The Cubs at Wrigley 100 Years
Part II: The Players
There have been hundreds of
Chicago Cubs players to call Wrigley Field home over the last 100 years and I
could probably write a profile post for each of them. In fact, I think that
would be a lot of fun, but instead, I’ll just limit my post to a brief summary
for seven great Cubs players who have entertained the Chicago fans over the
years. Why only seven? Because I’m trying to keep it under a thousand words. Enjoy.
Ernie Banks, First base and Shortstop
1953-1971
Inducted into Baseball Hall of Fame
in 1977
Forever known as “Mr. Cub”,
Banks has the rather unfortunate record of playing the most games in baseball
history (2528) without playing in a World Series. However, his 19-year,
Hall-of-Fame career included being an All-Star 11 times, won a Gold Glove in
1960 and was the National League’s Most Valuable Player in 1958 (when he batted
.313 with 47 home runs and 129 RBIs) and 1959 (.304, 45 and 143). For his
career, he hit 512 home runs, had 1636 RBIs and 2583 total hits.
Billy Williams, Left Field and First
base
1959-1974
Inducted into Baseball Hall of Fame
in 1987
Billy Williams was signed as an
amateur free agent by the Cubs in 1956 and made his MLB debut in 1959. He
didn’t become a regular until 1961, when he batted .278, hit 25 home runs and
added 86 RBIs en route to winning the National League’s Rookie of the Year
Award. Over the rest of his 16 seasons with the Cubs, he was a six-time
All-Star, and would finish runner-up to the MVP award twice. Over his 18-year
career—the final two with the Oakland A’s—he would collect 2711 hits, 426 home
runs, 1475 RBIs and a .290 batting average.
Ron Santo, Third base
1960-1974
Inducted into Baseball Hall of Fame
in 2012
Signed as an amateur free agent
in 1959, Santo made his debut with the Cubs a year later and played 14 years of
his 15-year career on the North Side of Chicago. In his first year he played in
only 96 games, but still performed at a high enough level to finish fourth in
National League Rookie of the Year Award voting. He was an All-Star nine times
and won five Gold Glove Awards. He led the National League in On Base
Percentage in 1964 (.398) and 1966 (.412).
In total, Santo played 2243
games for the Cubs, collecting 2254 hits, 342 home runs and 1331 RBIs. In 1990,
he joined the Cubs broadcast team for WGN as the colour commentator. Santo was
diagnosed with diabetes at the age of 18 was given a life expectancy of 25
years. However, he lived until the age of 70, finally succumbing to the disease
in 2010.
Fergie Jenkins, Pitcher
1966-1973, 1982-1983
Inducted into Baseball Hall of Fame
in 1991
Canadian-born (I had to get that
in there) Ferguson Jenkins was one of the best pitchers in franchise history.
In ten seasons with the Cubs, he won 167 games, threw 154 complete games, 29
shutouts, struck out 2038 batters and won the National League Cy Young Award in
1971 when he compiled a 24-13 record, a 2.77 ERA and struck out 263 hitters.
Over his 19-year career, Jenkins won 284 games, struck out 3192 batters, and
had a 3.34 ERA.
Rick Reuschel,
Pitcher
1972-1981, 1983-1984
A winner of 214 games over his
19-year career, Rick Reuschel would win 135 of those games with the Cubs. While
with Chicago, he would also post a 3.50 ERA, pitch 65 complete games and 17
shutouts, and strike out 1367 batters. His best season was 1977 when he won 20
games (the only time in his career he would reach that mark) and finished third
in Cy Young Award voting.
Ryan Sandberg, Second base
1982-1994, 1996-97
Inducted into Baseball Hall of Fame
in 2005
Ryne Sandberg was the Cubs
leader for most of the 1980s and helped lead the team to two National League
East titles (1984 and 1989). He started with the Philadelphia Phillies in 1981,
played 13 games with the Phils, then was traded to the Cubs before the 1982
season. In his 15 years with Chicago, Sandberg was an All-Star ten times, won
eight Gold Glove Awards, seven Silver Slugger Awards and was the National
League’s Most Valuable Player in 1984.
Sammy Sosa, Right Field
1992-2004
Sammy Sosa enjoyed an 18-year
career that included small stints with the Texas Rangers, Chicago White Sox and
Baltimore Orioles. But it was his 13 seasons with the Cubs that established him
as a super star baseball player. He is best remembered for his pursuit, along
with St. Louis Cardinal Mark McGwire, of Roger Maris’ home run record in 1998.
While McGwire would eventually win the home run title, Sosa would win the N.L.
MVP Award. Along with this 66 homers in 1998, Sosa would go on to hit 63 in
1999 and 64 in 2001, those totals being good enough for third, fifth and sixth
on the all-time single season home run leaders.
For his career, Sosa would hit
609 home runs, good enough for ninth place all-time.
Follow us on Twitter at @topofthethird
No comments:
Post a Comment