Chicago Cubs: Who were the five best players on the 1998 team?

Chicago Cubs (DANIEL LIPPITT/AFP via Getty Images)
Chicago Cubs (DANIEL LIPPITT/AFP via Getty Images) /
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Chicago Cubs
Mickey Morandini / Chicago Cubs – (Otto Greule /Allsport) /

Chicago Cubs – #2: Morandini quietly put together a strong season

Even if you’re just focusing on his baseball card numbers, there’s little doubt that Mickey Morandini doesn’t get enough credit for what he did during the 1998 season. In his first season with the Cubs, the 32-year-old infielder did it all.

At the plate, he hit .296/.380/.385 – that .380 OBP marked the best of Morandini’s career. He scored 93 runs and racked up 172 base hits, while making a mere five errors in the field. Paired with Grace, he formed one half of a formidable right side of the infield that year.

His 1.3 dWAR ranked 10th in the league in ’98 and he led all National League second basemen in fielding percentage and Total Zone Runs (10). His strong work on both sides of the ball culminated in a 3.9 WAR – a mark topped by just one Cubs player that year: Sammy Sosa.