The All-Time Greatest 25 man roster for the Chicago White Sox and Cubs: Part 1

 It’s an old age debate that will keep changing over and over through the years. The debate on who fits on the all the time greatest of list or just the all time greatest for one team. In this post you will see the debate on who should be on the ultimate team for the White Sox and Cubs: The starting lineup of 9, the starting rotation, the bullpen, bench and the coaching staff.

The obvious ones are the players who are in the Hall of Fame but players pre 1950 it gets tougher to go all the way back to Cap Anson and the fact the Cubs were the White Stockings. So many good Hall of famers played for the Cubs from the dawn of baseball to the early 1900’s. Also some of the best players for each team might have been inducted wearing another cap or are not in the Hall of Fame yet or nor will never be. The first example that comes to mind is that Shoeless Joe Jackson or Sammy Sosa aren't in the Hall of Fame. While Greg Maddux and Carlton Fisk are wearing blank or a Red Sox cap.
             1B                                      2B                                   SS                         3B


Any ultimate Cubs or White Sox team always will start at shortstop with Mr. Cub himself, RIP Ernie Banks. But since the Cubs have two Hall of Fame shortstops he will be the first basemen while Joe Tinker will be the shortstop. Below are some of Banks statistics.

• 512 Home runs & 40 5x 
• He was the first person in the National League to win the MVP award back to back seasons in 1958-1959. 
• Most homers by a SS in a season in 1958 with 47 & fewest errors with 12

Tinker won 4 Pennants & Two World Series(1907 & 1908) and is one of the dozen players to steal home twice in a game. Ryno was considered one of the best two-way second basemen ever. The Cubs have two other Hall of Fame second basemen: Billy Herman & Johnny Evers. Evers won an MVP in 1914 while Herman was considered one of the best defensive 2B in his generation where he set the MLB record of 5 straight seasons of handling 900 or more chances. Below are some of Sandberg's stats.

• Retired with most home runs for 2B(277 of his 282) & fielding % of .989
• 9x Gold Glove winner, 10x All Star, NL MVP in 1984, 3x led the league in runs scored 

 It was unfortunate it took the Hall of Fame many years to vote him in Ron Santo, one of the two best 3B of his generation. He played his last season with the White Sox and spent  years in the booth.

• 342 home runs, 2254 hits, 5x Gold Glove winner, 9x All Star

              C
At catcher the Cubs only have one Hall of Fame catcher, Gaby Harnett. He caught 100 or more game 12x, led the NL in putouts 4x, assists & fielding average 6x. NL MVP 1935 & runner up in 1937. The starting outfield would be: Andre Dawson in RF, Hack Wilson in CF and Billy Williams in LF.
          LF                                                                 CF                            RF                                      

The Hawk is only the 2nd player in history to reach 400 home runs and 300 stolen bases. Below are his Stats:

• 438 home runs, 1591 RBIS, 2774 Hits 
• NL MVP in 1987(49 HRS, 137 RBIS, .287 AVG, Gold Glove)
• Won2  of his Gold Gloves 8 with Cubs, 1 of his 4 silver slugger awards & 5 out of his 8 all star appearances.

Wilson set the record of most RBIS in one season with 190 and no player has gotten in 25 RBIS of his record since 1938 also got credited with one later to make it 191. He hit 56 home runs that year and led or tied the NL homerun record 4x and drove in 100 RBIS 6x.

Williams won the NL rookie of the year in 1961 and hit 20 more homers 13 straight years. Won the Sporting News player of the year in 1972 and won a batting title in 1972 with a .333 average.

• Hit 426 home runs
• 2711 hits
• 6x all star

Even though the Cubs are a NL team I had to include Sammy Sosa as the DH. He hit 609 homers, 1667 RBIS, and 2408 hits. He was a 7x all star, 6x silver slugger and 1998 MVP. 
                                                                              DH

The stating rotation for the Cubs has three Hall of Famers and two All Stars: 1. Fergie Jenkins 2. Mordecai Brown 3. Greg Maddux 4.Ken Holtzman 5. Rick Sutcliffe 

In the bullpen: 1. Bruce Sutter 2. Lee Smith 3. Kerry Wood 4. Ryan Dempster 5.Rod Beck 6. Randy Myers

 

 Jenkins finished his career 284 wins, 3192 strike outs, 3.34 ERA, CY Young award in 197,  won 20 games 7x and was a 3x All Star. Brown won 2 World Series, 2 Pennants, won 239 games, and pitched four consecutive shutouts. Maddux won 355 games (133 with Cubs, 2 out of 8 all star appearances, 6 out of 18 gold gloves with the Cubs and finished with 3371 strikeouts. Holtzman had his best year with the Cubs, going 17-11 with a 3.38 ERA, finished 3rd in starts(38), both 5th in innings and strikeouts and 9th in wins.He also pitched two no-hitters with the Cubs(1969 & 1970). Sutcliffe won the NL CY Young award in 1994 going 20-6(combined from both teams) and213 strikeouts. He made two of his three all star apperences with the Cubs and 2x come back player of the year.

 

   Sutter saved 300 games with 2.83 ERA, was a 6x All Star, 4x NL reliever of the year, NL CY Young award in 1979 and led league in saves 5x. Smith a future hall of famer retired as the all time leader in saves with 478, 7x all star 2 with Cubs and 3x relief pitcher of the year. Wood a 2x All Star, NL rookie of the year, shares the record of 20 strikeouts in a 9 inning game and he saved 72% of the games he entered. Dempster a 2x All Star with 87 saves averaged 29 saves a year and led the NL in finished game closing 64 out of 74. Beck a 3x All Star with 286 saves, 1x NL reliever of the year and he help lead the Cubs to the playoffs in 1998 with 51 saves and 3.02 ERA. Myers a 4x All Star 2 with Cubs, has 347 saves, 2x relief pitcher of the year, hold the Cubs single season record of saves with 53 in 1993 leading the NL in saves and is third on the franchise list with 112 saves.

The Bench:

OF-Kiki Cuyler & Dave Kingman INF-Johnny Evers & Billy Herman C-Randy Hundley
           OF                                      OF                          2B            

 

  
Mangers: Cap Anson 1282 Wins
Bench Coach: Leo Durocher 535 Wins
1B Coach: Frank Chance 768 Wins
3B Coach: Joe McCarthy 442 Wins