The 47 Best Players from the 1998 Chicago Cubs - #7 Gary Gaetti

7. Gary Gaetti
Is this too high to put a guy who only played a little over a month for the Cubs in 1998? No, because it is my list, and I can do whatever I want. Also, spoiler alert, he's not even the highest ranked guy on this list that was acquired late in the season.

Gary Gaetti had a fascinating career before joining the Cubs. He began his career in Minnesota where he had some great years including a World Series in 1987 and finishing eighth in the AL in OPS and winning a Gold Glove. Then he fell off and things only got worse when he went to California in 1991 as he lost the ability to hit at age 32. Then, he went to Kansas City in 1993, and he regained the ability to hit, even hitting 35 home runs in 1995. He would go to the Cardinals in 1996 and put nearly three seasons of good work for them during his age 37-39 years. But the Cardinals acquired Fernando Tatis at the trade deadline and decided he was their third baseman of the present and future. They waived Gary Gaetti on August 9, and ten days later, when he was free to join any other team, he signed on with the Chicago Cubs.

His impact in 37 games was nothing short of incredible. Not only did he fill in at third base, allowing Jose Hernandez to replace Jeff Blauser at shortstop to eliminate the black holes in the lineup that had been the left side of the infield, but he exceeded every possible expectation during those final six weeks.

The Cubs started him off slowly, as he had just eight at bats in his first five games with the team. In the sixth game, he took John Hudek of the Cincinnati Reds deep for a two run homer, and he would start every game but one from then on. Oh, and that game he didn't start? He hit a pinch-hit home run in his one at bat.

On September 2nd, he continued his Reds killing ways by hitting a two-run homer in the eighth inning to turn a one-run deficit into a one-run lead. He also had a home run against the Brewers that sparked an eight-run comeback in one of my favorite games ever. Oh, and that pinch-hit home run i casually mentioned above? Yeah, that was in the tenth inning off of Trevor Hoffman to give the Cubs a win. This man did not just hit well. He was incredibly clutch as well. In close & late situations, he may have only had 25 at bats, but he managed 13 hits, four doubles, and four homers for a line of .520/.556/1.160. Gary Gaetti fucking ruled.

But there was no more clutch moment than Game 163. In a winner-takes-all, loser-goes-home matchup against the San Francisco Giants, neither team had scored halfway through the game. After a Henry Rodriguez single, Gary Gaetti, facing an 0-2 count, did this:

It's one of the most important home runs in Cubs history. I know nine years isn't some incredible playoff drought, but it's not that the Cubs didn't make the playoffs, it's that they could barely muster up a season of competence during that time. It was that the Cubs had one of the greatest pitchers ever, but he chose to go to Atlanta for less money. These were the true lovable losers, but on this night, Gary Gaetti hit a ball so hard that all Cubs fans felt like champions.

The Cubs resigned him after 1998, but he would only last 1999 with the team as they released him after the season when it was clear that the magic from 1998 had worn off. He would sign with the Red Sox but would only play five games before retiring early in the 2000 season. He played in over 2500 games before it was all said and done. I would say that was one hll of a career, and in 1998, he gave the Cubs one hell of a run. Gary Gaetti owned.

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
#20 - Amaury Telemaco
#19 - Tyler Houston
#18 - Geremi Gonzalez
#17 - Orlando Merced
#16 - Scott Servais
#15 - Mark Clark
#14 - Lance Johnson
#13 - Brant Brown
#12 - Jose Hernandez
#11 - Steve Trachsel
#10 - Henry Rodriguez
#9 - Kevin Tapani
#8 - Mickey Morandini

The 47 Best Players from the 1998 Chicago Cubs - #12 Jose Hernandez

12. Jose Hernandez
Jose Hernandez might be the most 1998 Cubs player of them all. Obviously, he's not the most memorable, but I'm not sure if anybody embodied that season more than him. Hernandez was never impressive before 1998. He bounced around the Rangers' and Indians' organizations before coming to the Cubs in 1993 in exchange for Heathcliff Slocumb. He did put up his best minor league hitting stats in 1993, putting up a whopping ten home runs which over tripled his previous high of three. It ended up being enough to get him a shot at the big leagues. Over the next four years, he was a solid bench player for the team, filling in at third and shortstop when necessary. There was no reason to expect anything great in 1998.

