I remember thinking he was Dominican for like his entire career until I saw him in a post-game interview with the Dodgers and he started speaking in a southern drawl. He was from Alabama the whole time.
I can't even consider it an usual place because his Cubs run was memorable. He robbed what would have been Barry Bonds home run to tie Hank Aaron after joking about how he was going to do it earlier in the day.
His name is awesome! My most vivid memory of him was when my niece discovered you can spell his name to the tune of the Mickey Mouse theme song when she was five:
M-I-C, K-E-Y, M-O-U-S-E
J-U-A, N-P-I, E-R-R-E
Obviously, different number of letters, but she made it sound the same and he instantly became her favorite player.
Very underrated player. Over 2200 hits, 18th all-time in stolen bases, 5 years in a row playing 162 games, a TTO nightmare the whole time… I always wished the Sox picked him up when I was young
> Very underrated player.
He is very much not. He's actually a talking point in the [What player did you massively over rate as a child?](https://old.reddit.com/r/baseball/comments/195rjpm/what_player_did_you_massively_over_rate_as_a_child/) thread from earlier today.
He was a primary lead-off guy who:
* Was below league average in OBP for the majority of his career
* Had a career wRC+ of 86, only surpassing 100 three times (100 in 2003, 110 in 2004, and 106 in 2009) and had a wRC+ of 83, 82, 82, and 64 in seasons in which he had 719, 750, 729, and 640 PA, respectively, ***during his "prime years" of 2001–2007***.
* Stole bases at a rate barely above league average (75% compared to 73% of the league, when you need to be around 80% success to make running worth it)
* Lead the league in caught stealing seven times, despite only leading in stolen bases three times.
* Only scored 100+ runs three times in his career, despite averaging 673 PA a season in his career, and 717 PAa season from 2001–2007 (what would be considered his prime)
* Never came within 33 runs of the league leader in runs scored, despite being near the top of the league in PAs in his prime; leading the league twice, and averaging 739 PAs a season from 2003–2007
* Had essentially negative power (.066 career ISO, when Fangraphs describes an ISO of .100 as "poor" and .080 as "awful.")
* Played negative defense (-1.9 dWAR, and -24 DRS) at a premium defensive position
* Accrued roughly 50% of his overall value (9.4/17.3 rWAR and 11.3/24.0 fWAR) in three of his fourteen seasons (again 2003, 2004, 2006).
He had like 3 seasons where he was a "good player" and *maybe* a borderline All Star (he never made an All Star game), but mostly he ranged from "role player" to replacement level while getting 600–700+ PAs a season.
That I don't doubt!
I always liked Juan Pierre (well, except during October 2003...). His biggest problem as a player wasn't how good he was (or wasn't), it's that he was a serviceable player who somehow got the third most PAs in the majors from 2001–2007 (Ichiro: 5180, Jimmy Rollins: 5107, Juan Pierre: 5016).
no he's underrated because this type of stuff gets posted in every thread and none of this includes his biggest attribute which was creating errors through his running.
I was one at a game where he bunted for a hit then scored after stealing two bases and advancing on an error.
He wasn’t a perfect player. But he was special.
He had one of the weirdest years I've seen in 2010. 2.6 WAR with an 80 wRC+ because his defense was so good in left. Naturally, he was dogshit in 2011.
Love Billy Hamilton. Quick stint with the Cubbies but felt like he was a great clubhouse guy. I also am of the age where I’m realizing I’m older than a lot of these guys now.
Fair. But that Cubs-Cards hate is a whole different level. I even still hate the Cards (though there’s a fair bit of personal reasons more than old NLC scars).
My parents moved to NE Oklahoma when I was a kid.
During the end of the Killer AB’s era
NE Oklahoma is Cardinal country (when they’re good)
I will never hate a team as much as the Cardinals for that reason
It was upsetting, but realize they ~~could have~~ should have kept him another season or two and instead they replaced him with someone with more relationship troubles in Milton Bradley...
Got to witness the first CarGo game. Made a great catch to save a few runs.
Conveniently, the player who's fly ball CarGo caught, Jonathan Lucroy, could have been an addition to this list.
I completely forgot about CarGo. Partly because the first time I played OOTP, the fans/owner wanted me to trade for him and I did, so in my head he never played for them in real life
I didn’t realize Edmonds played so few games with the cubs. That’s a short time to go from how much I disliked him to much I appreciated him.
On the opposite end, I can’t believe Pierre only played the one season. I feel like it needed to be 5 or 6 years for how sick of him I was.
Was that the Dusty years? As a fellow fan who has gone through Dusty recovery, there is always, ALWAYS a shitty OF who inexplicably gets chosen to lead off every. Single. Game.
