The 47 Best Players from the 1998 Chicago Cubs - #20 Amaury Telemaco

20. Amaury Telemaco
I can't think of Amaury Telemaco without hearing his name in Harry Caray's voice. Throughout this article, just know that I will only be hearing it in my head as Amaury TeleMAco. Without doing anything else, Telemaco will be endearing to me simply based off of that pronunciation. But he didn't just have a fun name as he actually had some effective performances for the Cubs.

1998 was a blessed year for the Cubs, and it was no different for Telemaco who had by far his best season, with a 3.93 ERA in 148.2 innings. That is an incredibly valuable pitcher, and you are probably wondering why he isn't even higher on this list. That is a GREAT question. Unfortunately, the answer makes me so angry that I can barely put it into words.

Telemaco started the year in the bullpen, filling the role of a long reliever for the team. Although it was not high leverage, he was effective as he posted a 3.90 ERA while pitching two or more innings in the majority of his appearances through May 8, The most the same date that Telemaco got his first win of the season, and the last day he would pitch for the Cubs.

The most logical explanation is that he suffered an injury and had to miss the remainder of the season. The next most logical conclusion is that the Cubs traded him for a fair return in Barry Bonds, but I think I would remember if Bonds played in Chicago. But neither of those explanations are correct.

Instead the Cubs put him on waivers where he was snatched up by the Arizona Diamondbacks. I've been trying to find the right words to explain why the Cubs put him on waivers. I have already written about 15 different relievers, all of whom performed incredibly poorly, and honestly made me question how the Cubs even had a successful season in 1998. So instead of me telling you why the Cubs got rid of Telemaco, I'm going to let Jim Riggleman do it for me.

"We just had a little excess there and we had to move someone to make way for Foster, who hopefully will join us in the not-so-distant future."

Yep, the Cubs got rid of Telemaco, because they had TOO MUCH great relief pitching on their staff. Of course, right after the Diamondbacks took Telemaco off the Cubs' hands, nearly everyone in their bullpen imploded. Seriously, the entire article is one of the saddest things I have ever read. He would go on to have a 3.94 ERA in 121 innings for the Diamondbacks after being released. The Cubs definitely could have used that.

He then lost it, not posting an ERA below 5.54 in any of the next three years. In 2002, he didn't even make the major leagues. But he somehow bounced back to give the Philadelphia Phillies three years of solid relief work before calling it quits after the 2005 season.

Amaury TeleMAco.

In case you missed it:
Introduction
#47 - Matt Karchner
#46 - Jose Nieves
#45 - Rodney Myers
#44 - Justin Speier
#43 - Tony Fossas
#42 - Kennie Steenstra
#41 - Chris Haney
#40 - Bob Patterson
#39 - Pedro Valdes
#38 - Derrick White
#37 - Ben Van Ryn
#36 - Terrell Lowery
#35 - Don Wengert
#34 - Kurt Miller
#33 - Jason Maxwell
#32 - Kevin Foster
#31 - Mike Morgan
#30 - Felix Heredia 
#29 - Jeff Blauser
#28 - Jason Hardtke
#27 - Dave Stevens
#26 - Manny Alexander
#25 - Marc Pisciotta
#24 - Kevin Orie
#23 - Sandy Martinez
#22 - Terry Adams
#21 - Matt Mieske

The 47 Best Players from the 1998 Chicago Cubs - #26 Manny Alexander

26. Manny Alexander
Let's start with the positive: Manny Alexander managed to play 11 seasons over 15 years, specializing exclusively as a backup infielder. That is an impressive run for anyone, and even though he was never a consistent starter, that is still an extensive career to be proud of. Congratulations, Manny.

Manny got his most playing time in 1998, playing in 108 games and accumulating 289 plate appearances for the Cubs. He played 2B, SS, 3B, LF, and DH where he started twice. You may say that Jim Riggleman was an idiot for starting him at DH twice, but in those games, he hit .375 with a double a two RBI. This is why I will still defend Riggleman as a great manager, because no matter how stupid and ill-advised the move was, it somehow worked out for him, and when I was a child, I cared way more about the result than the totally convoluted process. But as you'll learn, not all of Riggleman's decisions involving Manny Alexander worked out that well.

He was not bad throughout the entire season. In fact, he got off to a great start. At the end of the first month of the season, he was slugging 1.000. Yes, the month was March, and it was one game where he had one at bat, but NUMBERS DON'T LIE.

But even at the end of April, he was still hitting incredibly well in part-time duty with a slash line of .360/.385/.520. He only started four games during that time, but he did far more than the Cubs could have hoped for. But then the Cubs pressed their luck. The Cubs began started him 25 times in the months of May and June, and his numbers dropped to a much more Manny Alexander-esque .252/.291/.367.

It was understandable that Alexander got some time at short, because Jeff Blauser was also a bit of a trainwreck that season and Jose Hernandez had to fill in at third base since Kevin Orie was such a trainwreck that he was traded in the middle of the season. But Alexander also got starts at second and third where Hernandez was doing well, and Mickey Morandini was freaking fantastic that year. Still, Alexander kept getting starts, and his numbers kept dropping. He would finish the year at an abysmal .227/.278/.330. If he had enough at bats to qualify, he would have been the second worst hitter in the majors (suck it, Rey Ordonez).

On the positive side, the Cubs were 4-1 when Manny Alexander hit a home run. The Cubs must have been counting on that great home run luck, because somehow, someway, Manny Alexander started a playoff game for the Cubs. Instead of getting extra offense from Jose Hernandez, they had Manny Alexander out there, going 0-4 in a game the Cubs would lose 2-1 in ten innings. That game is going to get a much more detailed breakdown later on.

After 1998, he would spend one more year with the Cubs before being traded to the Red Sox for Damon Buford. He'd bounce around to the Rangers and Padres before finally retiring from MLB in 2006. He did have a stint a couple years later where he tore it up in the Italian League, so good for him.

Manny Alexander wasn't great for any team that he played for, but it's not fair to request greatness from Alexander. He was still a big part of that 1998 team; they were so incredibly flawed that it just added to the fun. You can't say Manny was only part of the bad, because the bad is what made this team so enjoyable. They had no business being there, but they were still there, much like two games where Manny Alexander played DH. Somehow, things worked out in both cases.

In case you missed it:
Introduction
#47 - Matt Karchner
#46 - Jose Nieves
#45 - Rodney Myers
#44 - Justin Speier
#43 - Tony Fossas
#42 - Kennie Steenstra
#41 - Chris Haney
#40 - Bob Patterson
#39 - Pedro Valdes
#38 - Derrick White
#37 - Ben Van Ryn
#36 - Terrell Lowery
#35 - Don Wengert
#34 - Kurt Miller
#33 - Jason Maxwell
#32 - Kevin Foster
#31 - Mike Morgan
#30 - Felix Heredia 
#29 - Jeff Blauser
#28 - Jason Hardtke
#27 - Dave Stevens