Things didn't start out great for Hernandez. He was on the bench, and in the first month, he gave the Cubs no reason to make him a starter. On May 1, he was hitting an abysmal .167/.189/.306. But in May, he started putting things together, raising his line to .231/.276/.454, maybe not great, but enough to get hi 15 starts in the month instead of the five he got in April.

As the weather warmed, so did Hernandez's bat. By June, Hernandez was a full-time starter and his line continued its rise to .282/.335/.544. His numbers stayed steady in August before tiring out in September and having his numbers drop to a still impressive .254/.311/.471. I know that OBP may not impress people, but the starters at the beginning of the year were Kevin Orie and Jeff Blauser, so I'll take a low OBP for 23 home runs and 75 RBI on the left side of the infield. On top of those positions, he also played every other position outside of pitcher and catcher during the season. Jose Hernandez was awesome.

It was not a great playoffs for Hernandez. In Game 1, he failed to get a hit and made an error that led to the Braves first two runs of the game. He did not play in Game 2 before coming back in Game 3 and helping spark a rally with his second hit of the game. He ended up scoring, but the Cubs failed to score enough.

Things did not come together for the Cubs in 1999 as they were sitting at 48-53 at the trade deadline. The Cubs made one of the most depressing trades of my lifetime when they sent Hernandez and Terry Mulholland to the Braves just a year after they competed with Atlanta in the playoffs. They would follow that up by going 9-25 in their next 34 games, ending the year with the fourth worst record in baseball.

Hernandez would bounce around to Milwaukee where he would become an All-Star in 2002, Colorado, before coming back to the Cubs in 2003. It was not a long stint as he only lasted 33 days before the Cubs traded him again, this time to the Pittsburgh Pirates. Instead of being depressed, it was one of the greatest trades of my lifetime as they traded Hernandez along with Bobby Hill and a minor leaguer for Kenny Lofton and Aramis Ramirez which would help spark the Cubs first playoff appearance since that 1998 season. Hernandez would go on to play for the Dodgers, Indians, Pirates again, Phillies, before ending his career in the Puerto Rico at age 39.

Jose Hernandez embodied the 1998 Chicago Cubs. This was not a team that came out of nowhere on the backs of young prospects making leaps in their performance. This was a team that came out of nowhere on the backs of veterans who had established their true level of performance but somehow exceeded even the rosiest of prognostications. The Cubs thought they had third base and shortstop solved going into the season. It turns out they did, but it came from a bench player who provided exactly what the Cubs needed.

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
#20 - Amaury Telemaco
#19 - Tyler Houston
#18 - Geremi Gonzalez
#17 - Orlando Merced
#16 - Scott Servais
#15 - Mark Clark
#14 - Lance Johnson
#13 - Brant Brown

The 47 Best Players from the 1998 Chicago Cubs - #23 Sandy Martinez

23. Sandy Martinez
Sandy Martinez never really hit the ball. His best year going up through the minors was back in 1993 in low-A where he put up a .263/.313/.396 line which is usually a line that gets you released. His numbers were worse the next year, and he was rewarded by being named the 77th best prospect by Baseball America. Vladimir Guerrero was eight spots lower despite having a OPS that was more than 250 points better than Martinez.

This is all just a way of saying that this was a man who was valued strictly for his defense. The Cubs traded a minor league pitcher to the Blue Jays to acquire Martinez before the 1998 season. When you have the chance to get a guy who put up a .304 slugging percentage at Triple-A the previous season, you have to find a way to get that guy on your roster.

