The 47 Best Players from the 1998 Chicago Cubs - #18 Geremi Gonzalez

18. Geremi Gonzalez
Geremi, or Jeremi, Gonzalez depending on who you ask was a hot young pitcher for the Cubs in the late 1990s. He made his debut in 1997 and won 11 games while posting a very respectable 4.25 ERA. Hopes were high going into 1998 as him repeating that performance would turn him into a reliable part of the rotation, and considering his youth, there was plenty of opportunity for improvement.

Things did not start well for Gonzalez. In his first start of the season, he faced seven batters, and all seven of them reached base, with four walks and three hits, including a home run from Gary Sheffield. The only good news is that Amaury Telemaco only let two of the three inherited runners score.

After that, Gonzalez turned things around as his ERA dropped in each of his next six starts. During that span, he struck out 10 Dodgers in seven innings and ended that streak with a complete game shutout of the San Francisco Giants. His ERA was at a respectable 4.38, and it looked like he might be ready to take that step forward this year.

He would give up 8 runs in his next start which lasted all of 1.2 innings, and his ERA would remain in the fives for the rest of the season. He managed to stay in the rotation until the end of July before the Cubs were forced to make a change. None of those changes really worked out either, but it was change for the sake of change at that point. Gonzalez ended the season with 20 starts, 110 innings, a 5.32 ERA, but with a 4.60 FIP so he was slightly unlucky in his results.

Despite being just 23 years old in 1998, he would not pitch in the majors for the Cubs again, and due to injuries, it took him until 2003, with the Tampa Bay Devil Rays, to reappear at the major league level. He put up an ERA under 4.00 while starting 25 games, but those were his last moments of glory as he struggled tremendously after that year with the Rays, followed by stints with the Red Sox, Mets, and Brewers. The Cubs only knew him as Jeremi, because he didn't tell anyone that the proper spelling of his name was Geremi until he was with the Brewers in 2006.

His life ended tragically in 2008 when he was struck by lightning on a beach in his home country of Venezuela. He was just 33 years old. Geremi Gonzalez didn't have a huge impact on the Cubs, but he was a big deal at the time. The Cubs simply didn't have real pitching prospects for the 12 years between Greg Maddux's and Kerry Wood's debut. The most exciting guys are probably Shawn Boskie, Kevin Foster, and Gonzalez. He was young, promising, and gave hope during a hopeless time. No, due to command issues, he wasn't great in 1998, but I will always think of him in a fonder way than any statistics could justify, and unjustified love is probably the best thing about sports.

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

What To Do When You Get Mugged On A Date

You ever find yourself, collar popped, going on a walk with your special lady? You ever get harrassed a bit? Well, even if they grab your girl and threaten you with a knife, it's easy to just relax and disarm these assailants.

Why to train if it is possible to do this? #dumbassmartialarts #bullshit #kravmaga #streetfight #selfdefense #gun #knife #rip #wtf #lol pic.twitter.com/rhvR14cYud

— Dumbass Martial Arts (@DumbassMA) February 10, 2018

Just take the knife away, and make sure that your woman can flip her attacker. The family that fights together stays together. But the best part is that a third guy runs in with a gun so the guy will drop the knife. If you have a gun and you want someone to drop a knife, I can think of one way that might be more effective, but maybe that's just me.

I also cannot get over how popped that guy's collar is. It is simply too popped. But he's for sure going to try to talk her into butt stuff tonight. Considering she also flipped a guy, maybe she'll talk him into butt stuff as well. #SexPositive

The 47 Best Players from the 1998 Chicago Cubs - #19 Tyler Houston

19. Tyler Houston
Tyler Houston is one of my guys. I was incredibly excited when the Cubs acquired him from the Braves for Ismael Villegas in 1996. A former second overall pick who was a catcher with big-time hitting potential was totally my jam as I love pedigree, and I didn't give a shit about defense. My faith was rewarded as he hit .339 once joining the team in 1996. In 1997, he fell off as his slugging percentage only managed to be three points higher than his batting average from the previous season.

Still, there were high hopes for 1998. The Cubs didn't have anything special at catcher with Scott Servais and Sandy Martinez so Houston was definitely going to get a chance at playing time. Unfortunately, he didn't totally take advantage as he hit .260/.290/.342 in 1998 while playing catcher, first, and third base while struggling with a hamstring injury. It wasn't all bad though as he definitely had some highlights during his 95 games that year.

