Record: 95-67, 2nd NL East (9 GB)
Postseason: --
Ballpark: Wrigley Field (104 hits, 124 HR)
Runs scored: 812 (2nd)
Runs allowed: 685 (5th)
Pythag record: 94-68 (+1)
Recap: I find it slightly funny that if you just look at the standings in the NL for 1969, it's not far off from what actually happened... in this league with all fictional players. Anyway, in this 1969 there was no incredible comeback; the Cubs were the 2nd best team in the division all year long and were never really all that close.
History: The Curse of the Billy Goat apparently never quite came to pass here (also the Cubs didn't roll out the College of Coaches in this version of the early 60s): Chicago won the World Series in 1955 and again in 1961. They since fell on hard times, bottoming out to a 57-104 record in 1967. They rebounded reeeeeally quickly, though.
Outlook: The Cubs have some awesome young players. It's hard to see them passing the Mets but they'll surely be competitive once again.
Rotation
Code:
+ --------------- + -------------- + ------ + ------ + -------- + ------- + -------- + ------ + ------- + ------- + -------- + ------- + ------- + -------- + ------ + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------- + ------- + ------- + ------- + -------- + ------- + ------- + ------- + ---------- + ----------- + ---------- + ---------- +
| first_name | last_name | w | l | Pct | Sv | era | g | gs | cg | sho | gf | ip | bfp | h | r | er | hr | sh | sf | hp | bb | ibb | so | wp | bk | Hper9 | HRper9 | BBer9 | Kper9 |
+ --------------- + -------------- + ------ + ------ + -------- + ------- + -------- + ------ + ------- + ------- + -------- + ------- + ------- + -------- + ------ + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------- + ------- + ------- + ------- + -------- + ------- + ------- + ------- + ---------- + ----------- + ---------- + ---------- +
| Bill | Lucas | 23 | 13 | 0.639 | 0 | 3.27 | 39 | 39 | 11 | 3 | 0 | 289.0 | 1214 | 278 | 117 | 105 | 32 | 11 | 8 | 14 | 101 | 11 | 169 | 11 | 1 | 8.7 | 1.0 | 3.1 | 5.3 |
| Victor | Marin | 13 | 13 | 0.500 | 0 | 4.69 | 36 | 35 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 232.1 | 1004 | 262 | 140 | 121 | 30 | 12 | 10 | 8 | 91 | 13 | 90 | 5 | 1 | 10.1 | 1.2 | 3.5 | 3.5 |
| Josh | Entwistle | 5 | 3 | 0.625 | 0 | 4.02 | 27 | 20 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 134.1 | 587 | 150 | 73 | 60 | 13 | 4 | 6 | 1 | 60 | 8 | 95 | 4 | 0 | 10.0 | 0.9 | 4.0 | 6.4 |
| Steve | Tidwell | 8 | 7 | 0.533 | 0 | 3.92 | 23 | 19 | 3 | 1 | 2 | 128.2 | 539 | 130 | 62 | 56 | 18 | 7 | 5 | 7 | 43 | 3 | 73 | 3 | 0 | 9.1 | 1.3 | 3.0 | 5.1 |
| Mike | Wilbers | 2 | 6 | 0.250 | 0 | 3.41 | 18 | 17 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 97.2 | 401 | 97 | 39 | 37 | 8 | 6 | 0 | 4 | 26 | 4 | 64 | 2 | 1 | 8.9 | 0.7 | 2.4 | 5.9 |
| Javy | Obregon | 9 | 2 | 0.818 | 0 | 3.21 | 13 | 13 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 89.2 | 371 | 83 | 33 | 32 | 11 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 32 | 3 | 50 | 3 | 1 | 8.3 | 1.1 | 3.2 | 5.0 |
| Eric | Griffin | 1 | 2 | 0.333 | 0 | 4.05 | 10 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 33.1 | 157 | 35 | 18 | 15 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 25 | 5 | 14 | 1 | 0 | 9.5 | 0.8 | 6.8 | 3.8 |
| Cesar | Barreras | 1 | 2 | 0.333 | 0 | 5.30 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 18.2 | 91 | 24 | 13 | 11 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 10 | 0 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 11.6 | 2.4 | 4.8 | 3.4 |
| Justin | Vogel | 2 | 0 | 1.000 | 0 | 2.40 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 15.0 | 69 | 14 | 5 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 8 | 0 | 10 | 1 | 0 | 8.4 | 0.6 | 4.8 | 6.0 |
| Brennan | John | 0 | 0 | | 0 | 4.15 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4.1 | 18 | 5 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 10.4 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 4.2 |
+ --------------- + -------------- + ------ + ------ + -------- + ------- + -------- + ------ + ------- + ------- + -------- + ------- + ------- + -------- + ------ + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------- + ------- + ------- + ------- + -------- + ------- + ------- + ------- + ---------- + ----------- + ---------- + ---------- +
If you look up "workhorse" in the baseball dictionary, you will see a picture of Bill Lucas. Lucas, along with Yankees pitcher Tracy Mosher (who, okay fine, is probably the guy in the "workhorse" picture) co-set the new MLB record for games started. He also led the NL in wins and innings pitched and finished 3rd in a tight Cy Young Awards race. Not bad for a guy who wasn't even named to the All-Star Game in July. Their #2 in the second half of the season, not to mention going forward, was/is Cuban refugee Javy "El Conde" Obregon. "The Count" would have led the league in winning percentage if he had enough decisions to qualify.
