Chicago Cubs

Chicago Cubs

2005 ATL Season Review

by "Hex" Oreamnos
Sports Reporter
Chicago Baseball

One June 15th the Chicago Cubs were in first place. Hank Aaron, and Ted Williams were carrying the offense. While Jim Palmer and a four relievers, Double-Duty Radcliff, Tom Henke, Jeff Reardon, and John Wetteland carried the pitching staff. Things went down hill from there. The Wrigley Family brought in a new manager, Matt "Blood and Guts" Rauseo who immediately demanded the team focus more on defense. As he constantly reminded the team, "those things on the end of your arms are gloves, you should try using them."

Cubs Legend Earnie Banks was put on the trading block and free agent Japanese shortstop Takuro Ishii was brought in as a stop gap, and played solidly in spot action hitting with 9 hits and 14 games, posting a .365/.385/.400 line. Over the course of the next 83 games, Blood and Guts turned over 6 of the Cubs starting 8, in an effort to bring better defenders and better all around players into the organization. He succeeded in bringing better fielders and certainly better base runners, all though the results don't indicate that they players brought in were better players than the ones inherited.

Position        Start of the Season      End of the Season
Catcher           Roger Bresnahan         Roger Bresnahan
First Base        Ted Kluszewski  Mark Grace/Frank Chance
Second Base       Ryne Sandberg              Bingo DeMoss
Third Base        Jackie Robinson          Robinson/Rolen
Short Stop        Ernie Banks                 Bill Dahlen
Leftfield         Ted Williams             Oscar Charlton
Centerfield       Dale Murphy               Jelly Gardner
Right field       Hank Aaron                   Hank Aaron


When Rauseo took over the Cubs were 36 and 35, afterward they were 34 and 49 – not the kind of turnaround the Wrigley Family expected when hiring the old fashion ass-kicking manager. The problem was the pitching –through the first 71 games, the Cubs allowed 4.95 runs per game. It was apparent after asking around and checking the waiver wire there were no real ways to improve the teams pitching enough to get the runs per game down to an area where they could contend for the world championship. Instead the Cubs decided to try and improve the defense. They brought in Mark Grace, an excellent rated fielder, replacing Ted Kluszewski a fair rated defender at first base. They brought in Bingo DeMoss, an excellent rated (45 error rate) second baseman to replace Ryne Sandberg (53 error rate) a very good fielder. They brought in Bad Bill Dahlen, an excellent (85 error rate) short stop to replace Ernie Banks an average short stop (77 error rate). Oscar Charlton a very good leftfielder (75 error rate) replaced the splendid splinter Ted Williams an average leftfielder (98 error rate). They replaced Dale Murphy a fair centerfielder (84 error rate) with Jelly Gardner an excellent fielder (120 error rate). Despite all of these defensive improvements the team's allowed more runs per game after June 15th than before.

From the pitching side of the ledger there really isn't a lot to say. It was bad. That about sums it up. Jim Palmer was the ace, of the staff going 14-13 with an ERA of 3.97. Setup man Tom Henke, was second on the team with 11 wins against 3 losses. Gaylord Perry, Black Jack McDowell, Vida Blue, and Don Drysdale made all but 8 of the starts not made by Palmer. The foursome went 31 and 52, with a 4.43 ERA.

The back end of the bullpen was as strong as any in the leagues with Tom Henke and John Wetteland around to close out wins, and to keep it close in losing efforts. Reardon and Radcliff imploded in the second half. Reardon, posting an ERA 2 runners higher after June 15th while Radcliff posted an ERA almost 4 runs higher after June 15th. Fred Hutchinson was promoted in August and pitched 30 good innings as a long man, over the last month of the season. Hutchinson may have positioned himself for a larger role next season, as Blood and Guts will certainly be turning over a lot of his current pitching staff.