To start the year, it looked like Houston may fulfill his power potential. In his first game of the season, he hit a three-run homer, but he wouldn't hit his second home run until six weeks later and would finish with just nine on the year. Still, July 3, everything came together for him as he hit two home runs off of Francisco Cordova who was weirdly one of the best pitchers in the major leagues that year. His greatest regular season highlight was likely the birth of his first child in May, but that one didn't affect me as much.

He even had a big postseason moment. He started game one against the Braves in the NLDS and took John Smoltz deep to give the Cubs a big home run. Unfortunately, that was the Cubs only offense, and they lost the game 7-1. He started two out of three of the playoff games and did get some playing time in all three.

Houston's numbers got slightly better in 1999 before being traded to Cleveland for a minor league pitcher that never came close to the major leagues. After that, he finally gave up catching when signing with the Milwaukee Brewers which helped him unlock his hitting potential where he put together a few very good seasons before a couple brief stints with the Dodgers and the Phillies.

Tyler Houston never quite lived up to that second overall pick pedigree, but he provided more good than bad when playing for the Cubs, added some flexibility by playing multiple positions, and provided hope that he would breakthrough at the plate. He had that breakthrough; it's just a shame it didn't happen for the Cubs.

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

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 - #21 Matt Mieske

21. Matt Mieske
Nobody believed in Matt Mieske. He didn't get a big time D-1 scholarship coming out of high school so he went to Western Michigan. He stayed all four years, because the Athletics low-balled him when they drafted him in the 20th round after his Junior year. In his Senior year, he got drafted in the 17th round and got low-balled again, but this time he had no choice so he signed with the Padres. Then he was thrown to the Brewers along with Ricky Bones and Jose Valentin so the Padres could get Gary Sheffield. After four pretty productive years in a part-time role for the Brewers, he had a poor season in 1997, and the Brewers let him go to free agency. He signed with the Chicago Cubs before the 1998 season.

Early on, it looked like the Brewers made the right decision. On May 8, Mieske had compiled a stat line of .056/.150/.056. If I was being incredibly forgiven, I would describe his performance like this:

Even with a start that bad, it wasn't catastrophic as Mieske started just one game and was primarily used as a late-game defensive replacement for Henry Rodriguez. On May 9, Mieske went 4-4 over both games of a doubleheader against the Giants and more than quadrupled his batting average and slugging percentage. It started a hot streak where by the end of the month, he was up to .347/.421/.490. He was crushing it.

Although he dropped off a little bit, he was still hitting .308/.366/.418 on July 20. Those are good numbers, right? Especially for a guy who was just being used as a defensive replacement. Well, not good enough for the Cubs as they sent him to Triple-A. The Cubs were simply too stacked in the outfield. He continued to hit well at Iowa and was called up in September but managed just six at bats in the final month...

But one of those at bats happened to have some mild importance for the Cubs. At the end of 162 games, the Cubs and Giants had the same record which set up a one-game playoff to make the postseason. My deep dive into this game will be saved for a separate player, but in the bottom of the sixth, and the Cubs up 2-0, Matt Mieske pinch hit for Henry Rodriguez, and this happened.

1998 had a lot of highlights, but nothing topped winning this game. Mieske's two-run single provided the difference in a 5-3 win, and that is why even though he only played sporadically, he will always have a special place in my heart when I think about this team. Thanks for the memory, Matt Mieske.

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

Banana Bread Is a Lie

Banana bread is delicious. I have yet to meet a person who doesn't like banana bread. It has bananas, it has bread, and somehow, when you mix the two together, you get a delicious healthy snack.

Well, I have some bad news for you, because banana bread is a lie.

We had let some bananas get over-ripened this past week, so my wife decided she would make banana bread. Then she got busy, and I offered to make it. I told her to just send me the recipe, as even though I rarely bake, I figured I could handle this task.

It started off fine. I put in two cups of flour. Considering I was making bread, that made sense. Add in a couple teaspoons of baking soda; that also seemed like a bread thing to put in there. Oh, then add in those three bananas. Really, I was going to be pretty good right there as I had both banana and bread. Nuts were optional, but you know I was throwing in some walnuts to add some texture. Then I added in five eggs, and yeah, I can justify that part too.

