No. 11: Chicago Cubs

Who are the 10 best Chicago Cubs ever?

Well, I was going to do a different essay for the Cubs, but after I did the 10 best Cardinals ever post on Tuesday, I heard from a couple Cubs friends who said: “Well, I sure hope you’re going to do that for the Cubbies, too.”

I’m sorry, that’s a lie: They didn’t call the team the “Cubbies.” Do real Cubs fans call the team the Cubbies? I’m trying to remember if any of my (many) Cubs fan friends use that word, “Cubbies.” Maybe they do. Actually…

OK, for Cubs and Cubbies fans alike, the 10 best Cubs ever:

No. 10: Mark Grace

OK, look, I’m not including 19th century or Deadball players on this list. If you prefer, you can have your Cap Anson and Frank Chance and Joe Tinker and Three Finger Brown, but I think I’ll just go with a little bit more modern players. I’m particularly happy to go with Grace, who had a beautiful swing and was featured in one of my favorite pressbox stories; when Jimmy Piersall was a roving instructor with the Cubs, he was in the Charlotte press box and he overheard a fantasy baseball owner complaining about Grace’s lack of power. Piersall went wild and started screaming at the guy about how Grace was a .320 hitter or whatever, and he ended by shouting: “What do YOU think you would hit if you were in the big leagues?” At which point, the guy said: “Oh, about .355.” Anyway, Grace was a terrific hitter and won four Gold Gloves at first base.