Ranking the top five Chicago Cubs leadoff hitters in history

Chicago Cubs: Rick Monday

Rick Monday may not have been your typical leadoff hitter, but he was effective nonetheless. Different than many of the other Cubs leadoff hitters, Monday boasted a potent bat. During his time, Monday was the best slugging leadoff hitter in Cubs history, posting a slugging percentage of .484, which was 30 points higher than the next closest.

In his five seasons with the Cubs Monday belted a total of 61 home runs while batting leadoff. Often, Monday got the party started early as 14 of those home runs came to leadoff the game, which was a Cubs record when he retired.

Monday had his best season in the big leagues with the Cubs in 1973 when he posted career highs in nearly every offensive category. Out of the leadoff spot he hit 23 home runs, six of which were of the leadoff variety scored 80 runs and posted an on-base percentage of .388.

Aside from his power and hitting home runs, Monday was a reliable leadoff hitter for the Cubs. Over his five seasons, he posted a .360 on-base percentage, hit .271 at the plate and scored 215 runs. Monday didn’t possess a ton of speed and was hardly a threat on the bases, stealing a total of just 12 bases with the Cubs.

Monday was indeed a bright spot for the Cubs during a rough time for the organization. As a Cub, Monday never won a division or went to the playoffs. He was eventually traded to the Los Angeles Dodgers in 1976 for Bill Buckner and Ivan DeJesus.