Bobby Scales is 31 years old and has played minor league baseball for the past ten years. Until last week, he had never played in a Major League game. But on Monday, May 4, Scales joined the Cubs at Wrigley Field and the next day he got his first Major League start. He also got his first Major League hit and scored his first Major League run. To make the moment even sweeter, Scales first Major League hit came off 2008 Cy Young Award winner Tim Lincecum. After the game, Scales was given the ball he had hit to record his first big league hit, and the scorecard that Manager Lou Piniella kept during the game. For Scales, it was a big day.
This would have been a “feel good” story even if Scales had been sent back down to the Minors the next day, but the story has just gotten better. Just three days after Scales big day, Cubs third baseman Aramis Ramirez injured his shoulder and was placed on the DL. Suddenly, Scales went from a career Minor Leaguer to a guy who is seeing almost daily action at the big league level. And he’s making the most of it.
After collecting his first hit and scoring his first run in his first start, Scales has gone on to collect eight hits in 18 at-bats for a stout .444 batting average. He’s scored six runs and has driven in five. His best outing came today when he went 2-for-4, drove in four, and scored two runs in a Cubs victory over San Diego, the club that originally selected Scales in the 14th round of the 1999 draft.
The thing that makes Scales story so compelling is the kind of guy he is. Throughout his career, he has been a good teammate and a positive influence in the locker room. His Minor League managers and teammates have commented on his positive attitude and his willingness to continually work hard, despite the fact that it was beginning to look like he may never get a shot in the big leagues.
On Scales’ first day at Wrigley Field, there was a package waiting for him; a bottle of champagne sent by his former teammate, Brian Sweeney. Along with the bubbly came a card that read simply, “All the hard work paid off.” The fact that Scales hadn’t spoken to Sweeney in two or three years, but wasn’t forgotten by his friend on his first day in the bigs says a lot about the kind of person Scales is. So is the fact that two of his college roommates from the University of Michigan – one living in Philadelphia and the other in Chicago – were sitting in the front row at Wrigley for his first Major League start.
Cubs teammate Micah Hoffpauir was waiting in the dugout for Scales after he scored his first big league run. Hoffpauir hugged Scales and congratulated him. As his teammate in triple-A, Hoffpauir knew about all of the hard work and sacrifice it had taken for Scales to make it to the show. In an interview after the game, Hoffpauir gave credit to Scales for the fact that Hoffpauir himself had gotten called up to the Cubs last year.
“He’s the reason I got here last year because he got on base for me,” Hoffpauir said in the interview.
In the off-season, Scales works as a substitute teach in Alpharetta, GA. He teaches physical education and health classes. If he keeps hitting the way he’s hitting now, he won’t need an off-season job. Of course, it’s always good to have something to fall back on.