Then it was time to add the butter, which was a cup. Jesus, that's two sticks of butter. No wonder this shit is is savory.

Finally, it was time for the sugar. I couldn't believe my eyes when I saw the amount of sugar. TWO WHOLE CUPS of sugar. This was as much sugar as it was bread. I literally did not have that much white sugar in the house, so I did one cup of white and one cup of brown, but this is most certainly not the healthy snack that I had imagined for over 30 years of my life. It's just a ton of sugar and butter. You could literally add anything after that, and it would be delicious, but it sure as hell wouldn't be healthy.

Anyway, I baked the banana bread for an hour to find out what I had created. I took my first bite, and, oh man, it was a little slice of heaven. I totally get why people love this stuff. Give me all the sugar, give me all the butter, I'll deal with the clog in my arteries later.

The 47 Best Players from the 1998 Chicago Cubs - #22 Terry Adams

22. Terry Adams
Relief pitchers, unless they are closers, are a fairly unexciting lot. They do their jobs, and you only notice them when they screw up. Terry Adams was easily the Cubs third best reliever in 1998 (although he ranks fourth on my list), but it's tough to find that much excitement in that, especially with how awful that bullpen performed that year.

Before we get to 1998, a little bit about Terry's past. He was a fourth round pick in 1991, and he had four unimpressive years in the minors before figuring it out in 1995 and dominating Double-A, continuing that in a short stint in Triple-A before making his Major League debut later that year. He continued the momentum in 1996 where he pitched over 100 innings out of the bullpen with a 2.94 ERA. This was good enough for him to be the closer in 1997. It did not work out as planned as his ERA rose to 4.62 that year.

In 1998, the Cubs brought in an established closer in Rod Beck but expected Adams to be the primary setup guy. The hope was that the lack of pressure would help elevate his numbers back to those 1996 levels. Early on, that plan seemed to be working. He cruised in his new role, with a 2.03 ERA on June 20th, he was one of the best setup men in the game.

A week later, it was over a run higher at 3.06. Just like nearly every one of the Cubs relievers that we have covered, the implosion was only beginning. His ERA went up and up and up to the highest it had been since the second game of the season at 4.33 on September 18. The Cubs had seen enough, and he would not play another game that season.

He stuck around one more year for the Cubs before they sent him to the Los Angeles Dodgers in exchange for Eric Young and Ismael Valdes. Adams became a starter and performed about as well as he did in relief but in far more innings. He then finished out his career in relief for the Philadelphia Phillies.

Adams is a tough guy to rate. He gave the Cubs two and a half months of excellent relief work, but he was so bad down the stretch that the Cubs were pitching Matt Karchner instead. Relief pitchers just aren't all that exciting although two did make it in the Top 10. Terry Adams is definitely rated too low, but that's the price of being effective instead of exciting.

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

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 - #24 Kevin Orie

24. Kevin Orie
Let's just address the elephant in the room. Kevin Orie should not be this high on the list. His 1998 was TERRIBLE, but guess what? This is my list, and I'll do what I want. I freaking loved Kevin Orie, and no nerd is going to come in with his "stats" and make me think anything other than Kevin Orie was the greatest Cubs third baseman since Ron Santo. Still, his 1998 was terrible.

But before we get to 1998, we need to go back a little further to show how good Kevin Orie was. In 1992, Orie tore it up as a sophomore for the University of Indiana where he hit 20 home runs on his way to a 1.249 OPS. His junior year wasn't quite as good, but he still had an 1.067 OPS which is not too shabby. This was enough for the Cubs to select him 29th overall in the 1993 draft and send him where he was solid in Low-A for the rest of the year.

In 1994, he got hurt, and he couldn't get it back on track in 1995, but things finally turned around for him in his pro career in 1996. At Double-A, he put up a line of .314/.403/.480 which was good enough to get a promotion to Triple-A at the end of the year. Even though he only played 14 games at Triple-A, he showed enough to start the year on the big league roster in 1997. In his rookie year, he managed to put up a very respectable .275/.350/.431 slash line and big things were sure to come for Orie in 1998.

