Sunday Monday

 According to baseball reference there are only a handful of players who have had the first name, nickname or last name of a day of the week.  The 2 players with any significant playing time were both outfielders for the Chicago Cubs and both are more known for activities removed from the regular activities of a basbeball player.  These players are Billy Sunday and Rick Monday and while they played a century apart from each other they do have some things in common. 

Billy Sunday who played in the National League from 1883 to 1890 (1883 to 1887 with the Cubs, who went by the name White Stockings during those years) led baseball in 1890 with most double plays as an outfielder with 11.  Rick Monday who played from 1966 to 1984 (1972 to 1976 with the Cubs) led the American League in 1867 with 6 double plays as an outfielder and then in 1974, as a Cub, led the National League in the same category with 5. 

Billy Sunday who is still ranked in the top 250 on the all time list for steals (#246 with 246 steals) is best remember for saving souls than stealing bases.  He is probably the 2nd most well known evangelist in the United States behind Billy Graham. You can read more about Sunday and Graham by going to my blog HSD.

Rick Monday is also known more for saving although he was neither an evangelist or a relief pitcher.

In 1976 at a game in Los Angeles a father son tandem tried to burn an American Flag. Monday intervened as you can see below . . .  

Billy and Rick , two Cubs outfielders who made the most of their days. 

Remembering Dick Allen

 Dick Allen died earlier this month on December 7,2020 at the age of 78. Allen was the NL rookie of the year for the Philadelphia Phillies in 1964, the year I was born. He played for the White Sox form 1972 to 1974 and was a big part of the reason why I switched allegiances from the Chicago Cubs to their south side counterpart  White Sox. 

It transpired something like this.  My sister was the grade ahead of me at school and achieved straight A's at school one year.  Our school had a promotion with the White Sox that if you had straight A's or perfect attendance you would receive 2 vouchers for tickets to a White Sox game.  My Dad took my sister to a game and I decided that the next year I would get perfect attendance and he could take me

Sure enough, the next year I had perfect attendance for the first and only time in my academic life. My Dad took me to a game in 1972 or out the roof shots and it was1973 against the Baltimore Orioles.  He taught me how to keep score and Dick Allen hit a home run.  

From that day on I was a White Sox fan. I watched games on T.V. and listened to the rest on the radio.  I even became a country music fan as the White Sox games were broadcast on the local country station.  The rest of the family remained Cubs fans (I still like the Cubs because no one told me other wise, ) but my exuberance was for the White Sox.  Each year our family took a pilgrimage to Wrigley to watch a game.   Each year my Dad found away usually near my birthday to take me to a White Sox game as well.

I liked all the players, Bucky Dent. Wilbur Wood, Jorge Orta, Bill Melton but Allen was by far my favorite. Over the years the players changed but my passion for the White Sox never ebbed. I have had many favorite White Sox players over the years Kessinger, Fisk, Thomas, Buehrle, and Konerko just to name a few,  but those fond memories of watching Allen at first base or at the plate never  did fully dissipate.

Click here to watch footage of Allen with commentary from teammate Bill Melton. I also have put some video and audio clips of Allen at my vlog, Dave Out Loud. 

Allen at the Bat

Allen in the Field

Iconic Sports Illustrated Cover

    

    

White Sox defeat Cubs in exhibition game at Wrigley Field.

This past Sunday Evening in Chicago, a cross town rivalry resumed days before the covid 19 shortened baseball season got underway.  

Jason Kipnis homered for the Cubs in their half of the first inning giving them a one run lead.  Kipnis hit 12 homers against the White Sox as a member of the Cleveland Indians.  The Cubs added to their lead in the second as Wilson Contreras scored on a sacrifice fly in the second.  

The score remained 2-0 until the top of the 5th inning.  With one out, Adam Engel who is known more for robbing opposing batters of home runs, robbed Cubs starter Kyle Hendricks of a shut-out by homering himself.  

