Between now and the end of the season we`re going to compare the last Cubs championship team to this year`s future championship team. Next stop: Shortstop

JOE TINKER

By 1908 standards, Tinker was what we would now call a 5-tool player. He was among the league leaders in homers, RBI, and stolen bases (he led the Cubs in the first two categories), and was one of their steadiest fielders. In 1908, he also led the league in games played; a man that could be counted on to penciled in to that 7th slot in the batting order every day.

The ever steady Tinker was a crucial part of the championship club. In addition to his physical skills, he was a tough and gritty competitor--never afraid to let his fists do the talking. He once got into a fight on the field...after the game...dressed in his street clothes. He had a particular hatred for the Giants, stating: "If you didn`t honestly and furiously hate the Giants, you weren`t a real Cub."

His teammates loved Joe, except of course his double-play mate Johnny Evers. They only spoke to each other on the field, and only about baseball. Knowing their personal feelings for each other, it`s amazing how well-oiled that Tinkers-to-Evers-to-Chance double play combination worked. They were pioneers in many ways--using signals on the field to adjust to upcoming pitches. Opponents were amazed at how difficult it was to get a ball through that infield. (Hence, the poem penned in 1910).

All three men (Tinker, Evers & Chance) would eventually manage the Cubs. Tinker`s chance came in the first season the Cubs played at what is now known as Wrigley Field (1916). He was inducted into the Hall of Fame along with Chance and Evers in 1946.


RYAN THERIOT

Though he is the same age as his 1908 counterpart (28), Theriot is considered one of the young players on the 2008 team whereas Tinker was one of the grizzled veterans of his team. While Tinker was a power hitter, Theriot is more of a slap-hitter concerned with on-base percentage. And while Tinker was a fighter, Theriot is more of a calming force in the clubhouse.

But between the lines, the two men shared a common get-your-uniform-dirty grit. Theriot isn`t afraid of stealing a base (though he occasionally overreaches in that area), and his play at shortstop is so steady that fans often don`t even notice that he rarely makes mistakes.

It`s no coincidence that the Cubs didn`t start clicking until they put Ryan Theriot in the every day lineup. He has batted lead-off, second, seventh and eighth, but wherever he hits, he does something that the Cubs didn`t do for many many years before his arrival; he takes a few pitches.

I write an occasional column for the Beachwood Reporter called "Cubs Answer Man." This week I tackle the possibility of a Cubs-Sox World Series. Check it out here: CUBS ANSWER MAN

A friend of mine has put together a website for Cubs fans that is a little different than the other Cubs sites out there. It`s about the lifestyle of Cubs fans, and it`s called www.mywrigleyville.com

Check it out if you get a chance. I contributed some of the content (descriptions of Cubs fans and top ten bandwagon tips).

Between now and the end of the season we`re going to compare the last Cubs championship team to this year`s future championship team. Next stop: Second Base.

JOHNNY EVERS

Johnny Evers was such a vocal irritant when he was playing second base, manager/first baseman Frank Chance actually considered moving him to a different position so he didn`t have to hear him talk. Evers was known as an aggressive competitor, and probably the most baseball savvy member of the Cubs. It was his heads up play in the famous Merkle game that led to the Cubs pennant in 1908.

1908 was also the season he really came into his own as a hitter. His .300 average was the highest on the Cubs, and one of the best in the league (this was the deadball era), and only one other player in baseball had a better on-base percentage that year. Once he got on the bases, he was even more dangerous. Despite his small size (he was only 125 pounds), he never hesitated to slide into the base with his spikes up. He was one of the best base-stealers on the team--in 1908, he swiped 36 bases.

Evers was a tough Irish-Catholic New Yorker by birth, and despite his heroics on the field, he didn`t mesh that well with his teammates. (His nickname was "The Crab"). His double-play mate Joe Tinker, for instance, didn`t talk to him at all. They despised each other.

He later managed the Cubs (1913), was fired by the Cubs (1913), and went on to win the MVP during a season he led the Boston Braves to the World Series championship (1914).

