Who Was The Greatest Chicago Cub Ever?

The Chicago Cubs have been been members of the National League since 1876, but most people don't know that the club was actually founded in 1870 and that they first played professionally in 1871.

The North-siders haven't won a World Series since 1908, but along the way they have had more than their share of great players. Ask 50 Cub fans who the all-time greatest player was and you might get 50 different answers, but I have narrowed it down to my Top 5.

One can certainly argue that some or these players do not belong on the list, which is why I have 9 choices plus "other" included in the poll question.

Yes, Sammy is mostly despised by Cubs fans nowadays because of the way he left town- and because of the stories that came out afterward- and because it's just assumed that he was on steroids.

But nobody can argue how much he was loved for most of his career as a Cub, and you certainly cannot argue with the statistics he posted.

While in Chicago playing for the Cubs, Sosa became:

•The only player in MLB history to have 3 seasons of 60+ home runs.
•The 2nd National League player to ever have a 160 RBI season.
•A winner of MLB's Silver Slugger Award for 5 consecutive seasons
•The MLB record-holder for most home runs in a month (20 in June 1998)

Sosa also was the best player on a pair of playoff teams, including the 2003 club which was the first Cubs squad to win a post-season series since the 1908 World Series.

Yes, Sammy got caught "accidently" corking his bat. And yes, reports exist that say he failed a steriod test in 2003. And yes, he asked out of the lineup the day of his last game as a Cub, leaving Wrigley Field before the game ended.

But baseball more than any other sport is a game where statistics are king. And the numbers don't lie- during his time playing home games on the North Side of Chicago, Sammy Sosa was one of the most dominant home run hitters the game has ever seen.

Hack Wilson only played 6 seasons with the Cubs (1926-1931), but in that time he established himself as one of the greatest run-producers in baseball history.

His first year with the Cubs saw him lead the league in home runs (21), but perhaps his greatest accomplishment happened on May 24th of that year. In a game against the Boston (now Atlanta) Braves, Wilson hit a home run that actually traveled over the center field bleachers and hit the scoreboard. That blast is still one of the longest in Wrigley Field history.

Wilson again led the NL in homers in 1927 with 31, also leading the league in putouts by an outfielder (400). Wilson's 31 home runs once again led the league in 1928, but it was 1929 when the combative power hitter really began to create his legacy.

That season, Hack hit for a .345 batting average and 39 home runs, but most impressive was his then-National League single-season record of 159 RBI. Unfortunately, he also committed two costly errors in Game 4 of the World Series that year, a game in which the American League Champion Philadelphia Athletics recovered from an 8-0 deficit with a 10-run seventh inning. In that inning, Wilson lost a fly ball in the sun, allowing Philly's Mule Haas to record an inside-the-park home run.

In 1930, he had the greatest hitting season of any player in history up to that time. Not only did he hit .356 with a league-leading .723 slugging percentage, he broke the league record with 56 home runs, and he accumulated 191 RBI- an MLB record total that stands to this day. It is a record which will in all probability never be broken.

Unfortunately, a change in the construction of the baseball drastically lowered power numbers across MLB in 1931, and Wilson was never the same player again. After several fights both on and off the field, Wilson was traded (along with Bud Teachout) to the St. Louis Cardinals for Burleigh Grimes after the season.

Fergie was not only one of the most consistent and best-hitting pitchers of all-time, he was also a good enough athlete to play for the Harlem Globetrotters.

The Cubs acquired Jenkins before the 1967 season, and he stepped right in to the rotation. He not only won 20 games and led the league with 20 complete games, he was also 2nd in voting for the Cy Young Award and selected to the National League All-Star team that season.

In 1968 he again won 20 games and led the league with 40 starts. He lost 15 games that year, but five of them were 1-0 losses. The 1969 season again saw him win over 20 games and lead the league with 42 games started- and this time he also led the league with 273 strikeouts. In 1970 he went 22-16, leading the league in complete games (24) and WHIP (1.038) along the way.