Victor Marin has been a starter for the Cubs for 4 years now and was arguably only good in one of them - 1968, when he went 16-11, albeit with a 3.91 ERA that was as bad as the 4.69 was this past year in context. Last year he walked more batters than he struck out, which is never a good sign. Mike Wilbers started 17 games but doesn't appear to have the stamina to start in this era. For now the #5 is Justin Vogel, a kind of a non-prospect who didn't really pitch well in AAA Tacoma last year (2-3, 4.58) but somehow has a (tentative) gig going into March.
Bullpen
Code:
+ --------------- + -------------- + ------ + ------ + -------- + ------- + -------- + ------ + ------- + ------- + -------- + ------- + ------- + -------- + ------ + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------- + ------- + ------- + ------- + -------- + ------- + ------- + ------- + ---------- + ----------- + ---------- + ---------- +
| first_name | last_name | w | l | Pct | Sv | era | g | gs | cg | sho | gf | ip | bfp | h | r | er | hr | sh | sf | hp | bb | ibb | so | wp | bk | Hper9 | HRper9 | BBer9 | Kper9 |
+ --------------- + -------------- + ------ + ------ + -------- + ------- + -------- + ------ + ------- + ------- + -------- + ------- + ------- + -------- + ------ + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------- + ------- + ------- + ------- + -------- + ------- + ------- + ------- + ---------- + ----------- + ---------- + ---------- +
| Chad | Nies | 13 | 7 | 0.650 | 31 | 2.53 | 76 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 63 | 114.0 | 460 | 92 | 33 | 32 | 5 | 4 | 5 | 4 | 39 | 8 | 118 | 5 | 0 | 7.3 | 0.4 | 3.1 | 9.3 |
| Ryan | Gurley | 1 | 2 | 0.333 | 4 | 2.81 | 47 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 19 | 73.2 | 294 | 62 | 30 | 23 | 7 | 5 | 1 | 0 | 21 | 5 | 63 | 4 | 0 | 7.6 | 0.9 | 2.6 | 7.7 |
| Nick | Paulus | 6 | 4 | 0.600 | 5 | 3.00 | 51 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 29 | 63.0 | 280 | 63 | 35 | 21 | 4 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 32 | 7 | 22 | 2 | 1 | 9.0 | 0.6 | 4.6 | 3.1 |
| Frank | Castro | 5 | 1 | 0.833 | 1 | 3.49 | 23 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 56.2 | 221 | 53 | 23 | 22 | 6 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 9 | 1 | 28 | 4 | 0 | 8.4 | 1.0 | 1.4 | 4.4 |
| Dan | Foster | 2 | 2 | 0.500 | 1 | 3.51 | 16 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 33.1 | 131 | 33 | 13 | 13 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 12 | 1 | 16 | 1 | 0 | 8.9 | 0.5 | 3.2 | 4.3 |
| Glenn | Fitzgerald | 1 | 0 | 1.000 | 1 | 4.96 | 15 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 16.1 | 78 | 14 | 9 | 9 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 16 | 1 | 8 | 2 | 0 | 7.7 | 0.0 | 8.8 | 4.4 |
| Antonio | Martinez | 0 | 0 | | 0 | 4.30 | 10 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 14.2 | 62 | 17 | 7 | 7 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 9 | 0 | 0 | 10.4 | 0.6 | 0.6 | 5.5 |
| Tony | Trujillo | 0 | 2 | 0.000 | 0 | 9.20 | 5 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 14.2 | 78 | 24 | 16 | 15 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 10 | 1 | 12 | 0 | 0 | 14.7 | 0.6 | 6.1 | 7.4 |
| Jayden | Hickman | 3 | 1 | 0.750 | 0 | 4.76 | 5 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 11.1 | 54 | 22 | 6 | 6 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 17.5 | 0.0 | 1.6 | 3.2 |
