Chicago Cubs: Ten players you may have forgotten were once on the team

Chicago Cubs: Rafael Palmeiro

As we know, Rafael Palmeiro would easily make the Hall of Fame had his career not been tainted by steroid use. The career numbers are incredible: 569 home runs, 1,835 RBIs, 585 doubles, and 3,020 total hits. Many forget about his defense, yet he also won three Gold Glove Awards. Amazingly, he only made the All-Star team four times, yet he placed in MVP voting ten times.

Most of Palmeiro’s career was with the Texas Rangers and Baltimore Orioles. Many forget that the Chicago Cubs were his original team. He was drafted by the New York Mets in 1982 but did not sign; three years later, he was drafted by the Cubs in the first round (22nd overall) and did sign. He made his big league debut just a year than with the Cubs on September 8, 1986.

Palmeiro split 1987 between the minors and majors, yet he stuck in 1988 and made the All-Star team, mainly by batting .351 through June 1. He would fade a little down the stretch, finishing the year at .307, while only hitting eight home runs, his power wouldn’t show up for a few more years.

At the time, the Cubs also had another up-and-coming first baseman, Mark Grace, and the Cubs decided to trade the Jamie as mentioned above Moyer along with Palmeiro to the Texas Rangers before the 1989 season. Mitch Williams came over to the Cubs in that trade, and he served as the closer for the Cubs’ 1989 National League East-winning team.