season, there could be possibilities.
LaHair wasn?t even on the Cubs? 40-man roster before Friday, but his second season with Iowa was exceptional. He set an Iowa Cubs �record and led the minor leagues with 38 home runs. He also led the �Pacific Coast League with 109 RBI, 76 extra-base hits, 303 total bases, a .664 slugging percentage and a 1.070 on-base percentage. His .331 average ranked seventh in the league.
LaHair broke Joe Hicks? team record for homers in a season, set in 1984. He?s only the second player in Iowa Cubs history to have at least 30 homers and 30 doubles in a season, joining Mel Hall (1982). But Hicks never played in the �majors, and Hall spent 13 seasons in the bigs.
??Never say never,?? said Cubs manager Mike Quade, who never had a major-league at-bat but found a career in coaching and managing through the minors and majors. ??History may say no, but he wasn?t hanging around Triple A to think that would be his future. There are a handful of guys who got here late.
??What a year he had. He?s always put up numbers, but he was really good this year.??
LaHair joined the Cubs organization last season, batting .308 for Iowa with 25 homers and 81 RBI in 125 games. He came back for another season ??because I just felt I had some unaccomplished things, and this is where I wanted to be. I wanted the opportunity to be a Cub.??
Much of the Cubs? future is uncertain, so a player such as LaHair might have as good of a chance to make the club next spring as anyone. His primary position belongs to Carlos Pena, whose one-year,
$10 million contract makes him among the major question marks of the offseason. Even if Pena is re-signed by the next general manager, he has had no true backup this season. Infielder Jeff Baker has filled the role.
Quade will use LaHair occasionally at first and in the outfield, where he also played this season.
??We?ll pick a game for him here and there,?? he said. ??We?ll mix and match, maybe if [Alfonso] Soriano needs a day.
??You figure out each day how best you can do things. I remember one day last year we played all the kids [in September] and beat the daylights out of Florida. But I think the experience here is invaluable. Any experience you get at this level will help you down the road.
??It?s nice for Bryan to be rewarded, but it?s more than a reward.??
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