Chicago Cubs “All-Time 9″

Back in September, MLB.com did a survey of fans to determine each teams “All-Time 9″, that is the best single season performance at each position.

The candidates for the Cubs can be found HERE and the results (through 9/25/09) can be found HERE.

Seeing as the Cubs have accomplished their # 1 goal of the offseason by trading Milton Bradley and that nothing else appears imminent, I thought it would be interesting to look at the voting for each of the 9 position as compared to my selections.

Catcher – Gabby Hartnett (.344 ave, 13 HR, 91 rbi’s, 67 runs and 1 SB in 1935) wins easily with 54.6% of the vote.  The next closest is Jody Davis (1984) with 17.5%.  Hartnett was my selection as well as the Hall of Famer far outperformed all the other candidates and this wasn’t even his best season.  He hit .339 with 37 HR’s, 122 rbi’s and 84 runs, albeit in the year of the hitter, 1930.

Firstbase – Derrek Lee (2005) more than doubled up Mark Grace (1995), 63.1% to 27.3%.  I voted for Lee as well, as its hard to argue with the line of .335/46/107/120/15.  Grace’s line of .326/16/92/97/6 pales in comparison.

Secondbase - The first controversial selection has Ryne Sandberg (1990) edging Rogers Hornsby (1929) 57.5% to 40.5%.  Now I know that Sandberg is a beloved player in Cubs history, but Hornsby’s line of .380/39/149/156/2 is superior to Sandberg’s line of .306/40/100/116/25 no matter how you slice it.  Just consider that Hornsby’s OPS for 1929 was 1.138 compared to Sandberg’s .913.  In fact, the only offensive categories that Sandberg beat Hornsby in are HR’s (by just 1) and SB’s.  I think this is just short-sightedness on the part of Cubs fans.

Shortstop – This was a landslide as Ernie Bank’s 1958 line of .313/47/129/119/4 was far superior to any other Cubs shortstop that Banks earned 94.9% of the vote.  Shawon Dunston’s 1995 season was a distant second at 2.7%.

Thirdbase – Ron Santo (1964), the sentimental favorite, won with 61.5% of the votes, over Aramis Ramirez (2004).  I ended up picking Ramirez, but this was a close call.  Santo’s line of .313/30/114/94/3 compares well with Ramirez’s line of .318/36/103/99/0.  I would still take Ramirez, but its hard to argue against Santo.

Outfield – The top 3, as selected by the fans, were: (1) Billy Williams (1970), 30.7%, with a line of .322/42/129/137/7; (2) Andre Dawson (1987) 26%, with a line of .287/49/137/90/11; and (3) Hack Wilson (1930) 17.4%, with a line of .356/56/191/146/3.  The biggest controversy here is that Sammy Sosa’s 1998 line of .308/66/158/134/18 only received 6.1% of the votes.  Obviously, the steroids stigma played a large role in that decision for Cubs fans and if the voting had taken place 10 years ago, Sosa would have won hands down.  For the record, I voted for Wilson, Sosa and Williams (in that order).

Pitcher - This one I think was decided more by the pitcher than the hitting line as Fergie Jenkins (1971) beat out Carlos Zambrano (2006) 55.6% to 35.8%.  Again, Cubs fans have soured on Zambrano (my choice) and his antics, but his batting line .337/4/14/9/0 is superior to Jenkins’ line of .243/6/20/13/0.

So, there you have it, the Cubs All Time 9, as selected by you, the fans.

One thing that I would like to see now is the Cubs All Time Rotation with the 5 best starting pitching seasons by a Cubs’ hurler.  There have been many great pitching seasons by the Cubs, including Rick Sutcliffe (1984,) Fergie Jenkins (1967, 1968 and 1971), Greg Maddux (1992), Mordecai “Three Finger” Brown (1906-1909), Mark Prior (2003), Rube Waddell (1903-1905), Grover Cleveland Alexander (1920) and Rick Reuschel (1977).

I am going to come up with my list of the All Time Cubs Rotation as well as my All-Time Bullpen seasons as well.

Look for it after Christmas.  Until then, have a Merry Christmas everyone.

Tags: All Time 9, Andre Dawson, Aramis Ramirez, Billy Williams, Carlos Zambrano, Chicago Cubs, Derrek Lee, Ernie Banks, Fergie Jenkins, Gabby Hartnett, Greg Maddux, Grover Cleveland Alexander, Hack Wilson, Jody Davis, Mark Grace, Mark Prior, Mordecai Brown, Rick Reuschel, Rick Sutcliffe, Rogers Hornsby, Ron Santo, Rube Waddell, Ryne Sandberg, Sammy Sosa, Shawon Dunston