By Rick Kaempfer
In Today's Cub Birthday
Dec 27th, 2022
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3057 Views
~Dutch McCall 1920 (Cubs 1948) McCall pitched one full season in the majors (1948) as a 27-year-old rookie, and was among the league leaders in several categories, most notably walks and losses. In fact, he set the Cubs record by recording 13 losses in a row. He also led the Cubs in home runs allowed...
By Rick Kaempfer
In Today's Cub Birthday
Dec 26th, 2022
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2882 Views
~Dave Rader 1948 (Cubs 1978) Rader was a Cub for only one season (1978), and he hit only .203 that season, but all three Cubs catchers in 1978 sported tremendous mustaches (the other two were Tim Blackwell and Larry Cox).That’s a feat that may never be replicated. Rader also caught for the Gian...
By Rick Kaempfer
In Today's Cub Birthday
Dec 25th, 2022
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3327 Views
~Manny Trillo 1950 (Cubs 1975-1978, 1986-1988) Trillo was a prospect acquired from Oakland in the trade that sent Billy Williams to the A’s, and immediately became the team’s starting second baseman. He had a few very good years for the Cubs, finishing third in the Rookie of the Year voti...
By Rick Kaempfer
In Today's Cub Birthday
Dec 24th, 2022
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2681 Views
~Del Howard 1877 (Cubs 1907-1908) On Christmas Eve 1877, a boy named George Elmer Howard was born in Kenney, Illinois. During his childhood everyone began calling him Del. Good ‘ol Del became a big league ballplayer with the Chicago Cubs. He was a backup outfielder, first baseman, and second ba...
By Rick Kaempfer
In Today's Cub Birthday
Dec 23rd, 2022
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4514 Views
Ken Hubbs 1941 (Cubs 1961-1963) He wasn’t even 20 when he debuted for the Cubs in September of 1961, but he made enough of an impact to be named the starting second baseman in 1962. It was a rough year for the Cubs (they finished with their worst record ever—behind even the expansion Houston Co...
By Rick Kaempfer
In Today's Cub Birthday
Dec 22nd, 2022
1 Comment
3425 Views
~Steve Garvey 1948 (Cubs killer 1984) On December 22, 1948, a darkness fell over Chicago when a boy was born in Tampa, Florida. His parents named the innocent looking lad Steven Patrick Garvey. 34 years later he would grab a dagger and stick it into the collective hearts of Cub fans all over the worl...
By Rick Kaempfer
In Today's Cub Birthday
Dec 21st, 2022
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4097 Views
~Bob Rush 1925 (Cubs 1948-1957) The big righthander was a two-time all-star for some pretty bad Cubs teams. He won over 100 games in a Cubs uniform, including a 17-win year in 1952, and four different seasons with 13 wins. The Cubs traded him to the World Champion Milwaukee Braves after the 1957 seas...
By Rick Kaempfer
In Today's Cub Birthday
Dec 20th, 2022
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3022 Views
~Gabby Hartnett 1900 (Cubs 1922-1940) Gabby was one of the greatest Cubs of all-time. His real name was Charles Leo Hartnett. No surprise where that nickname came from, he was known as someone who was “constantly talking” when he was catching. Gabby is known as one of the all-time greats,...
By Rick Kaempfer
In Today's Cub Birthday
Dec 19th, 2022
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2768 Views
~Tony Taylor 1935 (Cubs 1958-1960) Tony was the starting second baseman for the Cubs in 1958 and 1959 but was traded to the Philadelphia Phillies in 1960 for Don Cardwell. The Cubs were clearing out a spot for their brand new acquisition, Don Zimmer. When the Cubs got Zimmer from the Dodgers (for Ron...
By Rick Kaempfer
In Today's Cub Birthday
Dec 18th, 2022
0 Comments
2991 Views
~Lance Richbourg 1897 (Cubs 1932) Richbourg (photo) was a backup outfielder on the 1932 pennant winning Cubs. It was the last season of his eight-year big league career (spent mostly in Boston). He was 34 years old at the time, and backed up all three starting outfielders: Kiki Cuyler, Johnny Moore a...
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