Chicago Cubs: Assembling our very own all-time "Hall of Very Good" team

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The mythical “Hall of Very Good” exists as an informal honor to players who had very good careers, but are just not quite Hall of Fame worthy. These are guys who had nice careers and are still remembered long after they retire, even though they do not have their face on a plaque in Cooperstown.

Some of these guys are right on the fringe of Hall of Fame, where arguments exist for them to be in it. Others had Hall of Fame trajectories early in their careers, but due to either injuries, personal life or just falling off performance-wise, they finish their careers short of Cooperstown-worthy numbers. Then you simply have the guys that were just very good, with no real shot at the Hall of Fame but still played at an All Star level fairly consistently throughout their career.

Yes, there are the steroid or banned players who clearly put up Hall of Fame numbers, but that is a topic for another day.

There are plenty of Cubs legends who did not have Hall of Fame careers but still left their mark on the franchise and the game, as a whole. I’m going to attempt to find a starting lineup, five-man starting rotation and five relievers made up of “Hall of Very Good” Chicago Cubs. While building an all-time lineup is fairly easy, building this is a bit more difficult.

There are plenty of worthy guys to be on this list, thus there are a lot of different directions this lineup can go. One of the goals of this list was to pull a diverse set of players from different eras. This can spark plenty of conversations and debates. Without further ado, here is my “Hall of Very Good” Cubs team.

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Chicago Cubs: A lineup with fan favorites and guys from a long-gone era

The starting eight position players in the “Hall of Very Good” Chicago Cubs lineup.

Manager: Charlie Grimm

Both a very good player and successful manager, Grimm is second among Cubs managers in wins (946) behind Hall of Famer Cap Anson. He spent time both as a player/manager and as solely a manager. He was the manager for three pennant-winning teams (1932, 1935, 1945) and is the only other Cubs manager outside Anson to be the skipper of the team for more than 10 seasons.

Catcher: Jody Davis

Only Hall of Famer Gabby Hartnett has caught more games in a Cubs uniform than Davis. He spent eight years on the North Side and was a two-time All Star. He slashed .251/.313/.416 with 122 home runs, .729 OPS and 467 RBI as a Cub. His 834 hits and 122 home runs are both second all-time among Cubs catchers behind Hartnett.

1st: Mark Grace

Nobody has played more games at first in Cubs history (1,910) than Grace. The three-time All Star racked up 2,201 hits on the North Side and slashed .308/.386/.445. He is fifth on the all-time Cubs list in hits and is one of only eight players in franchise history to reach 2,000+ knocks. We also can’t fail to mention he won four Gold Gloves, evidence he was just as good of a fielder as he was a hitter.

2nd: Glenn Beckert

A four-time All-Star and Gold Glove winner, Beckert was part of the late-1960s, early-70s Cubs teams that featured the core of Hall of Famers Ernie Banks, Billy Williams, Ron Santo and Fergie Jenkins. He was not necessarily overshadowed by them, Beckert was a very good ballplayer and was popular among fans. He slashed .283/.318/.348 with 1,423 hits in 1,247 games.

SS: Shawon Dunston

Who could forget the “Shawon-0-meter”? Dunston played on the North Side from 1985-1995 and came back for one more stint in 1997. In 1,254 games he slashed .267/.295/.407 with 107 home runs and 489 RBI. He was a two-time All-Star while on the Cubs and a favorite among the Wrigley faithful. His 1,219 hits as a Cub are 25th all-time in franchise history.

3rd: Aramis Ramirez

I’m going with a more recent fan favorite on this one. While Stan Hack is certainly worthy of this spot, Ramirez was one of the faces of the franchise in the 2000s. Ramirez is seventh on the all-time Cubs home run list (239), third in slugging (.531), 12th in RBI (806) and fourth in OPS (.887). From 2003-2011, he made two All-Star teams, won a Silver Slugger in 2011 and finished top-10 in MVP voting in both 2004 and 2008.

LF: Dave Kingman

“Kong” is part of the distinct 400+ home run, but not in Cooperstown, club. Obviously, there are members of this club linked to PEDs, but Kingman is not one of them. While not a big average or on-base guy…and struck out a TON, his power was unreal. He spent 1978-1980 on the North Side and hit 94 home runs in 345 games. For a guy who did not have a high career average or OBP, he still managed to slash .278/.338/.569 with a .907 OPS as a Cub. He was an All-Star in 1979 and 1980 and in ’79, finished with the most home runs in baseball (48).

CF: Andy Pafko

Turning back the clocks to the 1940s and 50s, Pafko was a centerpiece on the 1945 pennant-winning team and played with the Cubs for nine years. In that time he made the NL All-Star team in four consecutive seasons (1947-1950) and racked up 1,048 hits and 126 home runs. In 1950 he finished with a 6.3 fWAR and 155 wRC+ in 146 games played. He finished his Cubs career with a .294/.362/.468 slash and a .829 OPS (23rd on the Cubs all-time list).