Kevin Orie immediately capitalized on the momentum from 1997 as he tore it up in the first series with three doubles and a home run. After the first two weeks, he was totally fulfilling his potential with a line of .308/.364/.487. And then he shit the bed. Four games later, his slugging percentage dropped below .400. It would never rise above .400 again. Just ten games after that, on April 27, his slugging percentage dipped below .300, and would never even reach .300 for the rest of his time on the team. And the Cubs started him nearly every day. But it's not like he didn't have some impact. Here's his one baseball highlight on YouTube.

Damnit, Kevin. Finally, at the end of May, the Cubs sent him to Iowa, as he was hitting .181/.241/.282.

He did well at Iowa and earned a promotion back to the big league club at the end of June, but he was still awful. Finally, the Cubs had seen enough. Desperate for relief help at the trade deadline, the Cubs traded him and Justin Speier to the Marlins for Felix Heredia. I remember being so angry that the Cubs gave up on Orie, because despite his struggles, I never stopped believing in him. He ended his time with the Cubs in 1998 with a slash line of .181/.253/.279

He bounced back to solid numbers for the rest of 1998 with the Marlins, but he fell apart again in 1999. In 2000 and 2001 he put up good numbers at Triple-A, and the Cubs got me way too excited when they signed him to a deal before the 2002 season. I was so excited, because I thought he was destined to resurrect his career. He crushed it for Iowa and got another chance in Chicago where he put up a fine line of .281/.306/.375 in 13 games. Yeah, that's not awe-inspiring, but it's not too shabby in a short period of time. Still, the Cubs let him go in the offseason.

He didn't play in 2003 but crushed it in 2004 with a .988 OPS, and then in 2005, he managed to put up a 1.076 OPS, and neither year he made the major leagues. The man was putting up astronomical numbers, but he couldn't get another chance. In 2006, he crushed it in spring training for the Astros, but got sent to Triple-A to start the season where he played the first game before retiring from baseball.

There are some people that come close to reaching their full potential, but I feel like Kevin Orie was the opposite. I honestly think his career was as close to the worst case scenario as possible, and I don't mean that as a knock. It's just things didn't quite work out. He rarely got chances to succeed, and in limited time, he was never quite able to put it together at the highest level. Maybe he was only a Quad-A player, but maybe he could have dominated in Japan, or maybe he could have succeeded in the MLB if the circumstances were altered just slightly.

I know his statistics shouldn't earn him a spot this high, but this list is more about intangible feelings than tangible production. And no matter how bad things got, I never stopped believing in Kevin Orie. I always had hope that he would be able to do more, and before 1998, hope was the best thing a Cubs fan could ask for.

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

The 47 Best Players from the 1998 Chicago Cubs - #25 Marc Pisciotta

25. Marc Pisciotta
Marc Pisciotta's baseball fame started well before he made the major leagues. In 1983, at age "12" he led East Marietta, Georgia to a Little League World Series. I put that age in quotation marks, because the dude was 6'2" at that age and blowing away everyone he faced. I know baseball loves to question the ages of people from Latin America, but the 70s and 80s were a crazy time in this country, and Pisciotta likely bought his entire team beers after the game.

Fast forward 14 years, and Pisciotta made his major league debut for the Cubs in 1997 where he pitched quite well out of the bullpen, accumulating a 3.18 ERA while throwing 28.1 innings. With that performance, he guaranteed himself a spot in the big league bullpen for 1998, and to start the year, he did not disappoint. He didn't allow a run in his first five appearances and carried a 1.53 ERA towards the end of April. He was taking high leverage innings and delivering when it mattered.

Unfortunately, April 30th became a turning point for Pisciotta as he was able to get Royce Clayton out before walking Delino DeShields. That led to Mark McGwire coming up and destroying a pitch and raising Pisciotta's ERA almost a full run in the process.

May was not kind to Pisciotta as even though he wasn't awful, he had a few bad outings that led to his ERA ending the month at 4.34. But just when it looked like the wheels might be falling off, he rebounded to put up a good June and lower his ERA to 3.70 at the end of the month. This made him arguably the Cubs third most effective reliever through the first half of the season.

But July started off poorly for Pisciotta. On July 4, he gave up a solo home run to Al Martin in an inning of work. On July 9, the Brewers were able to manufacture a run off a couple singles, a wild pitch, and a sacrifice fly off of Pisciotta, but Pisciotta pitched 1.2 innings, so it barely raised his ERA from 3.83 to 3.89. Pisciotta came in again on July 11 with an inherited runner and gave up an infield single to Jeff Cirillo before immediately being replaced. Cirillo would go on to score which would raise his ERA to a very average 4.09 in 44 innings of work.