He was elected to the Hall of Fame along with Joe Tinker and Frank Chance shortly before his death in 1947.


MARK DEROSA

When the Cubs signed Mark DeRosa as a free agent before the 2007 season, it`s fair to say the signing was greeted with a less-than-enthusiastic response from the Chicago media and Cubs fans. After all, they had two young infielders on the roster (Ronnie Cedeno & Ryan Theriot). It seemed like just another example of the Cubs signing a mediocre veteran instead of letting the kids have a chance.

But DeRosa quited those critics pretty quickly with his gritty play, his versatility in the field (he has played every position except SS, CF and C), and his ability to get on base. Like his 1908 counterpart, DeRosa is a key member of the team who seems to get more than his share of crucial hits. Unlike Johnny Evers, though, Mark DeRosa`s game is not speed--it`s power. By the end of the year he will be one of up to six Cubs players with more than 20 home runs.

Some of his teammates consider DeRosa the MVP of the team because of all the different ways he helps them win.

My son was showing me his Cubs baseball cards this morning, and I immediately noticed something was wrong with this Mike Fontenot card. Can you spot the mistake?

For one thing, Mike Fontenot is a left handed batter, and in this picture he appears to be following through on a right-handed swing. For another thing, he has Ryan Theriot`s face.

I realize that they`re both little guys who played middle infield at LSU and have scruffy unkempt facial hair, but really...

Does this mean the card is worth more?

Between now and the end of the season we`re going to compare the last Cubs championship team to this year`s future championship team. Next stop: First Base.


FRANK CHANCE

Frank Chance was more than just the first baseman and clean up hitter for the 1908 Cubs--he was the manager and the brains behind the organization. His nickname was "The Peerless Leader" and there was never a question about who was in charge of this team. He was fierce and competitive.

One time after a loss he was brooding at home after a loss—and wouldn`t eat or talk. His wife said: "Don`t worry, dear, you still have me," and he replied "Many a time this afternoon, I`d have traded you for a base hit." He was known to be a brawler. James J. Corbett, heavyweight champ, called him: "one of the best amateur fighters I`ve ever seen." One time he provoked a riot by punching out Giants pitcher Joe McGinnity at the Polo Grounds. Another time he threw a bottle into the stands at fans in Brooklyn.

He was just as fierce as a manager and general manager. He once acquired a pitcher (Jack Harper) who beaned him one too many times, just so he could cut his salary (by 2/3), and refused to pitch him, thereby effectively ending his career.

As a hitter, Chance would do whatever it took to get on base. He was always among the best on the team in on-base percentage and runs, and led the league in stolen bases twice. In the field, he was impeccable at first--something that would eventually be immortalized in the poem.

He was only 31 years old in 1908, but after many beanings (he was hit 137 times in his career), it was starting to affect his hitting and his health. He hit only .272 in 1908 after hitting over .300 for many years, and he suffered from horrible headaches. But he toughed it out for the season, and despite opponents attempts to psych him out with frequent brush back pitches and/or provoke him into a fight (Giants manager McGraw actually assigned players to taunt Chance), he led the team back to the pennant. In Game 5 of the World Series, he knocked in the game winning run, giving the Cubs their last championship.


DERREK LEE

Before joining the Cubs, Lee had the game winning hit in the infamous Bartman game in the 2003 playoffs for the Florida Marlins. Acquired for rookie slugger Hee Sop Choi (one of the all-time steals), Lee immediately made an impact in Chicago. He hit over 30 homers in his first season, and won a batting title in second year (2005), when he hit .335.

Like his 1908 counterpart, Lee hasn`t quite been the same hitter the last few seasons (since he broke his wrist), but his teammates all look up to him as one of the team leaders, and his consistently gold-glove caliber defense at 1B (he has won three gold gloves) makes the rest of the infield and the pitching staff better.

Just don`t ask him to come up with a man at first and one out. He leads the league in hitting into double plays.