When you hit very little and are mostly known for defense, there isn't a lot of room for memorable moments, but Martinez was involved in possibly the most memorable moment of the season as he was Kerry Wood's catcher when Wood struck out 20 batters in one game. As good of a game as I'm sure Martinez called, I'm going to have to give slightly more credit to Wood so you'll have to wait to read about that game.

And he did manage his best offensive season for the Cubs that year, managing a .264/.363/.391 line. That is a shockingly good on-base percentage. I know he nearly exclusively batted eighth, but what kind of pitcher is walking Sandy Martinez and his sub-400 slugging percentage, especially if it meant having to face Kerry Wood in the lineup.

Martinez's offensive prowess carried over to the playoffs. In Game 3 of the NLDS, the Cubs entered the eighth inning down just 1-0. Greg Maddux was pitching a gem for the bad guys. Still, Jose Hernandez led off with a single. Sandy Martinez, who had just entered as a defensive replacement, came through in the clutch and also hit a single. Then, Lance Johnson hit a single to load up the bases with no outs. The Braves took Maddux out of the game, and Mickey Morandini got the Cubs first run across with a sacrifice fly. Sammy Sosa struck out, but Mark Grace managed to hit a single and bring in Martinez for what should have been the go-ahead run. Unfortunately, this all took place in the bottom of the eighth after the Braves had put up five runs in the top of the eighth, so instead of the Cubs taking a 2-1 lead, it just brought the Cubs to 6-2. They did not win this game, but Martinez had a perfect batting average in the playoffs.

The Cubs kept him around for 1999 but Martinez hit .167 in just 30 at bats that year. He would then bounce around to the Marlins, Expos, Indians, and Red Sox before his career was over. Sandy Martinez was never going to light the world on fire with his bat, but he did as well as anyone could have expected in 1998, was involved in the most memorable regular season game of the year, and managed to come through in the clutch in his one playoff at bat. There may not be much to get excited about Sandy Martinez, but there is nothing to fault him for either. That's about as impressive as it gets for a third catcher.

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

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

The 47 Best Players from the 1998 Chicago Cubs - #29 Jeff Blauser

29. Jeff Blauser
Coming into 1998, expectations for Jeff Blauser were incredibly high. He just had his best season as a pro, putting up a .308/.405/.482 line for the Atlanta Braves in 1997, becoming an All-Star and winning the NL Silver Slugger award in the process. The Cubs signed Blauser as a free agent to help remake their middle infield along with Mickey Morandini. Maybe the front office remembered his performance in 1992 when he hit three home runs at Wrigley Field.


Unfortunately, Jeff Blauser did not live up to his end of the bargain. He hit .219/.340/.299 with a grand total of two home runs on the season, and there were very few highlights to find during this season. He only had three games where he had more than one RBI. The most exciting performance was on July 5th against the Pittsburgh Pirates where Blauser went 3-4 with two runs scored and two RBI. He helped spark a rally where the Cubs completed a four-run comeback with a five-run eighth where Blauser knocked in two runs with a double and would score the deciding run in the game.

His biggest contribution was against his former team in the playoffs. In the 10th inning of a tie game, the Cubs had two men on with just one out. The Cubs sent Henry Rodriguez out there to pinch hit, but the Braves countered by bringing in lefty Odalis Perez. Despite the Cubs having Jose Hernandez, a man who could actually hit, sitting on the bench, Jim Riggleman went with Jeff Blauser. This decision looked like it would pay off for the Cubs when Glenallen Hill stole third base. If there was one thing Blauser could do, it was put the ball in play. Blauser worked it to a full count. Morandini ran on the decisive pitch, and Blauser struck out while Morandini was caught stealing to end the Cubs' chances at scoring. The Braves would go on to score in the bottom of the tenth. Was Jeff Blauser a sleeper agent? No, I think he just got really bad at baseball.

He stuck around the Cubs for another unimpressive year in before retiring after the 1999 season. He was a noted Cubs killer during his time with the Braves, and he kept that moniker while playing in Chicago. But at least people in Atlanta really like him and his elegant home.

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