Originally founded in 1869, the Chicago Cubs became a charter member of the National League in 1876. Over the next 150 seasons, the Cubs have played more than 22,000 games, scored over 103,000 runs and recorded more than 200,000 hits, more than any other team in baseball history. Nearly 2,300 players have worn a Cubs uniform, earning eight division titles, 17 NL pennants, and three World Series championships.
Fans have witnessed generations of unforgettable players, from historical heroes like Joe Tinker, Gabby Hartnett, Ernie Banks, and Billy Williams to more recent stars like Ryne Sandberg, Derrek Lee, Kerry Wood, and Anthony Rizzo. The team has called Wrigley Field home for 110 of those 150 seasons.
To celebrate this milestone, the Cubs are holding a fan vote to select the franchise’s anniversary team. Each week, we will go through the provided options for each position and declare who should, and, if different, who will, win the fan vote. We continue today with the eight selections for first baseman.
Cap Anson was one of the first superstars of professional baseball. He joined the Cubs franchise, then known as the White Stockings, in 1876, the first year of the new National League. In addition to managing the team from 1879-1897, he was the NL batting champion in both 1881 and 1888 and led the league in RBI eight times between 1880 and 1891. He helped the team to five pennants between 1880 and 1886. He was posthumously elected to the Hall of Fame in 1939.
Bill Buckner joined the Cubs in 1977, moving to first base due to a staph infection in his ankle the previous year. He would win the NL batting title in 1980 and be named to his lone All-Star team in 1981. In 1982, he set the major league record for assists at first base with 159. Following some late acquisitions in 1984, Buckner found himself the off man out and was traded at the end of May. He is a member of the Cubs Hall of Fame.
Phil Cavarretta spent 20 seasons with the Cubs, making his debut in September of 1934, just two months past his 18thn birthday. He was a four-time All Star and, in 1945, he won the NL batting title and the MVP award while leading the Cubs to the pennant, their last one for over 70 years. In his final season with the Cubs, he set the modern franchise record by playing in his 1938th game. All told, he would hit .317 in three World Series appearances for the Cubs.
Frank Chance debuted with the Orphans in 1898 but became the team’s full time first baseman in 1903, enjoying a breakout season by hitting .327 and stealing 67 bases. He remained with the Cubs through 1912, serving as manager as well for the majority of that time, and finished his Cub career with four NL pennants, including back-to-back championships in 1907 and 1908. He was immortalized as part of the famous “Tinker-to-Evers-to-Chance” double play combination in the poem Baseball’s Sad Lexicon and was elected to the Hall of Fame in 1946.
Mark Grace joined the Cubs as a rookie in 1988 and held down the first base position for the next 13 seasons. Grace led all of MLB in the decade of the 90s in hits and doubles. He helped lead the Cubs to the NLCS in 1989, hitting .647 in the five-game series won by the Giants. He would return to the postseason nearly a decade later, as the Cubs captured their first Wild Card in 1998. He finished his Cubs career as a three-time All-Star and a four-time Gold Glove winner. In 2023, he was elected to the Cubs Hall of Fame.
Charlie Grimm was acquired by the Cubs from the Pirates following the 1924 season. In 1929, he helped the team to their first pennant in eleven years, picking up seven hits in the five game World Serie against the A’s. He notched his 2000th career hit in 1932 en route to another NL pennant while also managing the team. He retired as a player following the 1936 season and his career total of 20,711 putouts remains the fifth largest total in MLB history. He is a member of the Cubs Hall of Fame.
Derrek Lee joined the Cubs following the 2003 season and quickly became a mainstay of the Cub lineup. After a successful 2004 season, Lee put up a career year in 2005, and that was just in the first half, leading the majors with a .376 average and 72 RBIs while tying for the lead with 27 home runs. His final average of .335 was the highest for a Cub since Bill Madlock in 1976 and he notched the first batting title for a Cub since Bill Buckner in 1980. Lee helped the Cubs return to the postseason in 2007 and 2008, hitting .545 in the NLDS against the Dodgers in the latter year. He ended his Cubs career in 2010 with two All-Star nods, two Gold Gloves, a Silver Slugger award, and a batting title. He was inducted into the team’s Hall of Fame in 2025.
Anthony Rizzo was the first big acquisition by Theo Epstein and Jed Hoyer when the duo reunited in Chicago’s front office, acquiring him from the Padres. Beginning the 2012 season in Triple A, he was recalled at the end of June and quickly became a mainstay of the lineup and a crowd favorite. As the Cubs were rebuilding around him, he signed a long-term contract extension in 2013. He cemented his position in Cubs lore by catching the final out of the 2016 World Series, ending the longest championship drought in American professional sports. However, as the Cubs struggled to repeat the team success of that season, Rizzo also struggled in later years, contributing to an offense that has severely regressed since 2016 and was one of the Cubs who refused to get the COVID vaccine, keeping the team below the 85% threshold for the 2021 season. At the trade deadline, he was traded to the Yankees. All told, he spent ten seasons with the Cubs, ranking sixth in franchise history with 242 home runs. He was also a four-time Gold Glove winner, winning Platinum Glove honors in 2016 as the league’s best defender. In 2017, Rizzo was bestowed with the prestigious Roberto Clemente Award.
This one is hard for me to predict where the voting will go, as the position is packed with recent fan favorites. Anthony Rizzo has to be the leader in the clubhouse, based on his role in ending the franchise’s 108-year championship drought. Derrek Lee is probably my favorite Cub of all time, so I’d like to think he will garner some support as well. The logical winner should likely be Anson, though he’s likely to be hurt by nobody alive having seen him play or even hearing of his exploits from anyone who saw him play.