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

Chicago Cubs: Eric Karros

First baseman Eric Karros had a tremendous run with the Los Angeles Dodgers. The Dodgers drafted him in the sixth round of the 1988 draft, and he made his debut with them in 1991. He won National League Rookie of the Year in 1992 when he hit 20 home runs and drove in 88. In all, he would hit at least 30 home runs and drive in over 100 five times in Los Angeles between 1995 and 2000.

2002 was Karros’s final year with the Dodgers. That year, he hit 13 home runs and drove in 73 while batting .271. After that year, the Dodgers decided to trade Karros, along with Mark Grudzielanek, for Chad Hermansen and the disappointing catcher Todd Hundley, son of Cubs great Randy Hundley, who had signed with the Cubs as a free agent and was a complete disaster.

It was one of the best trades the Cubs have made in recent memory. Grudzielanek was great for the Cubs during their 2003 N.L. Central Championship season, while Karros primarily served in a platoon role, sharing time with Hee Seop Choi and Randall Simon after the latter was acquired in a late-season trade. In 114 games, Karros batted a robust .286 with 12 home runs in 2003. His big home run in a regular-season game against the New York Yankees will always be a highlight of that season.

Karros briefly played for the Oakland Athletics in 2004 before retiring and making a name for himself covering baseball for FOX.