By Rick Kaempfer
In Today's Cub Birthday
Sep 20th, 2023
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3046 Views
~Zeke Bonura 1908–1987 (Cubs 1940) Bonura was a track and field star as a teen, setting a record for the javelin throw. Zeke started off his baseball career with a bang too, averaging 20 homers and 100+ RBIs four seasons in a row for the White Sox. After going to the Senators and Giants, Bonura...
By Rick Kaempfer
In Today's Cub Birthday
Sep 19th, 2023
1 Comment
3706 Views
~Randy Myers 1962– (Cubs 1993-1995) Randy had a very good stretch with the Cubs in the 90s. He set the Cubs save record with 53 saves in 1993, and was an All-Star in both 1994 and 1995. Despite Randy’s 100+ save career in Chicago, he’s probably best remembered for two incidents. The first one w...
By Rick Kaempfer
In Today's Cub Birthday
Sep 18th, 2023
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3121 Views
~Ryne Sandberg 1959– (Cubs 1982-1994, 1996-1997) He was destined to have a great nickname because he was named after the famous Yankees relief pitcher “Blind Ryne” Duren. Ryno was just a throw in to the Iván de Jesus/Larry Bowa trade with the Phillies. The Phillies had two other second base pro...
By Rick Kaempfer
In Today's Cub Birthday
Sep 17th, 2023
1 Comment
3969 Views
~Wildfire Schulte 1882–1949 (Cubs 1904-1916) Wildfire (real name Frank) didn’t get his nickname for his style of play (although he stole home 22 times), or his tendency to hit the town (although Frank Chance used to chide him for that in the press). He got it because he named his favorite pony ...
By Rick Kaempfer
In Today's Cub Birthday
Sep 16th, 2023
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3964 Views
~Mel Hall 1960– (Cubs 1981-1984) Hall really burst onto the scene during the 1983 season. After getting a taste of the big leagues at the end of the ’81 and ’82 seasons, he won a job in 1983, and responded with a great year. Mel slugged 17 homers, hit .283 in just over 400 at-bats, […]...
By Rick Kaempfer
In Today's Cub Birthday
Sep 15th, 2023
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3126 Views
~Speed Martin 1893–1983 (Cubs 1918-1922) His real name was Elwood, but they called him Speed because he could get the ball up to the plate in a hurry. He was a member of the pennant-winning 1918 Cubs team, but only appeared in nine games for them that year, and didn’t appear in the World Series...
By Rick Kaempfer
In Today's Cub Birthday
Sep 14th, 2023
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3286 Views
~Dave Hillman 1927– (Cubs 1955-1959) Hillman appeared in over a hundred games for the Cubs in the 1950s. The right-hander worked both as a starter and reliever, and had a respectable ERA, but he had the propensity to give up the long ball. After the 1959 season Hillman was traded to the Red Sox...
By Rick Kaempfer
In Today's Cub Birthday
Sep 13th, 2023
0 Comments
3452 Views
~Rabbit Warstler 1903–1964 (Cubs 1940) His real name was Harold Burton Warstler, but they called him Rabbit because of his quickness in the field. He was a backup infielder for 11 seasons, and his last team was the Cubs in 1940. When Rabbit was in the American League, Connie Mack called him “th...
By Rick Kaempfer
In Today's Cub Birthday
Sep 12th, 2023
1 Comment
4135 Views
~Fred Luderus 1885–1961 (Cubs 1909-1910) Luderus was a rugged German-American first baseman who backed up Hall of Famer Frank Chance during his first two seasons in the big leagues. He only hit one homer for the Cubs, and it was an inside-the-park shot against the team he played for the rest of...
By Rick Kaempfer
In Today's Cub Birthday
Sep 11th, 2023
0 Comments
3896 Views
~Ray Grimes 1893–1953 (Cubs 1922-1925) Ray Grimes was an instant phenom for the Cubs when he joined them for his rookie season of 1922. He was an absolute RBI machine, one of the great clutch hitters of his era. During that season he set a record that still stands today when he got an RBI [&hel...
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