JULY 31: Joe Nathan #36 of the Chicago Cubs pitches in the 6th inning against the Seattle Mariners at Wrigley Field on July 31, 2016 in Chicago, Illinois. The Cubs defeated the Mariners 7-6 in 12 innings.
The Chicago Cubs are one of baseball’s most storied franchises. Many excellent players have come and gone from Wrigley Field’s cozy surroundings.
The Chicago Cubs are one of the most well-known teams in Major League Baseball, and Wrigley Field has become a home for both players and fans, but who are some of the excellent MLB players that may have gone unnoticed as Cubs?
We’re not referring to Ernie Banks or Ryne Sandberg here. For a reason, those are Cubs legends. However, some baseball heroes have worn multiple uniforms during the course of their careers.
The idea of the piece is that these players aren’t remembered as Cubs.
The following are MLB legends you may not know played for the Chicago Cubs: Joe Nathan is a character in the film Joe Nathan
Joe Nathan spent most of his MLB career with the Minnesota Twins, but he did spend part of his final season with the Chicago Cubs in 2016. Before retiring with the San Francisco Giants, he had only played three games with the Cubs.
Nathan signed with the Cubs while recovering from an injury, but was quickly released when the MLB trade deadline arrived. Though getting cut from a team so suddenly is never pleasant, Nathan seemed to take the news in stride.
“It’s natural to think ‘why did you do it?’ But at the same time they paid me to rehab. I appreciate the hard work their entire staff did, from Arizona all the way up to the big leagues. It’s full circle coming back here (San Francisco). Finishing the year with a team was the biggest thing for me, but hooking up with a contender is even better.” –Joe Nathan, via ESPN
Nathan’s great number of saves helped him have a memorable career. He has 377 career saves, which puts him in ninth place all-time in MLB saves.
Only 31 players in MLB history have accumulated 300 saves or more. He wasn’t with the Cubs for long, and he wasn’t in the best of health, but he had plenty of potential as a veteran bullpen arm.