After the Engel homer, Tim Anderson singled and Eloy Jimenezflew out to right field and what happened next could only bedescribed as a good old fashioned 2 out rally.  Jose Abreusingle to right moving Anderson to 3rd and removing Hendricks from the game. Jharel Cotton came in to pitch for the Cubs and Andrew Vaughn came into run for Abreu. Yasmani Grandal then doubled in Anderson and  Vaughn giving the White Sox the lead. 

The south siders were not finished yet.  Grandals hit was just the first of three run scring doubles in succession. Edwin Encarnacion who made his major league debut for the Cincinatti Reds in the White Sox World Championship year of 2005 and is  right about to begin his 16th season in the major leagues and his first for the White Sox hit a double to left  plating Grandal.  Then Luis Robert, who has yet to make his major league debut and was 8 years old when the White Sox won it all in 2005 hit a ground rule double to score Encarnacion.  

 

 Luis Gonzalez came into run for Robert.  Leury Garcia  tripled to score Gonzalez.  This brought up Cheslor Cuthbert who just came over to the White Sox from the Royals who had the misfortune of making the first and final outs of the inning.  But when Cuthbert made out #1 his team was behind 2-0, when he made out #3 they were ahead 6-2. 

The White Sox added a run to that lead on a wild pitch in the seventh and the Cubs took that run away in the 8th as David Bote scored Josh Phegley in the 8th ending the scoring at 7-3 White Sox.  

Baines and Smith make all my unofficial HOF balloting official

Lee Smith HOF 2019

I was driving home from work on December  when I got floored by unexpected good news.  I was working an overnight weekend job for the holidays and turned my radio on while driving past all the mopes on their way to work. The national news was on and the last story was about the baseball Hall of Fame.  Harold Baines and Lee Smith were both selected to the Baseball Hall of Fame by the modern era committee. 

Harold Baines HOF 2019

 This came as both a delight and surprise to me.  Since I began this blog in 2009 there has been no greater advocate to HOF consideration and inclusion for Baines and Smith than myself  Each year in these very pages I pretend I have a vote for the Hall.  Go back into the archives and each year you will see me eloquently persuade the inclusion of either gentleman into the Hall.

Harold Baines  began his career with the White Sox in 1980 and finished his career there as well in 2001.  He had 3 stints with them 1980 to 1989, 1996 and 1997 and then came back in 2000 and retired in 2001.  He also played for the Baltimore Orioles 3 separate times (1993-1995,1997-1998, &2000) In between He played for the Rangers , Athletics and Indians.  Baines was predominantly a right fielder in his first 7 years in the Majors.  From 1988 to 1992 he transitioned to designated hitter  playing some outfield. From 1993 on he was used exclusively as a DH with the exception of one game in right field for the Sox in 1997.

In 1980 while Baines was starting his HOF career on the south side of Chicago, Lee Smith began his HOF journey on the North side with the Cubs.  He played for the Cubs from 1980 to 1987 and then played for the Red Sox from 1988 to 1990, In 1990 he went to St. Louis and was there until mid 1993 when he finished the year with the Yankees. In 1994 He and Baines were teammates in Baltimore.  He finished his career with stints for the angels (1995-1996) Reds (1996) before finishing up with the Expos in 1997.  Smith was a reliever for the vast majority of his career finishing 802 games and earning 478 saves.

I have read several places that Baines and Smith belong in the Hall of Very Good and not the Hall of Fame.  This just does not hold up.  The truth is that they are both Hall of fame caliber in their positions of Designated Hitter and Relief Pitcher.   In baseball reference,com they rank players in similarity.  4 of the 5 players most similar to Baines, Tony Perez, Al Kaline,  Billy Williams & Andre Dawson are Hall of Famers.  Lee Smith best comps to Trevor Hoffman who made the HOF last year and Mariano Rivera, a lock to do so this year. 

Congratulations to both Baines and Smith I look forward to your future enshrinement.

R is for Ron

Cubs Home run hitters from Aramis to Zimmerman

R is for Ronny

Ron Santo

Cubs, White Sox

I may be the only person who liked it when Ron Santo came to the White Sox for his final season in 1974.  I was a kid,I had just switched alliances from the Cubs to the Sox and one of my favorite Cubbies was coming to the South Side.
The person who liked the arrangement the least was  probably Santo himself .  He wanted and thought he deserved to retire as a Cub.  When the Cubs let him go he opted to go play for the Chi-Sox, as he had thought he had more in the tank.

