What the Cubs' lineup looked like last time the Blackhawks had the No. 1 pick

Starting pitcher: RHP Carlos Zambrano

Every now and then, I look back on who my first favorite Cubs were as I was growing up, and Carlos Zambrano is often topping the list.

His line on June 22, 2007 was one of the reasons why.

Big Z took the mound for eight strong innings against the White Sox, allowing just one earned run on three hits and racking up twelve punch outs in this edition of the Crosstown Cup.

2007 also provided some of the script that feeds his legacy as a Cub, with "wild" being the best term to call a year that saw him at both the center of a brawl that put stitches in teammate Michael Barrett's lip, and at the top of the league's walks allowed with 101 on the year for a 10.9% walk rate.

But, nonetheless, Zambrano finished the 2007 season in the top five of Cy Young voting for the second year in a row, posting a 3.95 ERA and 2.8 fWAR over 216 innings of work.

Catcher: Rob Bowen

Funny enough, Michael Barrett was traded to the Padres a few weeks after the altercation with Zambrano, and Rob Bowen was included in that package.

There isn't much else to be said besides that.

Bowen's tenure in Chicago was incredibly short-lived—Not even lasting a month with the Cubs, Bowen recorded just two hits over 36 plate appearances before being designated for assignment and subsequently traded to the Athletics for Jason Kendall.

First Base: Derrek Lee

The most beloved first baseman in franchise history is most likely Anthony Rizzo, but let's not act like Derrek Lee doesn't have a spot high on that list.

Another centerpiece of the Cubs from the mid-late 2000s, Lee was nothing short of excellent in an All-Star 2007 season.

Slashing a .317/.400/.513 and 132 wRC+ in his fourth season with the Cubs, Lee's 2007 season still wasn't even within his top two seasons as a Cub numbers-wise. With his tenure with the Cubs ending as a 22.3 fWAR first baseman, Lee finished in the top 10 of MVP voting twice, peaking at 3rd in 2005 behind Albert Pujols and Andruw Jones after posting his career high .335 average and 1.080 OPS that same year.

Second Base: Mike Fontenot

2007 was an interesting season for Mike Fontenot. After starting the year with Iowa, he was temporarily called up in mid-May before being sent down again, and then he made his return to Chicago following Aramis Ramirez's injury in early June.

Mark DeRosa had moved to third in his absence, allowing Fontenot to be the everyday second baseman in that stretch, but even with Ramirez's return on top of DeRosa's versatility, Fontenot continued to get regular playing time throughout the month— Enough playing time to produce a .397/.422/.679 slash line and 177 wRC+ in June.

But all good things must come to an end, and that included Fontenot's time at second base that season. After recording a .211/.269/.211 line in July, Fontenot ultimately lost the starting second base job to DeRosa, and he finished the second half with a .215/.307/.262 line.

Shortstop: César Izturis

Believe it or not, this guy is who the Cubs traded Greg Maddux to the Dodgers for at the deadline in 2006. In his 87 games with the Cubs, Izturis slashed a .240/.290/.282 line before being dealt to the Pirates in July 2007.

Third Base: Mark DeRosa

In only two years with the Cubs, Mark DeRosa was a solid utility player, but primarily at second base in 2007. But, June 22 was one of his 35 games at third that season, a position that he was placed at in 102 games in 2009 with Cleveland after being traded for Chris Archer, Jeff Stevens, and John Gaub.

As a journeyman, DeRosa's time in Chicago was rather short, but nonetheless one that Cubs fans remember fondly specifically for his versatility, .330/.289/.373 line, and 113 wRC+ with the team, including his career-best 121 wRC+ and .857 OPS in 2008.

Left Field: Alfonso Soriano

Zambrano's prior start to his on June 22nd was one in which he earned no run support in his complete game, 1-0 loss to the Padres on June 16th.

Right out the gate, Alfonso Soriano made sure that wouldn't happen against the White Sox.

Leading off for the Cubs on the 22nd, Soriano worked a full count to take Mark Buehrle deep to give Zambrano an early lead that the Cubs never looked back from. Soriano went on to hit a homer in all three games of the Crosstown Cup, adding to his 181 home run total in a Cubs uniform.

The largest contract in franchise history at the time, Soriano's legacy as a Cub will always have the "8-year, $136 million" asterisk attached to it after seven seasons of being an 8.2 fWAR player, but Soriano still provided the Cubs with power in the lineup and two All-Star seasons, including his Cubs -best in 2007. In his inaugural season with the team, Soriano slashed .299/.337/.560 with a 122 wRC+.

Center Field: Félix Pié

You mean... the Cubs' former number one prospect Félix Pié?

Sometimes prospects just don't pan out the way you might expect, and this would be an example of that.

Pié made his MLB debut in April 2007, yet never spent a full season in the Majors in his six-year career. Between 130 games for the Cubs in the 2007-08 seasons, Pié slashed a .223/.284/.331 with a 55 wRC+ before being traded to Baltimore— On the bright side, though, he did drive in two runs with a single on June 22nd, making it 5-1 in the 9th inning for the last Cubs runs of the day!

Right Field: Ángel Pagán

Whenever I think of Ángel Pagán and the Cubs, I will always just hear Matt Vasgersian's voice echoing in my mind as "Báez sends it deep to left, Pagán is there at the wall and it's in the basket!"

For other Cubs fans, maybe they'll associate him with being the reason behind one of Lou Pinella's best meltdowns/ejections.

Regardless of how you might remember Ángel Pagán, I really doubt that his 0.7 fWAR with the Cubs plays a factor into it.

Designated Hitter: Aramis Ramírez

For me, Ramírez is on the same level as Zambrano in terms of which Cubs defined my childhood, and for good reason.

In eight full seasons with the Cubs, Ramírez spent his Chicago tenure as a 24.9 fWAR regular power hitter at third base, slashing a .297/.359/.533 with a 128 wRC+. An example of this was on full display on June 22nd, with Ramírez following Soriano's lead with a first-inning home run of his own and later on driving in another run with a 9th-inning single.

But of course, this game isn't the Ramírez moment that lives in all our minds, as just one week later, this happened against the division-leading Brewers.

Closer: Ryan Dempster

Ryan Dempster was one of those guys that truly did it all for the pitching staff in almost a decade with the Cubs, between roles as both a closer and ultimately a starting pitcher.

2007 was his last year coming out of the 'pen with Chicago, recording 28 saves in the closer role before an All-Star 2008 season in which he posted a 2.96 ERA across 206.2 innings pitched, ranking in the top 15 across pitchers in K% (21.8%) and fWAR (4.8), and finishing in the top 10 of Cy Young voting.

The best part of it all, though, is that even with Dempster being long retired from the game, he's still the gift that keeps on giving as the guy that the Cubs traded for Kyle Hendricks.

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