{"id":24117,"date":"2026-06-28T03:39:53","date_gmt":"2026-06-28T09:39:53","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/learningturkey.com\/blog\/?p=24117"},"modified":"2026-06-28T09:09:12","modified_gmt":"2026-06-28T15:09:12","slug":"150-years-of-cubs-baseball-relief-pitchers-part-1","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/learningturkey.com\/blog\/2026\/06\/150-years-of-cubs-baseball-relief-pitchers-part-1\/","title":{"rendered":"150 Years Of Cubs Baseball – Relief Pitchers Part 1"},"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 first eight selections for relief pitcher.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>Paul Assenmacher, acquired for the stretch run in 1989 as the team was looking for their second NL East title, spent parts of five seasons as a member of the Cubs and was a perfectly reliable bullpen arm for most of that time.<\/p>\n

Rod Beck spent less than two seasons with the Cubs.\u00a0 Signed in 1998, he led the NL in games and games finished while saving 51 as the Cubs won their first NL Wild Card.\u00a0 He made one appearance in the NLDS, giving up three earned runs in less than two innings of work.\u00a0 Injuries combined with ineffectiveness the following year led to him being traded to the Red Sox in August.\u00a0 He was re-signed by the team in 2003 while recovering from Tommy John surgery but was released before being added to the big-league roster.\u00a0 Following his 2007 death, he was buried wearing his Cubs uniform.<\/p>\n

Joe Borowski spent parts of five seasons with the Cubs, from 2001-2005.\u00a0 His best year came in 2003, when he was named the closer.\u00a0 He saved 33 games as the Cubs won their first division title in over a decade.\u00a0 He gave up just one earned run across five games in the postseason, as the Cubs famously lost the NLCS to the Marlins in seven games.\u00a0 Injuries marred his remaining time on the team, and he was designated for assignment in 2005.<\/p>\n

Ryan Dempster signed with the Cubs in 2004 while rehabbing a reconstructed elbow.\u00a0 He finally joined the team in August and, for the first time in his career, worked primarily out of the bullpen.\u00a0 Dempster briefly returned to the starting rotation in 2005, but he was named the closer after LaTroy Hawkins continued to struggle.\u00a0 He would prove to be one of the premiere closers over the next three seasons.\u00a0 In 2008, Dempster finally moved back to the starting rotation, earning his lone All-Star nod as a Cub, and he would remain there until being traded away in 2012.\u00a0 In 2019, he was inducted into the Canadian Baseball Hall of Fame.<\/p>\n

Don Elston spent all but a single game of his major league career with the Cubs, spanning two stints in 1953 and again from 1957-1964.\u00a0 A two-time All Star, he led the NL in appearances in both 1958 and 1959.<\/p>\n

Kyle Farnsworth debuted with the Cubs in 1999 and remained with the club through the 2004 season.\u00a0 A failed starter, he found occasional success in the bullpen, alternating good years in 2001 and 2003 with poorer ones in 2002 and 2004.\u00a0 In 2000, he earned the victory in the final game at Three Rivers Stadium in Pittsburgh.\u00a0 In 2003, he was involved in a brawl with Reds pitcher Paul Wilson, resulting in a short suspension.\u00a0 He posted a 10.13 ERA in the 2003 NLCS, appearing in five of the seven games.\u00a0 In 2004, he missed time after spraining his knee after kicking an electric fan in the dugout after giving up six runs in an inning to the Astros.<\/p>\n

Willie Hern\u00e1ndez spent parts of seven seasons with the Cubs, debuting in 1977 after being selected in the Rule 5 draft.\u00a0 His best season came in 1982, when he appeared in 75 games and earned ten saves.\u00a0 The following year, he was traded to the Phillies in late May.<\/p>\n

Dutch Leonard spent the final five seasons of his career with the Cubs, beginning in 1949 at age 40.\u00a0 After working mostly as a starter during his career, he moved to the bullpen in 1950, using his knuckleball to great effect.\u00a0 He made his lone All-Star team as a member of the Cubs in 1951.<\/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":[2363,113,5697,12688,120,141,12687,12684,5316,5694,892,12541,625,891,890,114,1647,1646,3026,12686,254,258,53,12689,5560,146,900,3587,5569,12685,595],"class_list":["post-24117","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-baseball","tag-anthony-rizzo","tag-astros","tag-billy-williams","tag-canadian-baseball-hall-of-fame","tag-cubs","tag-derrek-lee","tag-don-elston","tag-dutch-leonard","tag-ernie-banks","tag-gabby-hartnett","tag-joe-borowski","tag-joe-tinker","tag-kerry-wood","tag-kyle-farnsworth","tag-latroy-hawkins","tag-marlins","tag-nlcs","tag-nlds","tag-paul-assenmacher","tag-paul-wilson","tag-phillies","tag-red-sox","tag-reds","tag-rod-beck","tag-rule-5-draft","tag-ryan-dempster","tag-ryne-sandberg","tag-three-rivers-stadium","tag-wild-card","tag-willie-hernandez","tag-wrigley-field"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/learningturkey.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24117","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=24117"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"http:\/\/learningturkey.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24117\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":24420,"href":"http:\/\/learningturkey.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24117\/revisions\/24420"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/learningturkey.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=24117"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/learningturkey.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=24117"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/learningturkey.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=24117"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}