In 1971, Fergie had one of the greatest all-around seasons any pitcher has ever had in major league history. Going 24-13 with 2.77 ERA is impressive enough, but Jenkins also led the league in starts (39), complete games (30), innings pitched (325), hits (304) and batters faced (1,299). But just as impressive was what he did at the plate- he hit .243 with a .478 slugging percentage, 6 home runs and 20 RBI. Jenkins won his only Cy Young Award that season as well.

The 1972 saw him win 20 games for the sixth consecutive season, a feat that will most likely never again be accomplished. In those first 6 years as a Cub, Fergie completed a staggering 140 of 236 starts. To get a full appreciation of the 30 complete games he compiled in 1971, during the 2010 season the Philadelphia Philles led MLB with 14 complete games. As a team.

Fergie is also one of only three pitchers (along with Curt Schilling and Pedro Martinez) to record 3,000 career strikeouts while walking fewer than 1,000 hitters.

I'm sure a lot of you will ask how the man known worldwide as "Mr. Cub" is only #2 on the Cubs' all-time greatest player list? I'll explain that later.

Ernie spent his entire 19-year MLB career with the Cubs. He's a 2-time league MVP, a 14-time All-Star, the 1960 Gold Glove Award winner for shortstops, and one of the best hitting shortstops in Major League history. He led the league in games played six times. He is a member of the MLB All-Century Team.

Banks led the league in home runs on 2 separate occasions, and he also led the NL in RBI and intentional walks twice. He hit 512 career home runs, and at the time of his retirement the 277 homers he hit as a shortstop were also a major league record (since broken by Cal Ripken Jr). He holds Cubs records for games played (2,528), at-bats (9,421), extra-base hits (1,009), and total bases (4,706).

Ernie was elected to the Hall Of Fame on the first ballot. He was the first African-American to ever wear a Cubs uniform. He was the first Cub ever to have his uniform number retired. On March 31, 2008, a statue of Banks outside Wrigley Field was unveiled.

Unfortunately, about the only thing Mr. Cub didn't do during his career was to play in a post-season contest. That was the tie-breaker that gave my vote for Greatest Cub Ever to...

Outside of 6 meaningless AB with the Phillies at the end of the 1981 season, "Ryno" spent his entire career in a Cubs uniform. He was a great athlete in high school, a star QB in Spokane, Washington who turned down a chance to play the position at Washington State University. He instead decided on a baseball career, signing with the Phillies as a 20th round draft pick.

He was never high on the Phillies' list of prospects, probably because the Phillies of the early 1980's were a championship caliber team with Mike Schmidt and Manny Trillo manning Sandberg's positions. But when the Cubs traded Ivan DeJesus for Sandberg and shortstop Larry Bowa after the 1981 season, it would turn out to be one of the most lopsided deals in major league history.

Sandberg's list of accomplishments is staggering- he won 9 consecutive Gold Gloves (1983-91) once the Cubs moved him from 3rd base to 2nd prior to the 1983 season. He was a National League All-Star for ten straight years (1984-93), and he won seven Silver Slugger Awards.

He was the National League MVP in 1984, and he won the Home Run Derby as well as leading the NL in homers in 1990. The Cubs retired his number on August 28, 2005, only the 4th Cub (Banks, Ron Santo, Billy Williams) to be so honored at that time.

On September 21, 1997, Ryno played his last game at Wrigley Field- and although nobody knew it at the time, it was also the last time that Harry Caray would sing "Take Me Out To The Ball Game" during the 7th inning stretch (Harry passed away that off-season).

Sandberg's first glorious moment came during a nationally-televised game on June 23, 1984. He hit a pair of game-tying homers (in the 9th and 10th innings) off of former Cub relief pitcher Bruce Sutter, who was the game's most dominant closer at the time. The Cubs would go on to win the game in 11, and the game- known as "The Sandberg Game"- put Ryno and the team on the map that season.

When he led the NL with 40 home runs in 1990, he became only the third 2nd baseman to hit over 40 at the time (Davey Johnson, Rogers Hornsby). He is also the third player (Barry Bonds, Brady Anderson) ever to have a 40 home run season in addition to a 50 stolen base season in their career.

Ernie Banks is still "Mr. Cub" and always will be. But Ryno was a huge part of the 1984 team that made Cubs baseball relevant again. That magical season saw the team reach the postseason for the first time since the 1945 World Series.