You can check out these radio highlights of the 2008 season from Youtube.
Take a look at my post from yesterday that counted down the top 10 games of 2008.
But right now let's look back at how the 2008 team performed as a unit for 162 games. There were contributions from everyone on the roster. Here's a breakdown of how every one of the 25-men were a big part of that club.
Derrek Lee: Derrek is a great team leader, and is a gold glove man at first base. He’s the one Cub who had a decent postseason. Lee helps this team on and off the field. Really a great guy to have on your club.
Aramis Ramirez: Mr. RBI machine as Ron Santo calls him. He got some very big hits this year. He came through with some clutch home runs including his walk off against the Sox (boy was he hot in that series) and his grand slam that put the Cub’s up by 2 after being down by 2 a moment earlier. I very good hitter. Our clean up man. Couldn't have won 98 games without him.
Alfonso Soriano: Giving the Cub’s the leader after only one batter. That’s been his specialty in his 2 years with us. A nice guy to have in that lead off spot. Was injured some, but really bounced back nicely. A nice 5 tool player (possibly minus the glove) with all kinds of power.
Mark DeRosa: Wow what a year he had. Nobody would have expected what an impact his bat would have in this lineup. Some real key hits when we needed base runners throughout the year. And he’s Mr. Utility Man. There’s not many players who could play all over the diamond like he can. He is our second baseman. He can give Ramirez a day off at third. He can play left when Soriano gets injured. He can play right when Kosuke struggles. He can even occasionally play some first and short. What a guy to have.
Ryan Theriot: Young gun short stop. Won the starting job in the middle of the year last year. There’s some questions if he can live up to his potential this year before the season started. And he really came through. He very rarely hits it out of the park and doesn’t get extra base knocks very often. But boy can he get on base. Perfect in the number 2 spot to set the stage for the big boys. The best batting average on the Club. The only Cub batting over .300. One of the top 5 in multi-hit games in the league. A real hard worker. That truly is the kind of player I like.
Geovany Soto: The Cubs organization had all kinds of confidence in him going into this season. He was a rookie catcher who hadn’t really proved himself at this level yet and they named him the starting catcher before pitchers and catchers even reported in Mesa. I’d say he lived up to the expectations. He had the most home runs for a Cubs rookie catcher since Randy Hundly. He had a very good year at the plate. And in addition to his bat he called a great game all year long and worked superbly with this staff. Amazing for a Rookie catcher.
Carlos Zambrano: Mr. No-No. Has amazing stuff and showed it for most of the year. The ace of our staff. Brings energy and excitement that this team needs. And on a certain night he absolutely dominated Houston making baseball history and becoming the first Cub to toss a no hitter since Milt Pappas in 1972, 39 years earlier.
Ryan Dempster: Probably one of the biggest surprises on this team. Was fairly good as the Cub’s closer in 2007. Had been a started earlier in his career. The Cubs wanted to put him in the rotation. I thought he’d have a pretty good year but I don’t think anyone predicted his remarkable season. 17 wins. Unbelievably dominate at the Friendly Confines. Some real big starts. One of the guys that we really couldn’t have had the best record in the NL without. What a ballplayer.
Ted Lilly: The bulldog. Goes out there and gives you a solid start once every 5th day. The most under rated starter in the NL in my opinion.
Tied for the team lead in wins with Dempster with 17 each. 17-9 is quite a season. One of my favorite Cub’s.
Rich Harden: A very good pitcher. A very good midseason pick up. Didn’t pitch a lot of innings with us for precautionary reasons. Very solid though. Lots of K’s. Hope he stays healthy throughout the year in 2009.
Jason Marquis: If you look at the number 5 starters around baseball he's probably one of the best. We probably have the best rotation depth wise in the big leagues. Let’s be honest Marquis is off and on. He finished very strong and I like having an experienced guy instead of a young guy in the #5 spot.
Jim Edmonds: Picked up off the scrap heap by Jim Hendry. And he really came through with some big home runs and extra base knocks. And how about his glove in center? This old man proved he still did have some left in the tank.