As it  turns out he had very little left in the tank and had an abysmal year.  Instead of focusing on his unhappy ending, I prefer to look back at the amazing things he did as a Cub.  

Santo hit 337 of his 342 career homers for the Cubs. He averaged 30 homers per season between 1964 and 1968.  During that same 5 year span he also had 5 consecutive gold glove awards so he was definitely a stellar offensive and defensive player.  

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Q is for Quest

Cubs Homerun hitters from Aramis to Zimmermanan 

Joe Quest 1852 - 1924

Cleveland Forest Citys. Indianapolis Blues, Chicago Cubs as White Stockings, Detroit Wolverines, St. Louis Cardinals as Browns , Pittsburgh Pirates as Alleghenys, Philadelphia Athletics

Q:  If your last name or first name began with the letter Q, how many homers as a Cub would you need to own the outright record?

A: 2

Joe Quest played  second base for the Chicago Cubs  in the 19th century, back when they were called  the Chicago White Stockings.  Quest,  a very good defensive player, was not much of a hitter. In his 10 year professional career, he batted .217 and hit 1 HR in 2295 at bats. This is an average of 0 homers in a 162 game season.  By comparison of the 250 major leaguers who played from 2005 to 2014 and had 2295 AB or more, 54%  had 100 or more homers,  83.6 % had 50 or more and all 250 had at least 7 more homers than Quest over the same time period.   

Quest did win back to back to back pennants with the White Stockings from  1880 to 1882.  Quest is most famous for coining the phrase Charlie Horse as a term for a muscle cramp.  There are several version of how this came to be, one states that he and several of his teammates were at a horse race and all his teammates wagered money on a horse with Charlie in his name.  Quest had  not wagered on that horse.  During the race, the horse pulled up lame, and Quest made a quip about that Charlie horse not doing so well.  The next day, as one account has it, one of his teammates had the same type of injury in the course of the game, and Quest said he's just like that Charlie Horse.  

Quest's nickname for cramp is now forever etched in the English language,  but his Cubs Q homerun record is just 2 long balls from extinction. 

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P is for Pafko

Cubs Home run hitters from Aramis to Zimmerman

P is for Pafko

Andy Pafko
1921-2013

Cubs,Dodgers (Brooklyn),Braves (Milwaukee) 

Andy Pafko played outfield for the Cubs from 1943 to 1951 when he was moved to Brooklyn Dodgers midseason.  Pafko was an all star 4 consecutive years (1947 to 1950).  Pafko batted .294 as a Cub over 9 seasons and hit 126 of his 213 MLB homers with Chicago. This places him 16th all time in Cubs Home run hitters.  After the Cubs Pafko played with Jackie Robinson in Milwaukee and Hank Aaron In Milwaukee.   

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O is for O'Farrell

Cubs Home run hitters from Aramis to Zimmerman

O is for O'Farrell

Robert "Bob Arthur O'Farrell
1896-1988

Cubs,Cardinals, Giants, Reds 

On September 23,1935 Bob O'Farrell played the last of his 1,492 major league ball games.  666 of these were played with the Cubs in 2 stints on the northside.  He played from 1915 to 1925 with the Cubs and again in 1934.  O'Farrell was replaced by Gabby Hartnett as  the starting catcher for the Cubs  when he was out with an injury.  O'Farrel was traded to the Cardinals in the middle of 1925 campaign.  In 1926 O'Farrell won the NL MVP award for the Cards.  As a Cub, O'Farrell excelled offensively and defensively and hit  27 of his 51 round  trippers for the Cubbies.