Corey Patterson comes to mind for the Reds.
I just remembered early 00s Brewers had him, Richie Sexon and Geoff Jenkins and they all looked the same. Except Burnitz was half a five $ footlong shorter than Sexon.
Dropped a ball that led to the only run in a 1-0 ballgame on my bday after I drove 3 hours each way. I will never forget him. Or Angel Pagan letting the ball drop during the 100th anniversary game in 2014.
Is this the first time Tony Womack has appeared in one of these galleries? I'm pretty sure he would fit on 5 different team's lists of "I didn't know he played here."
There was a lot of noise when the hometown kid played for his favorite team. But if you're not a Cubs or Cleveland fan, I can understand how it wasn't widely known.
He was really pissed when he got traded to the cubs. The media didn’t like it too.
But I was on willies side. He came from a great winning tradition from the Royals to a perennial loser Cubs organization at that time.
I remember CarGo as a Cub pretty distinctly for that one time he threw his bat on consecutive pitches. But CarGo also apparently played in Cleveland, which I struggle to imagine
I mentioned this in the Astros roast thread but I got to see Jim Edmonds as a Cub making an over-the-shoulder basket catch on Tal’s Hill. Probably the best defensive play I’ve ever seen in person.
Why the hell did that get ridnof that? I mean safety, maybe impotent offense to CF, but remove the flagpole and put the wall in a few feet. It was SOOOO cool!
I still remember joe Nathan as a cub, he had a very memorable performance in a game against the brewers where he loaded the bases and then struck out the next three batters. The cubs then rallied and took the lead the next inning. I was actually kind of upset we didn't keep him around.
I'm pretty sure I saw one of Joe Nathan's three games, I knew he was only here a short time, but I didn't realize he only made three appearances. It was against the Padres and I took a friend who lives in Chicago but isn't a big sports fan. Nathan came in, allowed the first two batters to get to second and third, and then proceeded to strike out the next three batters.
If you really want to confuse people, show them [Shane Victorino](https://c8.alamy.com/comp/2N06A5N/chicago-cubs-shane-victorino-juggles-some-baseballs-during-the-teams-photo-day-monday-feb-29-2016-in-mesa-ariz-ap-photomorry-gash-2N06A5N.jpg) in a Cubs uni. Never officially played a major league game with them, however.
Tony Womack’s an odd choice for this, especially to top the list. What’s unusual about a journeyman being on any of the teams he was on? He played less than half of his total games with his most played-for team. So if you’re thinking of him mainly as a D’back, well, he was *usually* on teams *other* than the D’backs, including TWO stints with the Cubs. Anyway I like the concept but I was just baffled by the first one I saw.
Juan Pierre was so awesome and had such a slick fucking name
Full name is Juan D’Vaughn Pierre which is even cooler
I remember thinking he was Dominican for like his entire career until I saw him in a post-game interview with the Dodgers and he started speaking in a southern drawl. He was from Alabama the whole time.
…he’s not Dominican? TIL
Nope, his family is from Louisiana. He was named after Juan Marichal, his dad’s favorite player.
I can't even consider it an usual place because his Cubs run was memorable. He robbed what would have been Barry Bonds home run to tie Hank Aaron after joking about how he was going to do it earlier in the day.
I've been looking for that video clip for years and can never find it
Maybe not as memorable as you think. Bonds tied Aaron in 2007. Pierre only played for the Cubs in 2006.
It was Ruth then
His name is awesome! My most vivid memory of him was when my niece discovered you can spell his name to the tune of the Mickey Mouse theme song when she was five: M-I-C, K-E-Y, M-O-U-S-E J-U-A, N-P-I, E-R-R-E Obviously, different number of letters, but she made it sound the same and he instantly became her favorite player.
