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All Cubs Team 1965- 2016: Position Players
Last year I put together my all Cubs team from
1965-2016. Part of the criterion I used
was the players chosen had to have a three year body of work to be included on
the team. I tweaked that at this time.
If a player is instrumental in breaking a 108 World Series victory
drought, they get special consideration.
With that in mind, here goes:
Catcher: Jody
Davis In a few years I expect Willson Contreras will be manning this
position. Willson swings a great bat, is
versatile, and has the tools to be a plus defender. The next time I make a team like this,
Willson will probably be on it. In the
meantime, Randy Hundley and Jody Davis come to mind. I take Davis by a hair. Davis put together some nice seasons for the
Cubs from 1982-1987. He maxed out in
1986 with a WAR of 4.0. That year he 21 homers and drove in 71 runs. Jody also did a nice job defensively.
Hundley was a great defensive catcher and a fine handler
of pitchers. He also swung a decent bat until excessive playing time wore him
out. From 1966-69 he caught in 149,152,
160 and 151 games. Randy is a cautionary
tale of a catcher being run into the ground. Randy merits honorary mention
here.
First
base: Anthony Rizzo In the last three seasons Rizzo has hit 32,
31 and 32 homeruns. His OBP has been
.386, .387 and .385. You could say he’s
consistent. He’s also a gold glove first
baseman and team leader. Not bad for a
guy just heading unto his prime.
Derek Lee had some great years for the Cubs. In 2005 Lee hit 46 homers and knocked in
107. He was also a great defender and
outstanding base runner. His WAR for the
year was 7.7. By the time Mr. Cub, Ernie
Banks was moved to first, he was past his prime. Mark Grace was also a first baseman of note
for the Cubs. During the 90’s, Gracie played a great first base and had an OPS
of around .850. Gracie also was on a
World Series winner. Unfortunately, he
had to go to the Arizona Diamondbacks to do it.
Second
base: Ryne Sandberg With all due respect to Glen Beckert, Manny
Trillo, Ben Zobrist, and even Javy Baez, Sandberg is an easy choice. Ryne was great in the field, an excellent base
runner and had outstanding power. From
1990-92 Ryne put up WARs of 7.1, 7.0 and 7.8.
He was a pleasure to watch.
Shortstop: Addison Russell
After only two seasons, Russell is my choice at short, replacing Don
Kessinger. When Russell came over the
report I heard was he could be another Barry Larkin. It seems now he might project as a little
different type of player. Not worse,
just different. I’m not sure he will hit
for as high an average as Larkin, but he looks to have more power and RBI
potential. Russell’s sophomore year
produced 21 homeruns and 95 RBIs seem to be a harbinger of even better things
to come.
Third
base: Kris Bryant It
took a lot to overturn Ron Santo in this slot in only two seasons. A MVP season on a World Series winning
qualifies as a lot. The thing about
Bryant is he’s getting better. In addition,
he’s a clutch guy. He may also surpass
Mike Trout as the face of baseball.
While Bryant gets the nod here, the Cubs have been well represented at
third over the years.
Ron Santo really was a great player in his prime. Santo’s stats look great, even today, but
keep in mind, the 60’s, Ron’s heyday, was a real pitchers’ era. During the 2000’s Aramis Ramirez gave the
Cubs excellent production while irritating Cubs fans by seeming to, how can I
put this, conserve himself while running out ground balls. Bill Madlock had a three year run in the 70’s
wherein he won two batting titles before being traded away for Bobby Murcer.
Left
field: Billy Williams While
Kyle Schwarber may prove to be the best left handed power hitter I’ve seen on
the Cubs, Billy Williams is the choice here.
Billy was extremely productive from 1961-74 and really did have one of
the sweetest swings I’ve ever seen. This
Hall of Famer is a fairly easy choice in left.
Center
field: Dexter Fowler I was
all set to make Rick Monday the choice here, but then I checked Dexter’s WAR
over the last two seasons and Rick’s WAR during his prime and surprised to see
Dexter had a fairly big edge. Once
again, Dexter was with the Cubs only two seasons, but when you’re the guy that
makes the team go on a team that wins the World Series for the first time in
108 years, you get the benefit of the doubt.
I’m not even mad at him for going to the Cardinals.
Right
field: Sammy Sosa The big
question in right was Andre Dawson or Sammy Sosa? While Sosa has a cloud of PED suspicions
hanging over him, his production was unreal.
He hit 66, 63, 50, 64 and 49 homeruns from 1998-2002. While Andre had some great years with the
Cubs, PED’s or not, Sosa’s production is just too much to overlook. Sosa might have been less than an ideal
teammate,but other Cubs players and management probably helped create that monster.
All Cubs pitchers from 1965-2016 will follow soon
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