Despite the Cubs getting some truly awful performances from their bullpen, this was enough for the Cubs to send Pisciotta to Triple-A Iowa to work on his pitching. And one particular decision was followed by an even more peculiar result. Pisciotta completely self-imploded at Iowa. He put up a 6.46 ERA in Des Moines, and obviously, that was not impressive enough for him to get another shot in Chicago.

The Cubs released him before the 1999 season and he signed with the Royals. He did pitching 8.1 innings in 1999 but gave up 8 runs and would never see the major leagues again, retiring from baseball in 2000.

Marc Pisciotta may be one of the most curious stories on this list. You could make the argument that he was the Cubs third best reliever that year, and yet he got sent down and was never able to pitch effectively again. Still, he manged to be an average reliever for the Cubs for over half a season, and compared to the other guys that I have already covered on this list, that makes him extraordinary.

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

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 - #27 Dave Stevens

27. Dave Stevens
To begin 1998, Dave Stevens was the hottest fire of the Cubs bullpen. He made his first appearance on June 21st and did not give up a run in his first seven appearances. Even when Jeff Cirillo knocked in a run against Stevens, it only raised his ERA to 1.12. And sure, the man would have some rough outings here or there, but going into August 7th, Stevens ERA was an even 2.00.

And then the Cardinals broke his magical spell. Now, to be fair, the Cardinals bats were at least slightly warm that day, if not downright hot. Steve Trachsel gave up nine runs while recording just one out (suck it, Ron Gant). Dave Stevens came in to clean up the mess, but he would go on to walk Brian Jordan before giving up a home run to Ray Lankford in the inning. He struggled through 3.2 innings, his longest outing of the year and would later give up a home run to Ron Gant (sorry about telling you to suck it, Mr. Gant). His ERA nearly doubled as it went up to 3.74 that day.

He did manage to keep his ERA around that very respectable number and on September 1st, he had his ERA at a very solid 3.60. But things fell apart for him down the stretch. He pitched in four games for a total of six innings, while giving up seven runs during that time. The most heartbreaking was when he came in to a tie game in the bottom of the 10th against the Pittsburgh Pirates, and Jason Kendall launched a game winning walk-off home run. The Cubs stopped pitching Stevens by the middle of the month; his ERA still rose over a full run to 4.74 during the month.

For two months, Dave Stevens was a good reliever when the Cubs desperately needed one, and sure, it all fell apart after that, but he did have some good times. He was done in the majors shortly after his time with the Cubs following brief stints with the Cleveland Indians in 1999 and the Atlanta Braves in 2000. He did manage to play another year in the minor leagues before taking a break from baseball before trying to get back at it through indy ball in 2004, but just like in 1998, it was not in the Cards.

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

The 47 Best Players from the 1998 Chicago Cubs - #28 Jason Hardtke

28. Jason Hardtke
Jason Hardtke was a utility infielder who didn't quite have the skills to play shortstop. The latter part of that sentence really limited Hardtke's potential. Had he been able to play shortstop, he may have gotten more of a chance to prove himself at the major league level. Unfortunately, Hardtke's time in the big show was sporadic and limited.

1998 was Hardtke's third straight season with major league experience, the first two with the New York Mets. He spent the majority of the year at AAA, playing for the Iowa Cubs where he sprayed the ball all over the field with a .288/.361/.453 line.

His time in Chicago was less impressive as he failed to record a single extra base hit leading to a very empty .238 average. And although he only had two RBI on the season, he used one of those to make a huge impact.

The Cubs were in a battle with the Florida Marlins. Legendary aces Mark Clark and Brian Meadows were having one of their world-famous pitching duels. The Marlins broke through in the fourth inning when perennial All-Star snub, Todd Dunwoody, led off the inning with a double before Cliff Floyd knocked him in for a one-run lead.