| Bobby | Morales | 0 | 0 | | 0 | 11.57 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 4.2 | 23 | 7 | 6 | 6 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 4 | 1 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 13.5 | 1.9 | 7.7 | 7.7 |
| Vic | Martinez | 0 | 0 | | 0 | 12.27 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3.2 | 20 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 12.3 | 2.5 | 7.4 | 2.5 |
| Mike | Dolan | 0 | 0 | | 0 | 0.00 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2.0 | 8 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 9.0 | 0.0 | 4.5 | 9.0 |
| Jim | Williamson | 0 | 0 | | 0 | 0.00 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1.2 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 16.2 |
+ --------------- + -------------- + ------ + ------ + -------- + ------- + -------- + ------ + ------- + ------- + -------- + ------- + ------- + -------- + ------ + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------- + ------- + ------- + ------- + -------- + ------- + ------- + ------- + ---------- + ----------- + ---------- + ---------- +
There are so many great stoppers in this league, it's hard to call any one of them the best, but Chad Nies may have been the most impactful. The 25 year old won 13 games in relief and saved 31 more, marks that gave him the Rolaids Relief Award for the NL running away. He also made his first All-Star Game, which to me makes me wonder why he didn't make it in 1968 (he saved 21 games with a 2.53 ERA in 139.2 IP over 70 games; granted he was only 7-10) than anything else. Nick Paulus missed a lot of 1968 but was solid, at least at first glance, last year in the setup role. Ryan Gurley was the other main reliever to throw a lot. He's a former Rolaids Relief award winner himself, having won the award with Cincinnati back in 1963. Unlike other guys with that kind of hardware, he is by all accounts very happy with his role in Chi-town.
Catcher
Code:
+ -------- + --------------- + -------------- + ------ + ------- + ------ + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------- + -------- + ------- + -------- + ------ + -------- + ------- + ------- + ------- + ------- + -------- + ------- + -------- + -------- +
| pos | first_name | last_name | g | ab | r | h | 2B | 3B | hr | rbi | bb | ibb | k | hpb | sh | sf | sb | cs | gdp | ba | obp | slg |
+ -------- + --------------- + -------------- + ------ + ------- + ------ + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------- + -------- + ------- + -------- + ------ + -------- + ------- + ------- + ------- + ------- + -------- + ------- + -------- + -------- +
| C | Brent | Putnam | 129 | 381 | 42 | 88 | 18 | 1 | 10 | 49 | 59 | 9 | 72 | 4 | 0 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 15 | 0.231 | 0.336 | 0.362 |
| C | Jose | Martinez | 69 | 138 | 13 | 26 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 14 | 15 | 5 | 37 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 0.188 | 0.274 | 0.246 |
| C | Ricardo | Romero | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1.000 | 1.000 | 1.000 |
+ -------- + --------------- + -------------- + ------ + ------- + ------ + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------- + -------- + ------- + -------- + ------ + -------- + ------- + ------- + ------- + ------- + -------- + ------- + -------- + -------- +
Breent Putnam is a quiet, hard working guy, just the type you want to have behind the plate. Last year he won his very first Gold Glove at age 33. His backup Jose Martinez got playing time mostly due to injury: he doesn't hit well at all, nor does he do the catcher things as well as Putnam.
