{"id":24103,"date":"2026-05-10T03:34:19","date_gmt":"2026-05-10T09:34:19","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/learningturkey.com\/blog\/?p=24103"},"modified":"2026-05-01T07:56:01","modified_gmt":"2026-05-01T13:56:01","slug":"150-years-of-cubs-baseball-shortstops","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/learningturkey.com\/blog\/2026\/05\/150-years-of-cubs-baseball-shortstops\/","title":{"rendered":"150 Years Of Cubs Baseball – Shortstops"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>Originally founded in 1869, the Chicago Cubs became a charter member of the National League in 1876.\u00a0 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.\u00a0 Nearly 2,300 players have worn a Cubs uniform, earning eight division titles, 17 NL pennants, and three World Series championships.<\/p>\n

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.\u00a0 The team has called Wrigley Field home for 110 of those 150 seasons.<\/p>\n

To celebrate this milestone, the Cubs are holding a fan vote to select the franchise\u2019s anniversary team.\u00a0 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.\u00a0 We continue today with the eight selections for shortstop.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>Javier Baez was drafted by the Cubs in the first round in 2011 and debuted with the big-league club in 2014.\u00a0 He became a starter in 2016, helping the Cubs end their 108-year championship drought by winning the World Series.\u00a0 His best season came in 2018, when he led the league in RBI and finished second in MVP voting.\u00a0 His tenure with the Cubs ended in 2021, traded to the Mets for a young prospect named Pete Crow-Armstrong.\u00a0 During his time on the north side, he was a two-time All-Star, the 2016 NLCS MVP, and won both a Gold Glove and a Silver Slugger.<\/p>\n

Ernie Banks played his entire 19-year career with the Cubs, earning back-to-back MVP honors in 1958 and 1959.\u00a0 At the time of his retirement following the 1971 season, he ranked ninth all-time in career home runs with 512.\u00a0 He was elected to the Hall of Fame in 1977 and became a team ambassador, never seen without a smile on his face.\u00a0 Known as Mr. Cub, his #14 was retired by the team in 1982, making him the first Cub to receive that honor.<\/p>\n

Bill Dahlen spent eight seasons with the Colts and Orphans through most of the 1890s.\u00a0 Playing in a dead ball era, he had a good amount of power, finishing among the NL’s top ten players in home runs\u00a0four times and in\u00a0slugging percentage three times.\u00a0 He set a new record with a 42-game hitting streak in 1894.\u00a0 He was traded away following the 1898 season.\u00a0 He is considered to have the most career WAR of any eligible player, except those tainted by scandal, to not be in the Hall of Fame.<\/p>\n

Ivan de Jesus spent five seasons with the Cubs, coming over from the Dodgers along with Bill Buckner for the 1977 season.\u00a0 In his final season with the Cubs, he won the so-called anti-triple crown, finishing last among qualified batters in batting average, home runs, and RBIs.\u00a0 His greatest impact on the franchise came following that 1981 season, when he was traded to the Phillies for Larry Bowa and a throw-in prospect named Ryne Sandberg.\u00a0 He returned to the franchise as a coach for the 2010 and 2011 seasons.<\/p>\n

Shawon Dunston was the first overall pick in the 1982 draft, joining the big-league club in 1985.\u00a0 After initial struggles led to him getting sent back to Triple A after just a month, he returned in August and became a mainstay of the Cubs lineup through 1995.\u00a0 After spending the 1996 season with the Giants, he returned to the Cubs in 1997 but was traded on August 31 to the Pirates.\u00a0 He was a two-time All-Star with the Cubs and was inducted to the team’s Hall of Fame in 2023.<\/p>\n

Billy Jurges had two stints with the Cubs, from 1931-1938 and again from 1946-1947.\u00a0 A light hitter, he was known as a top defender, leading NL shortstops in fielding percentage four times.\u00a0 In July of 1932, he was shot by a jilted lover who was upset that he had broken up with her.\u00a0 He made one All-Star team during his first stint with the Cubs.\u00a0 During his second go-around with the club, he performed as a player-coach and continued as a coach after retiring as a player.<\/p>\n

Don Kessinger debuted with the Cubs in September of 1964 and took over the starting shortstop position the following year.\u00a0 Known for his defensive prowess, he anchored the infield during his twelve seasons with the Cubs, leading the NL in games played at shortstop five times, putouts three times, assists four times, and double plays twice.\u00a0 He was a six\u2011time All\u2011Star, won two Gold Glove awards, and is a member of the Cubs Hall of Fame.<\/p>\n

Joe Tinker spent fifteen seasons with the Cubs, joining the team in 1902.\u00a0 One of the premier defensive shortstops of his era, he was a cornerstone of the Cubs dominant run between 1906 and 1910, capturing four NL pennants and back-to-back World Series championships in 1907 and 1908.\u00a0 Tinker\u2019s fame endures Franklin P. Adams\u2019s 1910 poem Baseball\u2019s Sad Lexicon<\/em>, which immortalized the iconic \u201cTinker\u2011to\u2011Evers\u2011to\u2011Chance\u201d double\u2011play combination.\u00a0 In 1946, he was elected to the Hall of Fame.<\/p>\n

The two obvious choices here are Ernie Banks and Joe Tinker, two only two players to enshrined in Cooperstown on this list.\u00a0 I imagine Javy Baez will also see strong support due to recency bias and his role in ending the franchise’s 108-year championship drought.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Originally founded in 1869, the Chicago Cubs became a charter member of the National League in 1876.\u00a0 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.\u00a0 Nearly 2,300 players have worn a Cubs […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[34],"tags":[5691,5692,6980,2363,12552,1481,12597,12596,5697,120,9746,141,116,10025,2501,5316,12595,5694,256,5693,44,9835,4947,12541,625,9834,261,79,9711,254,112,900,9883,5984,595],"class_list":["post-24103","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-baseball","tag-1907-world-series","tag-1908-world-series","tag-2016-world-series","tag-anthony-rizzo","tag-baseballs-sad-lexicon","tag-bill-buckner","tag-bill-dahlen","tag-billy-jurges","tag-billy-williams","tag-cubs","tag-cubs-hall-of-fame","tag-derrek-lee","tag-dodgers","tag-don-kessinger","tag-draft","tag-ernie-banks","tag-franklin-p-adams","tag-gabby-hartnett","tag-giants","tag-gold-glove","tag-hof","tag-ivan-dejesus","tag-javier-baez","tag-joe-tinker","tag-kerry-wood","tag-larry-bowa","tag-mets","tag-mvp","tag-pete-crow-armstrong","tag-phillies","tag-pirates","tag-ryne-sandberg","tag-shawon-dunston","tag-silver-slugger","tag-wrigley-field"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/learningturkey.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24103","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/learningturkey.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/learningturkey.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/learningturkey.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/learningturkey.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=24103"}],"version-history":[{"count":8,"href":"http:\/\/learningturkey.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24103\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":24249,"href":"http:\/\/learningturkey.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24103\/revisions\/24249"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/learningturkey.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=24103"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/learningturkey.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=24103"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/learningturkey.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=24103"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}