31-year-old Scales finally makes big league debut

[May 06, 2009]  CHICAGO (AP) -- When he heard that his manager -- his first-ever big league skipper -- had called him a "kid," Bobby Scales couldn't help but smile.

"Sounds good to me," he said. "Maybe we can hoodwink him and make him think I'm 26."

Scales is 31 years and seven months old, so he wasn't about to fool Lou Piniella. But the "kid" did impress the Chicago Cubs manager Tuesday in his major league debut.

After 11 years of bouncing around the minor leagues -- dreaming and hoping and yearning for just a chance to perform on baseball's biggest stage -- Scales started at second base at Wrigley Field. He singled sharply to left field in the fifth inning off San Francisco's Tim Lincecum, the 2008 NL Cy Young winner, scored a run and made a diving stop to rob Bengie Molina of a hit.

"Congratulations on his first major league hit," Piniella said, "and hopefully he gets a lot more."

Scales knows all too well that he might never get another hit in the majors, or even another chance.

In two days, the Cubs will call up a pitcher to replace injured Carlos Zambrano and Scales likely will return to Triple-A Iowa, where the dreaming, hoping and yearning will begin anew.

"I don't know how long I'm going to be here, so go ahead and get one mark on the board," said Scales, who also struck out twice and hit a sinking liner that right fielder Randy Winn dove to catch.

"I knew for a fact that I could play here. That never wavered. Whether you get opportunities or not, that's not up to me. There are guys I know -- good players that had better numbers than me -- who never got a chance for whatever reason."

He has a .285 career average in the minors, where he has amassed 3,303 at-bats.

"I kind of wondered if today was going to come but there was no doubt in my mind I could play," Scales said. "No matter what happens the rest of the way, they can't take it from me. I got it. I earned it. And I'm just fortunate to have it."

Drafted by San Diego in the 14th round in 1999 from the University of Michigan, Scales lately has supplemented his income by working as a substitute teacher during the offseason.

Playing all over the country, from Idaho Falls to Fort Wayne to Lake Elsinore to Mobile to Portland to Scranton to Pawtucket to Iowa, Scales has seen plenty. So one can understand why he all but shrugged his shoulders when asked about facing the hard-throwing Lincecum.

"He threw me a heater, I swung at it and fortunately for me it found some grass," Scales said. "It felt good. It was solid. It's not rocket science. A fastball's a fastball."

After Scales came around to score, Cubs outfielder Micah Hoffpauir, a 29-year-old rookie who also had a long wait for his big league debut, hugged his teammate in the dugout.

"He's put in the time, he's worked hard and he deserves everything he's got," Hoffpauir said. "It's a good story."

Struck out by Jeremy Affeldt to end the game, Scales entered the clubhouse to find a bottle of champagne in his locker. It was sent by former teammate Brian Sweeney and included a note reading: "All the hard work paid off."

"I played with him in Portland in 2005," Scales said. "He got his break late, too. He told me, 'You're going to get an opportunity, just stay with it. It may take longer.' Honestly, I hadn't heard from him in years."

Meanwhile, over in the visiting clubhouse, Lincecum, a baby-faced 24-year-old, twice called Scales a "young guy."

The pitcher also said: "He just looks like a good baseball player."

Which is all Bobby Scales ever wanted to be.

[Associated Press]

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