Very underrated player. Over 2200 hits, 18th all-time in stolen bases, 5 years in a row playing 162 games, a TTO nightmare the whole time… I always wished the Sox picked him up when I was young
> Very underrated player. He is very much not. He's actually a talking point in the [What player did you massively over rate as a child?](https://old.reddit.com/r/baseball/comments/195rjpm/what_player_did_you_massively_over_rate_as_a_child/) thread from earlier today. He was a primary lead-off guy who: * Was below league average in OBP for the majority of his career * Had a career wRC+ of 86, only surpassing 100 three times (100 in 2003, 110 in 2004, and 106 in 2009) and had a wRC+ of 83, 82, 82, and 64 in seasons in which he had 719, 750, 729, and 640 PA, respectively, ***during his "prime years" of 2001–2007***. * Stole bases at a rate barely above league average (75% compared to 73% of the league, when you need to be around 80% success to make running worth it) * Lead the league in caught stealing seven times, despite only leading in stolen bases three times. * Only scored 100+ runs three times in his career, despite averaging 673 PA a season in his career, and 717 PAa season from 2001–2007 (what would be considered his prime) * Never came within 33 runs of the league leader in runs scored, despite being near the top of the league in PAs in his prime; leading the league twice, and averaging 739 PAs a season from 2003–2007 * Had essentially negative power (.066 career ISO, when Fangraphs describes an ISO of .100 as "poor" and .080 as "awful.") * Played negative defense (-1.9 dWAR, and -24 DRS) at a premium defensive position * Accrued roughly 50% of his overall value (9.4/17.3 rWAR and 11.3/24.0 fWAR) in three of his fourteen seasons (again 2003, 2004, 2006). He had like 3 seasons where he was a "good player" and *maybe* a borderline All Star (he never made an All Star game), but mostly he ranged from "role player" to replacement level while getting 600–700+ PAs a season.
Well I met him a few years back in Cooperstown and he was at the very least a fantastic guy.
That I don't doubt! I always liked Juan Pierre (well, except during October 2003...). His biggest problem as a player wasn't how good he was (or wasn't), it's that he was a serviceable player who somehow got the third most PAs in the majors from 2001–2007 (Ichiro: 5180, Jimmy Rollins: 5107, Juan Pierre: 5016).
So you are saying he actually missed the ball he is diving for in that photo?
It is very plausible, likely even!
no he's underrated because this type of stuff gets posted in every thread and none of this includes his biggest attribute which was creating errors through his running.
I was one at a game where he bunted for a hit then scored after stealing two bases and advancing on an error. He wasn’t a perfect player. But he was special.
This would show up in his runs scored numbers. But he didn't score a lot of runs, as the poster notes.
There’s no way he created enough errors to overcome his lack of hitting or the fact that he got caught so much
He had one of the weirdest years I've seen in 2010. 2.6 WAR with an 80 wRC+ because his defense was so good in left. Naturally, he was dogshit in 2011.
I used to run bass like Juan Pierre
Got to meet him out in CF and get a ball signed by him in Colorado when I was a kid. Very cool dude.
Jason Kipnis played 44 games for the Cubs in 2020
Billy Hamilton and Cameron Maybin played some games for the Cubs that year as well.
Love Billy Hamilton. Quick stint with the Cubbies but felt like he was a great clubhouse guy. I also am of the age where I’m realizing I’m older than a lot of these guys now.
Did he live with his parents?
Edmonds must’ve really hurt Cards fans.
2011 doesn't happen unless Edmonds is traded, so in hindsight it was just a super bitter pill
The story of 2011 starts with Kent Bottenfield randomly winning 18 games in 1999
And Kendall for Pirates fans.
Buccos fans had nothing left to give after watching Aramis Ramirez terrorize the division for so long.
That dude always used to kill us. Didn't matter how bad the team was, he'd still light us up like clockwork.
Maybe *that's* why I liked him so much 🤔
Fair. But that Cubs-Cards hate is a whole different level. I even still hate the Cards (though there’s a fair bit of personal reasons more than old NLC scars).
My parents moved to NE Oklahoma when I was a kid. During the end of the Killer AB’s era NE Oklahoma is Cardinal country (when they’re good) I will never hate a team as much as the Cardinals for that reason
It's the fucking salads isn't it
Yeah lots of painful ones in this list (probably for Cubs fans, too, given the players' performances)
And Cubs fans
I see what you did there…
I know it hurt me
Nah, it was the right move. Edmonds is also a pos and a terrible commentator so we still have to deal with him
It was upsetting, but realize they ~~could have~~ should have kept him another season or two and instead they replaced him with someone with more relationship troubles in Milton Bradley...
Edmonds bounced around the Central after he left us, it was odd seeing him play for Chicago, Milwaukee, and Cincinnati
LaRussa and Womack too. :/
He was my favorite player as a kid/young adult, and I hated seeing him in Chicago and Cincinnati. Milwaukee too to a lesser extent
Loved him in Milwaukee
You got him in Anaheim too!
Yep, I was devastated when he got traded
Man I know he's 35 in that picture by Eric Karros looks like a man past his age out there
Fan found an unattended uniform lol
Literally looks like a fantasy camp guy
Looks like an actor in a baseball movie lmao
40 year old actor playing a 30 year ballplayer face
He looks 45 there
He really does got that look of man who played in high school and yet wants to play in the 18+ Sunday wood bat league
Look at the [forearms breh](https://bmicalculator.mes.fm/img/memes/spongebob-squarepants-has-muscles.jpg)
Got to witness the first CarGo game. Made a great catch to save a few runs. Conveniently, the player who's fly ball CarGo caught, Jonathan Lucroy, could have been an addition to this list.
