Dempster the improbable ace as Cubs chase history

Oct 1, 2008 - 10:01 AM By Chris Bellamy PA SportsTicker Staff Writer

Carlos Zambrano is the presumptive ace with the $91.5 million contract. Rich Harden was the high-profile, mid-season acquisition. Both are available, but neither will be on the mound when the Chicago Cubs kick off the first round of the playoffs on Wednesday.

Instead, that responsibility will go to veteran righthander Ryan Dempster, who gets the call for Game One against the Los Angeles Dodgers.

Though it may go against conventional wisdom to give the ball to a converted closer who has never made a postseason start, in a way, it makes sense. After all, it was Dempster who predicted in February that the Cubs would win the World Series for the first time since 1908. It's only fair that he gets the nod as the Cubs attempt to do just that.

"Just coming into spring training and seeing how everybody was excited to be there, excited at the challenge of trying to go out and win a championship, that it kind of, as individuals, pumped us all up," Dempster said. "I knew the ramifications of saying something like that, but at the same time I believed it, and I wanted everybody in there to believe it, because we have the talent to do it, we have the ability to do it, and it just comes down to being healthy, being prepared, and going out."

It's been an unexpected series of events for the 31-year-old British Columbia native, once a highly touted starting-pitching prospect for the Texas Rangers whose career took a downturn after a couple of abysmal seasons with the Cincinnati Reds. Following recovery from "Tommy John" surgery in August 2003, he had spent the last four years primarily in the bullpen.

He was entrenched as the team's closer until this spring, when manager Lou Piniella moved him into a starting role - a somewhat surprising move, considering the club had signed veteran righthander Jon Lieber - who won 20 games for the Cubs in 2001 - during the offseason to fill out the rotation.

The move paid off. Dempster (17-6, 2.96 ERA) won his first four decisions of the year and went on to earn his second career All-Star appearance, having previously made it in 2000 with the Florida Marlins. He set career-bests in wins and ERA, and the control problems that had hampered him for much of his career finally were, well, under control.

As the Cubs and Dodgers get set to square off, Piniella is once again putting his faith in Dempster. That, or he's just playing the odds - Dempster was nearly unbeatable at Wrigley Field, winning his first 10 decisions there and going 14-3 in 20 starts overall. He won his last two home starts to help the Cubs wrap up the National League Central, giving up three runs and striking out 10 in 11 innings.

"It's a great place to pitch," Dempster said. "I know people talk about it being a little bit of a smaller ballpark and the wind blowing out. But I like the mound, I like the backdrop. It's comfortable obviously when you're in your own home ballpark and you've got the fans behind you."

His lone playoff appearance was tossing one inning of scoreless ball against the Arizona Diamondbacks in an 8-4, Game Two loss in last year's NLDS. The Cubs eventually were swept. A year later, his one-inning days are over, and it appears he's Piniella's go-to guy.

"I felt prepared for it," Dempster said of his transition from closer to ace. "I felt like I worked really hard, physically. Mentally I felt like maybe I was a little bit smarter, had a little bit better idea of how to pitch ... Did I think I'd be sitting here getting ready to start Game One of the NLDS? Probably not, but I'm getting ready, and I'm confident."