Alfonso Soriano, meet Brett Jackson. Congratulations, you are no longer the biggest whiffer in town. After Monday night’s game in San Diego, a visibly ecstatic Soriano was smiling from ear to ear in the Cubs clubhouse after Jackson, the former first-round pick called up on Sunday, took the Golden Sombrero, striking out four times in as many at-bats, a move Soriano has patented during his MLB career.
“I feel like I can finally pass the torch,” said Soriano. “It makes me so happy that I might even think of waiving my no trade clause now so that I can play for a contender, but probably not.”
Jackson, another in the long line of much ballyhooed Cubs center field prospects, struck out a whopping 158 times this season at Triple-A Iowa before his big league call-up. He hopes that Monday’s performance is not an indicator of things to come.
“I try not to think too much about the players that have come up through the system before me,” said Jackson. “So when people tell me that I have the skills of a young Corey Patterson, I kind of shrug it off and tell them that I’d much rather be the next Felix Pie.”
By Jeremy Barewin
