Cubs Additions

CUBS PRE needs
RP-depth and improvement
SP depth--1938 Bill C. Lee nice addition, no card

Now that the first cards are in play, here are some early bird thoughts on possible additions:

1/ George "Piano Legs" Gore. 1885 season. Lefthanded hitting outfielder. I know there are those who are against the addition of pre-1894 players, but Gore was a very good player (by JAWS standards the 57th best CFer ever). His slash line in 1885 was .313/.405/.454, looks like some speed, 13 triples in 449 abs, lots of walks. Would be a nice addition to the Cubbies deadball roster.

2/ Paul Gillespie. 1945 season. Lefthand hitting catcher. Part of the 1945 Cubs team that went to the WS. .288/.366/.380 slash line. Looks to be reasonably good defensively. Answer to the question "Name one of two players to hit homers in their first and last ML at-bats." Would give the Pre-War Cubs a slightly better second catcher.

3/ Ernie Banks. 1958 season. I know...we already have a bunch of Banks cards. Can there ever be too many? This man is what baseball is all about (see also Willie Mays). The other MVP year that we don't have. .313/.366/.614 slash line. Arguably his best offensive year ever. Led the league in GPs (so what's new?), ABs, HRs, RBIs, Slugging, TBs. Did I mention that this is Ernie Banks?

would like to second that '63 Ellsworth, not too proud to beg, no offense to a battalion of WSox lefties, Trout, or Holtzman, but he was THE lefty of my youth.

also would like a good year by Aramis Ramirez or Derek Lee


have been jonesing for a '66, '67', or '68 Dolfo Philips AND an Ernie Banks as 1b card

can't recreate the doomed '69 Cubs w/out an Ernie 1b card.

Walt Wilmot 1894

Confirm promoted players. Andy and BDWard are the current ambassadors, room for one more if someone wants to be a part of the final suggestions.

SP - Bill C Lee 1938
SS - Ivan DeJesus 1978

2005 Derrek Lee, .335 46 107 .418 .662 1.080 with 50 Doubles. Won a gold glove at 1B.
To put Lee's season in perspective, he had more HRs, a higher batting average, higher slugging, higher OPS, more doubles, more total bases and higher OPS+ than Miguel Cabrera did in his 2012 triple crown MVP season. Plus, he hit into just 12 double plays, compared to Cabrera's 28.

2001 Sammy Sosa .328 64 160 .437 .737 1.174. Sosa is the only player in baseball history to hit 60+ HRs in a season 3 times and this was the final season he did it. Again, compared to Cabrera's 2012 triple crown season, Sosa had 20 more HRs, 21 more RBI and hit just two points lower. Also, Sosa had higher slugging, higher OPS, more total bases and higher OPS+. This should be Sosa's best card, as he had career highs in runs, BA, BB, OBP, slugging, total bases, OPS and OPS+. Plus, he'll be bulletproof. If Sixto Lezcano's new card is $9 mil+, Sosa's card should be in the $11 mil range.

1974 Rick Monday .294 20 58 .375 .467 .842. Monday had a fine 19 year big league career with the A's, Cubs and Dodgers and this was his career high BA while he was a regular at a time when hitting .294 ,meant that you were a good hitter. The Cubs are woefully short on good lefty sticks and Monday hit .313 vs lefties that year and .285 against righties. This card should be an improvement over Monday's 1975 card, where he hit just .267. If nothing else, Monday should have his best card for saving the flag 40 years ago when two idiots tried to burn it on the field:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IrV8QPQAhxo

1993 Rick Wilkins .303 30 73 .376 .561 .937. The post WWII & expansion Cubs are woefully short on good catching. But for one season, Rick Wilkins became one of just a handful of major league lefty hitting catchers to hit .300 and smash 30 HRs in the same season. While he was platooned most of the year, hitting just .226 against lefties, Wilkins' 1993 season still ranks as one of the best for a Cubs catcher other than those of Gabby Hartnett. It's too bad injuries limited him thereafter.

2004 Aramis Ramirez .318 36 103 .373. .578 .951. The Cubs stole Ramirez from the Pirates when the Pirates dumped him for salary purposes. For nine years thereafter, Ramirez put up consistently good numbers with the Cubs, averaging
25+ Hrs a year and a .294 BA while playing a respectable 3B.

1971 Glenn Beckert .342 2 42 .367 .406 .773. Beckert was a slick fielding good hitting 2nd baseman for the Cubs from the late '60s leading up to 1971, his best season. In the 5 seasons from 1966 to 1970, Beckert averaged nearly .290 when that average was nearly unheard of for second basemen of that era. He even won a gold glove in 1968. His best season was 1971 at age 30, and he should have had several more big seasons thereafter, but late in the season, he tore his achilles and he was never the same afterwards.

1963 Dick Ellsworth 22-10 2.11 just 14 HRs and 75 BBs surrendered in 290 innings, with 1.025 WHIP. Cubs could use a lefty starting pitcher in the post WWII set.

If nothing else, Monday should have his best card for saving the flag 40 years ago when two idiots tried to burn it on the field

I don't know if you've heard, but the Supreme Court ruled in 1989 (Texas v Johnson) and in 1990 (United States v. Eichman) that flag burning is a legitimate form of political expression that is thus protected by the First Amendment. As the justices wrote, 'While flag desecration – like virulent ethnic and religious epithets, vulgar repudiations of the draft, and scurrilous caricatures – is deeply offensive to many, "the Government may not prohibit the expression of an idea simply because society finds the idea itself offensive or disagreeable."' I have nothing against adding another card for Monday on the purely baseball-related merits that you argue for very persuasively, but please do not use the excuse of "saving the flag" for putting him in.

Bill

2001 Sosa would be my pick.

Yo, Stevo, that joke about Steve Bartman is not funny. His life was ruined because of idiots. How about Alex Gonzalez, Mark Prior or Dusty Baker?

Please include me as a Cubs ambassador.

Bill