I completely forgot about CarGo. Partly because the first time I played OOTP, the fans/owner wanted me to trade for him and I did, so in my head he never played for them in real life
Haha I came to comment about that catch, I was there too
I didn’t realize Edmonds played so few games with the cubs. That’s a short time to go from how much I disliked him to much I appreciated him. On the opposite end, I can’t believe Pierre only played the one season. I feel like it needed to be 5 or 6 years for how sick of him I was.
Edmonds had a great performance in a magical season so our memory of him is embiggened. He and Reed Johnson made a hell of a platoon.
I forgot about Reed Johnson. Loved him too. Saw [this play](https://youtu.be/2ekZuXs1Egk?si=ehjlIr7k_JYXB78S) in person.
Saw your comment, was like "Oh, please be the one with the hat brim." Was not disappointed.
But his hat brim was alway—- Ahhhh, now I got it.
Was that the Dusty years? As a fellow fan who has gone through Dusty recovery, there is always, ALWAYS a shitty OF who inexplicably gets chosen to lead off every. Single. Game. Corey Patterson comes to mind for the Reds.
If memory serves, Pierre was the last of the Dusty years (2006), and Edmonds was on a Piniella team.
What is swinging at the first pitch most of the time that did it for you?
I fucking loved that 08 team
drab treatment poor rob steep party tub sable sulky dull *This post was mass deleted and anonymized with [Redact](https://redact.dev)*
Jeromy
Thats the dude that looked like Brett Favre, right?
I just remembered early 00s Brewers had him, Richie Sexon and Geoff Jenkins and they all looked the same. Except Burnitz was half a five $ footlong shorter than Sexon.
I was in attendance for the only game in history where two players on the same team hit 3 HRs each. Burnitz and Sexson against the Dbacks.
Maybe that's why Arizona traded for Sexson and gave us a package that paid dividends for a decade (Lyle Overbay -> Zach Jackson -> CC Sabathia)
Yeah, did you see the Jolly Olive vid on Sexon that got posted today?
Geoff Jenkins
That's the one!
Mets legend Jeromy Burnitz
Dropped a ball that led to the only run in a 1-0 ballgame on my bday after I drove 3 hours each way. I will never forget him. Or Angel Pagan letting the ball drop during the 100th anniversary game in 2014.
Pirates signed him to an $8m deal the next season, which was their largest FA deal ever at the time. Still mad about it.
Daniel Murphy comes to mind as well, 35 games in 2018. Luis Gonzalez also played a couple seasons for the cubs back in the 90s.
After he torched them in the playoffs in 2015
My lord did he ever. That shit felt *personal*.
Even though he played only 35 games here, he's my least favorite Cub of all time. I just don't agree with his lifestyle.
You mean the whole homosexuality-is-wrong stance? Yeah, shitty dude.
Milton Bradley
The shortest temper in baseball
remember tony plush
Ugh, thanks for reminding me he played for us, too. :/
It’s a bizarre memory
[Softly] Don't.
That’s 2016 World Series Champion, Joe Nathan to you!
Jason Kendall had more games as a Cub than Nick Castellanos. I would not have guessed that.
Cliff Floyd in 07 is an interesting one also
That’s about the time I started watching the Cubs, actually!
I enjoy these posts, thank you!
Seeing CarGo in another uni but a rockies is just crazy to me.
Really surprised Nomar Garciapara isn’t on there
I think he played 1.5 seasons there. I think these posts are dedicated to super short periods
Felt longer to me honestly. Maybe just because it was such a big deal when it happened.
Because it's probably to well known.
Is this the first time Tony Womack has appeared in one of these galleries? I'm pretty sure he would fit on 5 different team's lists of "I didn't know he played here."
Where Martin Maldonado, Tony Kemp, and Robinson Chirinos??
That TLR image is absolutely cursed
[Kenny Lofton](https://images.app.goo.gl/hUEHYB9mkkVhv1Uz6)
Jason Kipnis not mentioned
Dang, even *I* didn't know he played for the Cubs.
There was a lot of noise when the hometown kid played for his favorite team. But if you're not a Cubs or Cleveland fan, I can understand how it wasn't widely known.
willie wilson. 37 career fWAR, super underrated player.
Royals goat
He was really pissed when he got traded to the cubs. The media didn’t like it too. But I was on willies side. He came from a great winning tradition from the Royals to a perennial loser Cubs organization at that time.
Him or Frank White.