Infield
Code:
+ -------- + --------------- + -------------- + ------ + ------- + ------ + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------- + -------- + ------- + -------- + ------ + -------- + ------- + ------- + ------- + ------- + -------- + ------- + -------- + -------- +
| pos | first_name | last_name | g | ab | r | h | 2B | 3B | hr | rbi | bb | ibb | k | hpb | sh | sf | sb | cs | gdp | ba | obp | slg |
+ -------- + --------------- + -------------- + ------ + ------- + ------ + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------- + -------- + ------- + -------- + ------ + -------- + ------- + ------- + ------- + ------- + -------- + ------- + -------- + -------- +
| 1B | Antonio | Lopez | 151 | 574 | 118 | 181 | 21 | 1 | 43 | 123 | 73 | 10 | 58 | 6 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 1 | 13 | 0.315 | 0.396 | 0.580 |
| 1B | Eric | Browning | 12 | 18 | 2 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.333 | 0.400 | 0.500 |
| 1B | Ivan | Lopez | 4 | 6 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.167 | 0.375 | 0.167 |
| 2B | Juan | Perez | 121 | 437 | 62 | 116 | 15 | 2 | 18 | 58 | 44 | 0 | 48 | 7 | 0 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 13 | 0.265 | 0.337 | 0.432 |
| 2B | Tim | Mantero | 44 | 132 | 14 | 30 | 4 | 3 | 2 | 15 | 9 | 0 | 20 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0.227 | 0.273 | 0.348 |
| 2B | Danny | Naranjo | 10 | 24 | 4 | 10 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.417 | 0.462 | 0.458 |
| 3B | Sean | Gabel | 158 | 663 | 101 | 217 | 39 | 2 | 1 | 49 | 33 | 1 | 29 | 17 | 11 | 1 | 17 | 20 | 9 | 0.327 | 0.368 | 0.397 |
| 3B | John | Maroney | 56 | 85 | 26 | 24 | 3 | 0 | 5 | 12 | 14 | 0 | 17 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0.282 | 0.390 | 0.494 |
| SS | Jeremy | Taylor | 159 | 602 | 111 | 167 | 23 | 16 | 47 | 140 | 59 | 0 | 130 | 5 | 0 | 7 | 20 | 12 | 10 | 0.277 | 0.343 | 0.603 |
| SS | Gene | Avalos | 21 | 47 | 6 | 7 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 7 | 0 | 14 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0.149 | 0.259 | 0.170 |
+ -------- + --------------- + -------------- + ------ + ------- + ------ + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------- + -------- + ------- + -------- + ------ + -------- + ------- + ------- + ------- + ------- + -------- + ------- + -------- + -------- +
Antonio Lopez had a huge, huge year, leading the league in runs and finishing in the top 10 in hits, HRs, RBIs, BA, OBP, and SLG en route to an MVP trophy. An argument could be made that his teammate Jeremy Taylor deserved it more given that Lopez plays an offense-minded position whereas Taylor is a shortstop, but Lopez was a complete hitter last year, the kind of player everyone else strives to be.
Second base was well manned by Juan Perez, who has not quite been able to recapture the power that led him to hit 25 HRs in 1966 or 26 in 1962, but the 18 four-base knocks he had was his highest total in 3 years. His caddy Tim Mantero seemed mostly to serve as a reminder of what kind of production one ought to expect from a middle infielder, lest Cubs fans forget.
Sean Gabel had a very, very short stint in the minor leagues before he got into the pros: after being drafted in 1967 he played a grand total of 64 games below major league level before he was called up very early in the 1968 season. It seems to have worked out: he's hit .305 and .327 in his two seasons in the bigs and last year led the NL in hits, at-bats, doubles, and times hit by pitch. Oh yeah, and he's also taken home the Gold Glove in each of those two years. The one aspect of his game that could stand to be improved is his baserunning: Gabel was thrown out 20 times in 37 steal attempts last year.
Jeremy Taylor was, needless to say, a beast. He led the league in HRs and RBIs while playing shortstop all year long. He didn't play short super well and he'll probably have to move off that spot as he ages but... when you mash 47 dingers you can play pretty much wherever you want. Those HR and RBI totals, incidentally, weren't just the best in baseball, they were the best totals in Cubs history (Lopez's 43 homers was 2nd all time, as were his 123 RBIs).