Hank Aaron was the team's best everyday player, hitting cleanup and slugging 29 homers. Oscar Charleston the teams third hitter, hit well after being acquired hitting .288 with 27 stolen bases against 6 caught in only 63 games. Jelly Gardner, the third member of the outfielder stat line looked modest only hitting .274/.365/.378 but stole 36 bases against 7 caught stealing, in only half a season. Jackie Robinson was a major problem for the Cubs last season and might find himself playing for another club next season. He hit .249/.316/.362 with only 32 extra base hits, 25 stolen bases and 14 caught stealing. The other major sinkhole in the offense was catcher Roger Bresnahan, who posted slugged below .300 in almost 400 At-Bats.

The Cubs plan to address their starting pitching as their first priority during the off season. They hope to add anywhere from 2 to 3 new starting pitchers. They also are looking for an option at catcher, and a left-hand hitting third baseman. The Cubs are also considering moving to a bigger park for the up coming season.
 
Awards Won by Cubs Players

John Wetteland
All-Star

Jackie Robinson
Gold Glove

Legends League


                               Team Batting -- 2005 Chicago Cubs                                


S Name               P    AVG   OBP   SPC    G   AB    H  2B  3B  HR    R  RBI   BB    K HBP  IW  SB  CS 
  Ishii*             ss  .360  .385  .400   14   25    9   1   0   0    1    1    1    1   0   0   0   0 
  Pappas             sp  .333  .250  .667    4    3    1   1   0   0    0    3    0    2   0   0   0   0 
  Cedeno             cf  .324  .386  .484   88  182   59   4   2   7   31   25   19   30   0   0  13   7 
  Rolen              3b  .295  .354  .636   36   44   13   3   0   4    5   14    4    9   0   0   0   0 
  Aaron              rf  .288  .348  .494  144  569  164  16   7  29   75  101   51   65   3   2  15   8 
  Charleston*        cf  .288  .341  .468   63  250   72   7   1  12   37   49   21   47   1   0  27   6 
  Stephens,V         ss  .284  .321  .419   33   74   21   3   2   1   12    7    4   14   0   0   0   0 
  DeMoss             2b  .276  .335  .346   61  246   68   8   3   1   32   26   20   29   3   0  21   9 
  Grace*             1b  .274  .326  .486   63  175   48   9   5   6   21   26   14    8   0   0   3   0 
  Gardner,J*         rf  .274  .365  .378   64  259   71   4   7   3   49   17   37   34   0   0  36   7 
n Williams,T*        lf  .274  .409  .555   83  292   80  20   1  20   50   66   67   47   2   4   1   1 
  Kluszewski*        1b  .266  .300  .390   90  267   71  13   1   6   32   22   11   23   2   0   2   1 
n Sandberg           2b  .264  .320  .423   87  345   91  11   4  12   58   43   29   55   1   0  11   4 
  Robinson,J         2b  .249  .316  .362  147  586  146  13   7  13   86   64   52   84   7   1  25  12 
  Dahlen             ss  .240  .320  .373   65  225   54  10   4   4   32   27   27   38   2   0   8   7 
n Murphy             cf  .235  .291  .415   58  183   43   3   3   8   22   15   15   49   0   0   3   6 
  Radcliffe          c   .228  .290  .354   80  158   36   5   0   5   15   19   10   37   5   2   0   0 
  Monday*            cf  .224  .253  .382   54   76   17   3   0   3    6   15    3   25   0   0   2   0 
  Chance             1b  .219  .314  .354   85  178   39   8   2   4   26   18   24   36   1   2   4   5 
  Herzog             2b  .214  .333  .250   17   28    6   1   0   0    2    1    3    3   2   1   0   1 
n Roush*             cf  .207  .258  .276    9   29    6   0   1   0    1    1    2    4   0   0   0   1 
  Bresnahan          c   .205  .308  .282  121  386   79  18   3   2   43   29   54   59   4   7   4   1 
n Banks              ss  .194  .237  .423   68  253   49   7   0  17   32   41   12   43   3   0   0   1 
  Drysdale           sp  .192  .222  .327   28   52   10   1   0   2    4   12    2   17   0   0   0   0 
n Bando              3b  .188  .235  .563   17   16    3   0   0   2    3    3    1    3   0   0   0   0 
  Hutchinson*        sp  .167  .167  .167   14    6    1   0   0   0    0    0    0    0   0   0   0   0 
  Wetteland          cl  .143  .143  .143   57    7    1   0   0   0    1    0    0    2   0   0   0   0 
  Henke              cl  .143  .143  .143   68    7    1   0   0   0    0    0    0    0   0   0   0   0 
  Foster,G           lf  .143  .269  .190   13   21    3   1   0   0    0    2    4    6   0   0   0   0 
  Sheckard*          lf  .135  .196  .231   50   52    7   2   0   1    5    3    4    7   0   0   1   2 
  Ferguson           c   .125  .192  .250    8   24    3   0   0   1    2    1    1    6   1   0   0   0 
  Perry,G            sp  .125  .169  .143   31   56    7   1   0   0    3    5    2   17   1   0   0   0 
  Goodman*           2b  .115  .207  .154   14   26    3   1   0   0    3    1    3    2   0   1   0   0 
  Palmer             sp  .111  .111  .153   31   72    8   0   0   1    5    7    0   36   0   0   0   0 
  McDowell,J         sp  .094  .111  .094   29   53    5   0   0   0    1    2    1    8   0   0   0   0 
  Blue,V#            sp  .070  .167  .140   29   43    3   0   0   1    5    2    5   29   0   0   0   0 
  Reardon            cl  .059  .059  .059   56   17    1   0   0   0    0    0    0    9   0   0   0   0 
  O'Toole#           sp  .059  .111  .059   64   17    1   0   0   0    0    0    1    6   0   0   0   0 
  Matlack*           sp  .000  .000  .000    1    0    0   0   0   0    0    0    0    0   0   0   0   0 
  Olson              cl  .000  .000  .000   49    2    0   0   0   0    0    0    0    2   0   0   0   0 
  Podres*            sp  .000  .000  .000    3    0    0   0   0   0    0    0    0    0   0   0   0   0 
  Total                  .245  .313  .391  154 5304 1300 174  53 165  700  668  504  892  38  20 176  79 


