After a surprisingly consistent performance his rookie season, Randy Wells disappointed Cubs fans and coaches with a poor sophomore season. Couple that with everyone’s lack of confidence that he’ll be able to bounce back in 2011, and Wells hasn’t been mentioned nearly as much as his teammates.
Ryan Dempster has been in the papers with stories of his charitable work, Matt Garza received a lot of press with his trade to the Cubs, and even Jeff Samardzija received some air-time with speculation that he might try his hand at football once again.
Wells has been virtually invisible, however.
“Randy who?” replied an embarrassed Jim Hendry when asked about the status of Randy Wells. “Oh…I uh…forgot he was still on our team. Looks like I’m going to have to cancel plans to pick up an end of the rotation starter.”
Several Cubs players who arrived to camp early have consistently confused Wells with trainers and personal assistants. Even Starlin Castro, the youngest person on the team, mistook Wells for a member of the grounds crew.
“I want everyone – coaches, teammates, and fans – to know that I’m still part of this team,” said a visibly upset Wells after Castro asked him to smooth out a rough patch of dirt at short. “And I’m going to do my best to not suck this season so people finally remember me once and for all.”
By Michael Kloempken