Outfield
Code:
+ -------- + --------------- + -------------- + ------ + ------- + ------ + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------- + -------- + ------- + -------- + ------ + -------- + ------- + ------- + ------- + ------- + -------- + ------- + -------- + -------- +
| pos | first_name | last_name | g | ab | r | h | 2B | 3B | hr | rbi | bb | ibb | k | hpb | sh | sf | sb | cs | gdp | ba | obp | slg |
+ -------- + --------------- + -------------- + ------ + ------- + ------ + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------- + -------- + ------- + -------- + ------ + -------- + ------- + ------- + ------- + ------- + -------- + ------- + -------- + -------- +
| LF | Jason | Workman | 97 | 385 | 54 | 114 | 8 | 3 | 23 | 86 | 17 | 2 | 16 | 2 | 0 | 8 | 0 | 0 | 8 | 0.296 | 0.323 | 0.512 |
| LF | Jose | Gomez | 104 | 283 | 34 | 67 | 11 | 5 | 6 | 38 | 23 | 1 | 72 | 3 | 4 | 4 | 8 | 8 | 2 | 0.237 | 0.293 | 0.375 |
| LF | Ben | Aldridge | 31 | 49 | 5 | 13 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 6 | 4 | 1 | 7 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0.265 | 0.333 | 0.367 |
| LF | Warren | Kelley | 53 | 53 | 4 | 14 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 9 | 2 | 1 | 11 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.264 | 0.304 | 0.415 |
| LF | Bobby | Elias | 24 | 19 | 4 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 4 | 0 | 10 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.105 | 0.250 | 0.105 |
| CF | Mark | Tooley | 149 | 604 | 100 | 168 | 33 | 7 | 16 | 59 | 61 | 0 | 113 | 2 | 8 | 3 | 14 | 11 | 5 | 0.278 | 0.341 | 0.435 |
| RF | Matt | Williams | 80 | 263 | 43 | 66 | 4 | 3 | 13 | 44 | 50 | 7 | 52 | 5 | 0 | 2 | 14 | 6 | 5 | 0.251 | 0.378 | 0.437 |
| RF | Sam | Marks | 107 | 250 | 32 | 82 | 9 | 1 | 3 | 29 | 15 | 1 | 8 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 0.328 | 0.366 | 0.408 |
| RF | Tony | Shannon | 40 | 142 | 10 | 32 | 8 | 3 | 0 | 15 | 23 | 2 | 28 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 4 | 2 | 0 | 0.225 | 0.329 | 0.324 |
| RF | Hee-gon | Jung | 7 | 16 | 2 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.188 | 0.350 | 0.188 |
| RF | Ben | Underwood | 9 | 15 | 2 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0.200 | 0.235 | 0.200 |
+ -------- + --------------- + -------------- + ------ + ------- + ------ + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------- + -------- + ------- + -------- + ------ + -------- + ------- + ------- + ------- + ------- + -------- + ------- + -------- + -------- +
Jason Workman was flipped to the Cubs in June in a series of trades that involved him briefly (and only technically) being a Montreal Expo by way of the LA Dodgers. Workman neatly filled a hole that had initially been created by the loss of Adam Groves, an All-Star selection in 1968, for the season with a nasty concussion he suffered at the end of spring training. Groves is expected back but who knows how well he'll be able to play, or even if he'll be able to play in 1970 (note: he's ready to play).
Mark Tooley didn't entrench himself as a regular starter for the Cubs until he was 29 years old but he's really made up for lost time. In the four years since he won the job, he's hit double digits in HRs and seen his run totals slowly climb from 42 in '66 all the way to 100 this year. It's sayng something when you finish 6th in the NL in that category but are only 3rd on your own team.
Right field was a question mark in the offseason. Tony Shannon is a top-rated prospect but his preferred position is shortstop and at least in the early going he hit more like a middle infielder than a corner outfielder. For that reason, and because they're trying to win today, not tomorrow, the Cubs traded him off to Philadelphia for 1967 All-Star Alex Vallejo. Vallejo has some issues getting gap power: last year he hit 16 doubles and triples combined, and even that was more than his 1968 marks of 8 two-baggers and 3 treys. But he's also by all accounts a legit .315 hitter and those do not grow on trees.