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N is for Nichholson

Cubs Home run hitters from Aramis to Zimmerman

N is for Nicholson 

Bill Nicholson 1914-1996

Athletics as Philadelphia Athletics, Cubs, Phillies

Bill Nicholson played all but 11 of his 1677 major league ball games in the National League.  He had a cup of coffee with the Philadelphia Athletics in 1936 where he went 0-12 in his only 12 American League plate appearances.  He came back to the Major leagues in 1939 the first of 19 consecutive season with the Cubs.  He languished in Philadephia for the Phillies for 5 years at the end of his career where he only saw limited action.  His time with the Cubs was the pinnacle of his 16 season career.  He made 4 all star teams from 1940 to 1944 and helped the Cubs to their last World Series appearance in 1945.His  245 doubles with the team  puts him 16 on the all time list and  his 205 homers makes him the 8th most prolific Cubs home-run hitter of all time.  

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M is for Mark

Cubs Home run hitters from Aramis to Zimmerman

M is for Mark 

Mark Grace

Cubs, Diamondbacks

Mark Grace played 13 of his 16 big league seasons for the Chicago Cubs from 1988 to 2000. Although the 3 time all star never had a 20 HR season his longevity with the Cubs puts his 148 Homers for them as 14th on the all time list.  25 homers with Arizona at the end of his career puts him with 173 homers all toll.

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L is for Lee

Cubs Home run hitters from Aramis to Zimmerman

L is for Lee

Derrek Lee

 Padres, Marlins, Cubs, Braves, Orioles, Pirates

Derrek Lee played for the Cubs from 2004 to 2010.  A two time all star and fan favorite who hit 319 major league homers.  179 of those long balls came for the Cubbies, which puts him 12th on the all time list.

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K is for Keith

Cubs Home run hitters from Aramis to Zimmerman

K is for Keith 

Keith Moreland


PhilliesCubs, Padres, Tigers Orioles

Keith Moreland played baseball from 1978 to 1989.  He started with the Phillies and came to the Cubs  in 1982.  He played 6 seasons with the Cubs and left for San Diego after the '87 season came to a close.  While about 69 % (902) of his 1306 games were with the Cubs 100 (87%) of his 115 homers were hit for the Northsiders.  

The former Cubs raidio announcer's 100 dingers was good enough for 20th all time for the Cubs until  Anthony Rizzo over took him last year.  

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J is for Jody

Cubs Home run hitters from Aramis to Zimmerman

J is for Jody

Jody Davis


Cubs, Braves 

Jody Davis caught for the Cubs from 1981 to 1988 and played parts of 3 seasosn with the Atlanta Braves retiring in 1990 from Major League Baseball.  Davis hit 122 of his 127 major league homers for the Cubs  which places him 17th on the Cubs all time list.

Davis a 2 time all star with 1 gold glove to his credit was a fan favorite and is still well revered on the north side.  

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I is for Irvin

Cubs Home run hitters from Aramis to Zimmerman

I is for Irvin

Monte Irvin (HOF)

1919 -2016

Giants, Cubs

The first paragraph of Monte Irvin's page at the baseball hall of fame website reads as follows

Monte Irvin was not the first African-American player in the modern major leagues, but of all the talented players who made the perilous trip from the Negro leagues to the big leagues in the late 1940s, Irvin may have been the best.

Irvin played with the Newark Eagles of the Negro League and came to the major leagues with the New York Giants in 1949 and played seven season there.  In 1956 he finished his career with the Cubs and hit 15  of his 99 major league homers in his farewell season.  Irving was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 1973.

Irvin passed a way in January of this year 6 week prior to his 97th birthday.

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H is for Hank Sauer

Cubs Home run hitters from Aramis to Zimmerman

H is for Hank

Hank Sauer

1917 - 2001

Hank Sauer , a 2 time all star and NL MVP of 1952 was a Cubs outfielder from 1950 to 1955.   He hit 288 homers in his 15 major league seasons.  His 7 seasons with the Cubbies yielded 198 of those round trippers which puts him 9th all time for the club.

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G is for Gabby

Cubs Home run hitters from Aramis to Zimmerman

G is for Gabby

Charles  Leo "Gabby" Hartnett(HOF)
1900-1972

Cubs, (NY)Giants

Gabby Hartnett hit 231 homers for the Cubs from 1922 to 1940 which puts him 7th all time with the club.  The 6 time all star and 1935 NL MVP is best remember for 1 specific homer,  The homer in the gloaming which took place 9/26 1938.  Before I get to the significance of the homer , let me explain how baseball in 1938 from the baseball we understand.

