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Chicago Cubs – Ryne Sandberg
The Cubs’ Ryne Sandberg was impressive. He made 10 All-Star appearances. He won nine consecutive Gold Gloves and six Silver Sluggers. But he only knocked in 100 runs twice (1990 and 1991). He was ‘vanilla.’ He didn’t dive for balls. He didn’t give that extra effort for them. But that was fine; he made the plays he should have.
He had five seasons over .300, including his 1984 season, which included a slash of .314/.367/.520 and an OPS of .887. He added 114 runs scored, 19 triples, 19 home runs and 84 RBI. Did I mention he won MVP that year? He did. Side note? Rick Sutcliffe did win the Cy Young Award because of his 16-1 record.
He came back for the 1996 and 1997 season after not playing the 1995 season. In all honesty, he was choice in the 1996 season. He hit 25 home runs and 94 RBI, but he only hit .244. Still impressive nonetheless. Not bad after taking a year off. Bravo.
Editors Note: Sadly, I did not get to watch Ben Zobrist. The brain cancer kept me from it for a few years. Resection, as well as right-side weakness, did me in.