                               Team Pitching -- 2005 Chicago Cubs                               


S Name               P     ERA   W   L   S   G  GS  CG SHO     INN    H    R   ER   BB    K  HR GDP    BF 
  Wetteland          cl   2.85   4   3  21  57   0   0   0    60.0   55   20   19   20   54   5   2   255 
  Hutchinson         sp   2.93   0   0   0  14   0   0   0    30.2   22   14   10    7   18   4   0   124 
  Henke              cl   3.15  11   3   2  68   0   0   0    88.2   75   37   31   32   85  12   6   367 
  Palmer             sp   3.97  14  13   0  31  31   5   1   190.1  206  100   84   83   97  18  14   850 
  McDowell,J         sp   4.01   8   8   0  29  27   2   1   168.1  172   83   75   57   89  18   8   721 
  Blue,V*            sp   4.17   8  14   0  29  29   5   2   157.2  148   82   73   49   94  23   6   670 
  Reardon            cl   4.42   1   0   1  56   0   0   0    91.2   91   51   45   49   54  14   7   407 
  Perry,G            sp   4.49   9  16   0  31  31   3   1   188.1  191  107   94   77  101  18  10   827 
  Radcliffe          c    4.71   2   3   0  33   0   0   0    70.2   65   44   37   38   44  12   6   306 
  Drysdale           sp   4.97   6  14   0  28  28   3   0   159.1  169   99   88   47  120  19  10   695 
  Pappas             sp   5.68   1   0   0   4   2   0   0    12.2   14    9    8    8    7   2   1    58 
  O'Toole*           sp   5.86   4   6   3  64   6   0   0   106.0  116   71   69   52   68  17   3   483 
  Olson              cl   6.59   2   1   2  49   0   0   0    56.0   62   44   41   33   50   4   3   266 
  Podres*            sp   9.00   0   2   0   3   0   0   0     3.0    7    3    3    1    1   1   0    15 
  Matlack*           sp  27.00   0   1   0   1   0   0   0     0.1    1    1    1    3    0   0   0     5 
  Total                   4.41  70  84  29 154 154  18   6  1383.2 1394  765  678  556  882 167  76  6049



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