Derrek Lee, Still Rockin’

Maybe it’s a good thing that Derrek Lee missed the All-Star Game.  Maybe it was a break for the Cubs that, instead of being in St. Louis with Albert Pujols, Barack Obama and the boys, Lee was at home getting over the neck spasms that chased him from a game last week, and made everyone worry that he was on the verge of becoming the latest Cubs star to join the ranks of the walking (or, in Ryan Dempster‘s case, limping) wounded.

One thing’s for sure – the lay-off didn’t hurt Lee’s bat.  Thursday night in Washington, in the team’s first game since the break, Lee went 3-4, and smashed his 18th homer of the year.  The Cubs easily bested the Nationals (or should I say Natinals) behind Rich Harden‘s six good innings of work.

I’m sure Lou’s second half approach includes forgetting about the first half and just acting like the season is starting over.  The only one who should ignore this advice is Derrek Lee, who needs to build on what he’s done so far this year, and not push the reset button.