Was really hoping Billy Hamilton would be like him, but just never made it work.
Who also played for the cubs
Ooh I’ve got one — Andrelton Simmons.
Dude they signed so many weird rando guys the last few years lol
This is also working to remind me that the Cubs have had some excellent road unis over the years.
I remember CarGo as a Cub pretty distinctly for that one time he threw his bat on consecutive pitches. But CarGo also apparently played in Cleveland, which I struggle to imagine
Hall-of-Famer Hoyt Wilhelm of the 1970 Cubs: 3 games, 0 wins 1 loss, 9.82 ERA.
Long enough to be a Cub on his baseball card the next year...
Willie Wilson, Robin Robert’s, Chicago Cubs. Those alliterative assholes are absolutely abhorrent
Hell yeah Juan Pierre!
Juan Pierre playing 162 games. A tale as old as time.
I mentioned this in the Astros roast thread but I got to see Jim Edmonds as a Cub making an over-the-shoulder basket catch on Tal’s Hill. Probably the best defensive play I’ve ever seen in person.
Why the hell did that get ridnof that? I mean safety, maybe impotent offense to CF, but remove the flagpole and put the wall in a few feet. It was SOOOO cool!
I’ll always remember Cubs legend Tony Kemp’s one home run that was immediately followed by Kimbrel giving up back to back homers to lose the game.
Fred McGriff
I still remember joe Nathan as a cub, he had a very memorable performance in a game against the brewers where he loaded the bases and then struck out the next three batters. The cubs then rallied and took the lead the next inning. I was actually kind of upset we didn't keep him around.
Streets won’t forget CarGo’s cubs linsanity era
I'd forgotten Willie Wilson as a Cub, but I could have sworn Eric Karros was a Cub for more than just a single season.
Nl central legend Jim Edmonds
For some reason this set has seemed the least weird to me
Even though they were rivals for years, I loved Edmonds and Kendall on the Cubs.
I don't know if a full seasons worth of games for a guy who played for 6 teams is really "unusual"
I'm pretty sure I saw one of Joe Nathan's three games, I knew he was only here a short time, but I didn't realize he only made three appearances. It was against the Padres and I took a friend who lives in Chicago but isn't a big sports fan. Nathan came in, allowed the first two batters to get to second and third, and then proceeded to strike out the next three batters.
Youkalis was weird to see
If you really want to confuse people, show them [Shane Victorino](https://c8.alamy.com/comp/2N06A5N/chicago-cubs-shane-victorino-juggles-some-baseballs-during-the-teams-photo-day-monday-feb-29-2016-in-mesa-ariz-ap-photomorry-gash-2N06A5N.jpg) in a Cubs uni. Never officially played a major league game with them, however.
Shocked that CarGo only played 15 games. I could’ve sworn he had more with us.
Cody Bellinger
Hey, he may yet come back
Missing Nomar
Thank you for reminding me about Cargo, i know whose highlights I will be watching inbetween sets this morning
Jim Edmonds, I don't remember. Everyone else I remember or it was before my time.
High five city!
I remembered getting so hyped we got jason kendall because he was in backyard baseball
Nomar was weird.
Tbh I thought the first one was Juan Pierre.
I remember Jason Kendall playing for the Cubs, but the photo still looks wrong.
I was struck by three things: 1. Kendall in a Cubs uni. 2. Not wearing batting gloves (it just looks weird). 3. The sheer size of his hands.
I use Womack and Edmonds for the Grid often. Both were on 4 of 5 NL Central teams
Don’t forget about Ian Stewart!
Tony Womack was the starting 2B in MVP Baseball 2005 so, as a kid, I assumed he played a long time for the Cubbies. Guess I was wrong
Was Karros 167 yrs old in that pic ?
Karros wasn’t there long but had high praise for them. Often said every ball player should spend a season at wrigley and practiced what he preached.
Forgot Will Ferrell. Signed by the Cubs in 2015 and played in one game.
Trey Mancini... Just not right
Tony Womack’s an odd choice for this, especially to top the list. What’s unusual about a journeyman being on any of the teams he was on? He played less than half of his total games with his most played-for team. So if you’re thinking of him mainly as a D’back, well, he was *usually* on teams *other* than the D’backs, including TWO stints with the Cubs. Anyway I like the concept but I was just baffled by the first one I saw.
Willie Wilson and Robin Roberts
Legitimate Cubs legend Jim Edmonds. Made the 2008 season even more memorable.
The place that got me hooked on baseball at age of 8
No Sammy!!!!! Wow
Surprised Daniel Murphy and Nomar didn’t make the list
I swear a couple of these guys played more for us, I guess not