RF: Bill Nicholson

Currently 19th on the team’s all-time hit list (1,323) and 16th in OPS (.840), Nicholson was cemented in the outfield from 1939 until 1948. Over those 1,349 games, he slashed .272/.368/.471 with 205 home runs and a 136 OPS+. He was a five-time All Star with the Cubs and in back-to-back years (1943 and 1944) was baseball’s leader in RBI and the National League leader in home runs. He finished third and second in MVP voting those two years. His wRC+ in 1943 was a whopping 163, compare that to Kris Bryant’s 148 in his MVP year.

NOTE: While one could put Sammy Sosa in right because he is not in the Hall of Fame, the reason for him not being in strictly due to PEDs and not numbers excluded him from this list.

Chicago Cubs: Each era of Cubs baseball had its group of very good pitchers.

Five-man starting rotation:

Rick Reuschel

Only Hall of Famer Fergie Jenkins started more games as a Cub than Reuschel (343). The righty from Quincy, Illinois spent 12 of his 19 MLB seasons with the North Siders and pitched to a 3.50 ERA, 3.15 FIP, 1.3 WHIP and 1,367 strikeouts 2,290 innings as a Cub. He is fifth in franchise history in strikeouts.

Charlie Root

Known for giving up Babe Ruth’s “Called Shot” in the 1932 World Series, Root had himself a heck of a career. Nobody has appeared in more games as a pitcher in a Cubs uniform than Root (605) and is the only pitcher to win more than 200 games as a Cub. In those 605 appearances, he pitched to a 3.55 ERA, 3.65 FIP, 1.3 WHIP and 1,432 strikeouts in 3,137 1/3 innings.

Hippo Vaughn

A player one could make a case for the Hall of Fame, the southpaw Vaughn had himself an incredible run as a pitcher with the Cubs. He boasts the sixth-best ERA in franchise history among qualifiers (2.33), and is eighth in strikeouts (1,138) and innings pitched (2,216.1). In addition, he posted a 2.57 FIP and 1.2 WHIP as a Cub. In 1918 he was the Triple Crown winner and would help lead his team to the National League pennant.

Carlos Zambrano

A guy who had all the talent in the world, but unfortunately got in his own way, Zambrano was one of the core players in the 2000s. Despite the fall from grace around age 30, “Big Z” still is remembered fondly by Cubs fans. Believe it or not, Zambrano is second on the all-time Cubs strikeout list (1,542) behind Jenkins and has started the eighth-most games in team history (282). In 11 seasons with the Cubs, he was a three-time All-Star, finished top-five in Cy Young voting three times and won three Silver Slugger awards. He pitched to a 3.60 ERA, 3.98 FIP and 1.3 WHIP.

Rick Sutcliffe

Coming over from the Indians during the historic 1984 season, Sutcliffe made an immediate impact. Winning the Cy Young in ’84 and making the All-Star team in 1987 and 1989, he was one of the key core players of the 1980s. Sutcliffe pitched to a 3.74 ERA, 3.60 FIP, 1.3 WHIP and 909 strikeouts (17th in franchise history) in 1,267.1 innings as a Cub.

Relief pitchers. Four relievers and a closer.

Closer: Randy Myers

Myers had a very successful career as a reliever, racking up 347 saves in 14 years. One hundred twelve of those came in a Cubs uniform, which is fourth on the franchise save list. He was a Cub from 1993 through 1995 and was an All-Star in each of his final two seasons in Chicago. Along with his 112 saves he pitched to a 3.52 ERA, 3.53 FIP, 1.3 WHIP and struck out 177 hitters in 168 games.

RL: Kerry Wood

Had to include “Kid K” on this list. Despite injuries taking a toll on him over his playing years, he still had himself a very solid career as both a starter and reliever. He is third on the all-time Cubs list in strikeouts (1,470) and 15th in games appeared in. As a Cub, he was a two-time All-Star and pitched to a 3.67 ERA, 1.3 WHIP, 3.80 FIP and 10.3 K/9. Who could forget his 20 strikeout performance on May 6, 1998?

RL: Ryan Dempster

Like Wood, Dempster was effective as both a reliever and a starter. He finished his nine-year Cubs tenure with a 3.74 ERA, 3.78 FIP, 1.3 WHIP and is fifth on the all-time team save list (87). He was better as a starter, but it was worth including him on this list as a reliever.

RL: Pedro Strop

Despite some of the ugly meltdowns, Strop was one of the best relievers in Cubs history. He is sixth in games appeared in as a pitcher in franchise history (413) and pitched to a 2.88 ERA, 3.19 FIP, 1.1 WHIP and 10.3 K/9 in 375 innings pitched.

Next. How many of these guys rank among the best Cubs ever?. dark

It was hard to keep some others names off this list. Have to at least include honorable mentions to guys like Don Kessinger, Phil Cavarretta, Jimmy Ryan, Stan Hack, Bill Buckner, Derrek Lee, Randy Hundley, Ken Holtzman, and Rod Beck.

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