1. Until the late 60's there were no playoff series prior to the World Series.   Each year the best team in the National League would play the best team in the American League in the World Series.  The entire season was played to determine which team would win the pennant and play in the World Series.

2.  While the first MLB night game was played in 1934, night games were still not common in 1938 and not played at Wrigley Field until 1988.

The Pittsburgh Pirates led the NL for most of the 1938 season but started to unravel in September. When they came into Chicago for a 3 game series , the Cubs were only 1 1/2 games behind the Bucs.  Dizzy Dean who was traded from the Cards to the Cubs in 1938 beat the Pirates in the first game.  In the 2nd game the score was tied 5-5  as the Cubs came to bat in the 9th.  Because Wrigley had no lights the umpires decided that the 9th inning would be the last which would cause the entire game to be replayed the next day.



The Cubs were down to their last out and Hartnett was 0-2 in the account.  As twilight descended Hartnett homered into the left center bleachers and the crowd erupted.  The Cubs essentially won the pennant on that home run.

Hartnett hit all but 5 of homers for the Cubs but his walk off in 1938 put the immortal touch on an already HOF career,

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F is for Frank

Cubs Home run hitters from Aramis to Zimmerman

F is for Frank

Frank "Wildfire" Schulte
1882-1949

Cubs, Pirates, Phillies and Senators

When composing a list such as this, it is fairly common to come across a player you are only vaguely familiar with.  But that is not the case with Frank Schulte, I had never heard of him.  Schulte was a contemporary of Tinker, Evers and Chance and played for the Cubs from 1904 to 1916. He was the 1911 NL MVP and (get ready for this) played in 4 World Series with the Cubs losing to the White Sox in 1906, beating the Tigers in 1907 and 1908 and lost to the Philadelphia Athleticss in 1910.  He hit .321 in those 4 World Series.  Schulte hit 91 home runs for the Cubs and only hit 1 more after he left the team in 1916.  

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E is for Ernie

Cubs Home run hitters from Aramis to Zimmerman

E is for Ernie

Ernie Banks "Mr. Cub" HOF

Cubs, 

Ernie Banks broke the Cubs color barrier in 1953 and played his entire Hall of Fame career with the Cubs retiring in 1971 and being a good will ambassador for the club until his death last year.  

Banks was an 11 time all star and 2 time NL MVP.  His  512 homers was a Cubs record until Sammy Sosa broke it in 2004.  

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D is for Dawson

Cubs Home run hitters from Aramis to Zimmerman

D is for Dawson

Andre Nolan "Hawk" Dawson

Expos, Cubs, Red Sox, Marlins

Like, Billy Williams, Andre Dawson  made his MLB  debut at the age of 21.  And like Williams He was Rookie of the  year.  But unlike Williams who debuted with the Cubs, Dawson played his first eleven seasons with the Montreal Expos (Currently: The Washington Nationals).    He came to the Cubs in 1987 in spectacular fashion hitting 49 Homers (He never hit more than 32 in a season before or since) and winning the NL MVP for a Cubs team that went 76-85.  It' hard to imagine how much worse they would have been w/o him.  Dawson played the Outfield for the Cubs from '87 to'92 and had 174 of his 438 MLB homers with the Cubs which puts him 13th all time for  the Cubbies.

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C is for Cap

Cubs Home run hitters from Aramis to Zimmerman

C is for Cap

Adrian Consrantine "Cap" Anson (HOF)
1852- 1922

Rockford, Philadephia, Chicago

Cap Anson was a first base  for the Cubs from 1876 to 1897 and manages the team 17 of those years.   Back then the Cubs were known as the "White Stockings" and  the stockings weren't the only thing white about those teams.   Anson was one of the first stars of the sport and one of it's leading racists.  As a manager he signed contracts for games against player that had african americans on them that said they could not play against Anson's club.  This of course was typical of post civil war life, but still very unsettling.

Anson hit all of his 97 Homers as a member of the White Stockings. This ties him for 23 on the Cubs all time HR list.

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