Reed Johnson: Another one of my favorites and a huge part of our success. Another great pick up by our GM. Jim got him near the end of March after being released by the Blue Jays. I bet there’s no better feeling then going into Toronto in June with your new team and hit a big home run to show them that they shouldn’t have released you. Also a great glove. How about that catch he made against Washington earlier this year. It was one of the greatest plays this year in all of major league baseball. He did a real nice job in the center field platoon. Reed came up with some big hits including 2 walk off RBI’s this year. A real hustler.
Mike Fontenot: Little Babe Ruth. Another hard worker. And he really surprised everyone with some big home runs and extra base hits. He’s the guy that allows DeRosa to play other positions because he does a very nice job playing second when Mark in playing outfield or 3rd. Way underrated. What a break out year for this kid.
Daryle Ward: The pinch hitting specialist. The power left handed bat off the bench. Not his best year but came through none the less to help the Cubs win one crucial game against Florida. What a clutch go ahead, game changing, 3 run homer that was.
Micah Hoffpauir: Spent the year back and forth between the Cubs and AAA Iowa. Was the Cub’s minor league player of the year. Also got his feet wet in the big leagues. Had a 5 hit game with 2 homers, a double and 2 singles in won of the games when he played after the Cub’s clenched. Could emerge next year and be with the team throughout the season.
Ronny Cedeno: When I get to Cedeno I realize how deep this team really is. Ronny is honestly not one of the more important people on this club but when he did get the chance to play he had a pretty good year. A remember a game in April or May when he hit a big Grand Slam. I’ll take him any day of the week as my back up short stop.
Henry Blanco: In my opinion it was Henry’s best season at the plate ever. He hit the ball out of the ball park a few times and came up with a walk-off single in a big game against St. Louis. Has always been a very good defensive catcher. And what a job he did mentoring Soto, teaching him this staff, giving him tips, and easing him into the every day catchers job at the big league level. A perfect example of a team player.
Kosuke Fukudome: Well he was a disappointment. However, no matter what happened at the plate he didn’t take his glove into the field. He had a great season defensively in right field. Brought patience to this team at the plate especially in the first half. Draws a lot of walks, has good speed, and makes the pitcher work. Kosuke had a very good first 2 months of the year. He was getting used to a new country and and had a lot of pressure on him. Hopefully he’ll be back to his April and May form in 2009. And of course who could forget this guy’s opening day. Quite a first impression on these fans.
Sean Marshall: Was in AAA in April and May. Did a very good job there. Came up to our bullpen where he stayed for the rest of the year. A good long man if the starter leaves early or the game goes into extra innings. Did a great job in all of his spot starts throughout the year. A good team player and has great stuff.
Neal Cotts: Scotty Eyre didn’t really work out and we need another lefty in the pen. That’s where Cotts came in and had a very good year. He was a big surprise after spending most of 07 in the minors. Quietly was a big part of the club.
Jeff Samardzija: Another wonderful surprise. Wasn’t at all dominate at the AA level but got the chance to move up to Iowa and started pitching better there and got the call when Kerry Wood went on the DL. Jeff pitched so well that he remained on this team for the rest of the season.
Carlos Marmol: The surprise guy in 2007 and a very solid 8th inning guy in 2008. Really big role that he filled that 8th inning. Stuck out a lot of guys, was wild at times but mostly had pretty good command which had been his downfall in the past. Also did good when he needed to step into the closers role in place of Kerry Wood. I believe he will be our closer in the future.
Kerry Wood: Last but certainly not least. The closer. The guy who gets the toughest 3 outs in a ball game. That’s what Kerry did as good as anyone for the Cub’s. After not being able to stay healthy for most of ’04, ’05, ‘06 and half of ’07 he came back and notched 34 saves. (His jersey number is also 34.)
I'm ready for baseball! Bring on the Convention!
I'll keep you posted on all the Cubs rumors/moves today.
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