The Cubs refused to go down easy as in the sixth inning, Cubs legend, Brant Brown, took Meadows deep to tie the game. After that, the runs stopped as each starter lasted eight innings while giving up just a single run. The Cubs turned to Terry Adams who immediately walked Gregg Zaun to start off the inning. Craig Counsell bunted Zaun over to second base to put a runner in scoring position with just one out. The Marlins turned to pinch hitter Ryan Jackson, but he was no match for Adams as he struck out in his lone at bat. Still, this led to Dunwoody. Somehow, possibly by an act of God, Adams induced a ground out from the Marlins stud.

This led to the bottom of the ninth. Felix Heredia was tasked with taking over for Meadows. He wasted no time in making the home town crowd sweat when he struck out early game hero, Brant Brown, with a pitch that froze him with nothing but a bat on his shoulder and a look of dejection in his eyes. But things turned around with the next batter as Mickey Morandini managed an infield hit. This was followed by the big slugger, Sammy Sosa, improbably also getting an infield hit. The Marlins chose not to challenge Mark Grace and intentionally walked the bases loaded instead.

The Cubs sent Terrell Lowery up to the plate, but the Marlins countered with stud reliever, Jay Powell. This led the Cubs to counter the counter and send up who? You guessed it, Jason Hardtke, up to the plate. In what was surely a battle for the ages, Hardtke eventually got the better of Powell as he singled up the middle to drive home the winning run.

Hardtke played about six more weeks before the Cubs sent him back to Iowa. He would never make the major leagues again. Hardtke is an example of when a stat line doesn't tell the whole story. Clutch may or may not be a real thing, but when the Cubs needed him, Hardtke came through when it mattered most. In a year where the Cubs needed every win they could get, it's important to remember the contributions of guys like Hardtke that helped lead to such a magical season.

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

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 

The 47 Best Players from the 1998 Chicago Cubs - #30 Felix Heredia

30. Felix Heredia
When it comes to Felix Heredia, I can't separate him from the heartbreaking trade that got him here. As I have probably mentioned a couple dozen times by now, the Cubs bullpen was absolutely terrible. At the trade deadline, the Cubs had to do anything they could to make things happen in the bullpen. So they traded one of my favorite Cubs, Kevin Orie (along with Justin Speier) in order to acquire Felix Heredia.

I was heartbroken. I loved Orie, despite him somehow performing worse than the Cubs bullpen did in 1998, I still believed. And to only get Heredia in return? A guy with an abysmal 5.49 ERA? How could the Cubs do this to me?

As bad as I thought the trade was, the Cubs needed to do anything they could to help the bullpen, and Kevin Orie was not going to help that team in 1998. In August, Heredia's first month with the team, he was doing everything he could to make me hate him. On August 27, his ERA rose to 6.97, and I cursed him every time he entered the game.

Somehow, on August 28, he turned things around. His ERA went down to 6.75, then 6.55, 6.35, and it just kept dropping. He had 15 appearances over the next month and didn't allow a single run, dropping his ERA to a totally acceptable 4.08. He even gave the Cubs a scoreless 1/3 of an inning in the playoff elimination game against the Giants. He was the hottest relief arm on the Cubs staff.

So it was no surprise when he came in during Game 1 of the NLDS with a runner on and no outs and the Cubs down by just two runs. He manged to get an out on a failed bunt attempt before walking the next two batters. After the bases were loaded, the Cubs went to trusted relief specialist, Matt Karchner, who promptly gave up a grand slam. The Cubs would not come back to win that game, and Heredia would not pitch again in the playoffs.

Heredia would never relive that September magic but stayed with the Cubs for three more years of painful performances where he recorded 4.85, 4.76, and 6.17 ERAs. The Cubs sent him to the Blue Jays in 2002 in a trade for Alex Gonzalez and managed a 3.61 ERA. Then, he was even better in 2003, putting up a 3.00 ERA for the Reds before being traded to the Yankees and putting up a 1.20 ERA in 15 innings while striking out 2.4 batters per 9 innings.

It rightfully fell apart in 2004 where his ERA was back over 6.00, and then he would pitch just 2.2 innings after that year before bouncing around the minors and various international leagues until 2008 when he retired. Although he came up known as El Gato Flaco, The Skinny Cat, he ended his career with a different nickname, The Run Fairy. He wasn't bad enough to truly earn that nickname, and he was definitely better than this low of a spot on this list, but much like I learned when the Cubs traded away Kevin Orie, life isn't fair sometimes.

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