Friendship goes a long way for Cubs’ Michael Busch

ATLANTA — Cole Veith is Michael Busch’s best friend, has been since they met in history class in the sixth grade in Inver Grove Heights, Minnesota.

In baseball, Cole played center field. Michael was the shortstop the scouts came to watch. In football, Cole was the star running back, Michael the star quarterback who ran the Veer option that featured Cole. As juniors, they led Simley High School to the state championship game for the first time in 37 years.

They stayed close even after Michael went away to play baseball for the University of North Carolina, then was drafted by the Dodgers in the first round in 2019. As he made his steady ascent through the minor leagues, Cole stayed in regular touch, with phone calls and texts. Michael typically came home in the offseason, and they hung out like always, Cole the avid outdoorsman taking Michael out fishing on his boat.

“Some of my fondest memories,” Cole said, “were duck hunting with him and his dad and his brothers.”

And of course, Chicago is now just a drive away for Cole to see Busch, the Cubs first baseman who at the moment is the hottest hitter in a lineup that has gone cold through the first 13 days of May. So far this month, Busch has posted a robust slash line of .371/.511/.629/1.139. Busch also leads the team this month in RBIs (12) and walks (11).

When Cole does come to Wrigley for a game, he usually wears a Cubs cap and jersey. Before they go out afterward, though, Michael asks his friend for a favor.

“We’ll usually try to grab a bite,’’ Cole said by phone the other day, “but he’ll always ask me to take the jersey off before we go.’’

Now what would possess Michael to do that?

“He hates talking about himself,’’ Cole said.

In the visitors’ clubhouse of Truist Park, Busch gave a little smile when this story is repeated to him.

“I think family and friends, they understand that it’s not like [a desire to duck the fans], it all comes out of love,’’ he said about asking Cole to take off his Cubs gear. “Going out in Chicago, or anywhere, I think those moments are kind of special to me, just to hang out with my family and friends and be present.”

Busch’s smile is reflexive. Back in high school, when he did a get-acquainted Q&A with a high school reporter, he was asked what three words his friends would use to describe him.

“Fun, smiley and nice,’’ he said.

The seventh of Michael Sr. and Judy Busch’s eight kids hasn’t changed a bit, Cole said, a reflection of his parents. It’s one of the reasons Cole’s mom bought a subscription to MLB.TV. She’s not even a baseball fan, but she is a Michael Busch fan.

“His demeanor and character have been the exact same from sixth grade on,’’ Cole said. “It’s really remarkable, at least in my eyes and most everyone else’s. I think that’s what my favorite quality of his is, just how steadfast he’s been .’’

Another word to describe Michael?

“I said resiliency,’’ Cole said, “but he probably wouldn’t give himself that credit. I mean, he’s the most humble guy you’ll ever meet your entire life.’’

Mark Dornfeld was a Division III All-American baseball player at Wisconsin-River Falls who coached Cole and Michael at Simley, the only high school in Inver Grove Heights.

“Did you know,’’ Dornfeld said, “that Michael played his senior year of baseball with a broken wrist? He hit one-handed the whole season.’’

Busch fractured his right wrist while being tackled during a football game. The wrist was sore, but he didn’t know it was broken, and no one took an X-ray until hockey season — yes, he was a star hockey player, too, skating on the same line as another close childhood friend, Dan Pietruszewski, whose dad used to flood the backyard to create a rink. Suddenly, he couldn’t move his wrist. He immediately had surgery, the wrist was placed in a cast and then a splint, and his hockey-playing days were over.

But come spring, Busch, who had already committed to playing at North Carolina, showed up for the start of Simley’s baseball season. Hitting one-handed? “It was challenging to hold the bat,’’ he said. “Let’s say I hit one-and-a-half-handed.

“They said basically, that I couldn’t break it again and it’s kind of up to you. I wanted to be out there and wanted to play. The doctors told me it was going to be a battle, but that moving it around and swinging, doing all those things, will bring some of that strength back.’’

That decision came as no surprise to Veith.

“He was always a warrior,’’ he said. “Him and I had back injuries. We had ankle injuries. He had the wrist injury, he had a concussion. It was small town. There really isn’t a ‘next man in line.’’’

That resiliency showed itself as Busch’s path to the majors was stalled when the Dodgers signed superstar Freddie Freeman to play Busch’s position, first base. He blossomed after his trade to the Cubs before the 2024 season, last season hitting 34 home runs and driving in 90 runs, but he had the wherewithal to survive his painfully slow start this year, when he didn’t hit a home run until 22 games in the season and was still batting .190 at the end of April.

“I think being the age (28) that I am, and having quite a few years, not only in the major leagues but the minor leagues, under my belt, I have learned a lot about this game and how … to ride through [slumps]. Yeah, I think resiliency for sure is something I remind myself of, sticking with and understanding the foundation that I built in the times I struggled and learning how to get out of those times.’’

Look up and down the Cubs’ lineup, Busch said, and this is what he sees.

“There are so many guys who are uber-talented, a lot of experience, all the talent in the world. But beyond that, it’s a group that, they show up and work regardless the outcomes.

“Show up every day, play hard, do all the little things, not only hitting, but so much detail on the defensive side, and base running. How can we get that next advantage?’’

And in the middle of it all, the seventh of Michael and Judy Busch’s eight kids, equal parts humility and resilience.