I hate to be a broken record but please go check out the MMCS which is live every Monday before lunch time. I record it with Mahoney. He’s an old friend with south suburb origins and we’ve got a nice little show going here for Chicago sports fans.
In other news I wanted to expand upon my tweet from last night explaining my Mt. Rushmore of Chicago Cubs baseball players. Here’s what we got:
- Sammy – the most significant reason to be a Cubs once Ryne Sandberg’s era ended. Sammy was obviously an amazing player and roided out of his skull. But he was also the most fan friendly guy which I think is rare in hindsight. Usually the best player isn’t also beloved by the fans so universally in MLB. Like how KB was the best player on the Theo era Cubs but everyone loved Rizzo instead. Those examples are all over the place in baseball and it doesn’t apply with Sammy. He was the best. He was our favorite. And played like his hair was on fire every single game. It was so easy to love Sammy Sosa that it really bothers me Ricketts waited basically 15 years to patch things up even though Ricketts was a fake Cubs fan during the Sammy era. He belongs in Cooperstown and it’s not even a debate.
- Javy – the best highlights any base runner has ever put on tape belong to Javy Baez and he wasn’t even close to being the fastest player in his own infield much less batting order. He did it with anticipation and flare. There’s nobody in history that has done the things Javy Baez has done on a baseball field including stealing 1st base against the Pirates and inventing/patenting the swim move swipe slide. It’s much more popular now but at the time I don’t think anyone had revolutionized missing tags to Javy’s extent. And that’s all before we mention him being a plus defender with our best infield arm since Shawon Dunston. So it’s either on the field or on the bases, he’s making jaw dropping plays with regularity and that’s finally before I even mention he did most of this shit with a combined slug over .520.
- Kerry Wood – a lot of people want to see Zambrano in this spot and I understand what you’re saying but I also think you never saw Kerry Wood’s breaking stuff before injury. The Kerry Wood I know and remember is the filthiest 4-seam fastball/breaking ball combination in the history of my life. And he was young and a Texan and homegrown and pitched us to the playoffs his first full season with Sammy and Grace. He gave us the shot of life as a fanbase that carried us into the 2003/04 squad, which held us over enough to 08/09 so we could limp into Ricketts ownership and ultimately Theo’s leadership in 2012, which then brings us the 2015-17 run of success including a World Series. And through that timeline I can trace my passion directly back to Kerry Wood hitting triple digits on Wednesday afternoons when most guys were throwing 92 with bad sliders.
- PCA – He legitimately has the power and the speed to be the best in the National League with respect to MVP voting. And the best part is that his power surge has come out of nowhere. Literally half of the damage would still yield division-leading results and even that would excee expectations. Nobody anywhere at anytime suggested PCA could be this good and that’s making things all the more sensational. Watching him is like having a big night at the casino every time you go into the casino. You’re waiting for luck to run out but it simply refuses to go away. And on top of this, you can always count on elite baserunning and defense when he’s healthy. So even if he has a cold week (lol) you can fall back on him still being a world-class outfielder and baserunner to make up for whatever faults. And not for nothing – every game comes with a new inforgraphic about how he’s the first player since 3 Armed Wilber Magoogleberry…to do XYZ in over a century. Every single game and he’s only 23.
Honorable mention:
- Carlos Zambrano best two way threat but people forget he pitched to a lot of weak contact. His personality and flare was electric but his style of play was more blue collar if that makes sense.
- Jake Arrieta was obviously electric but I think he would roll his eyes at me for putting him on a list and talking about how great he was. He’d much rather have me applaud his early morning mobility routines and overall parenting skills so I’ll save that for a different blog
- Tony Campana was electric for a minute but come on let’s be serious here guys. It’s Tony Campana.
- Derek Lee was a MONSTER which isn’t that electric. Hard to make the list as a 1st baseman named Derek
- I can only remember the last couple years of Sandberg and none of his 80’s stuff so that disqualifies him from my list
- Mark Grace was so far from electric but I love him
- Kyle Farnsworth was electric but also too erratic and I feel like I’d just be rewarding him for beating up Paul Wilson that one time
- Carlos Marmol walked too many guys
- Maybe Travis Wood if he did steroids
- I’m forgetting a bunch so don’t be bashful if there’s someone you love