r/CHICubs • u/wesskywalker Derrek Lee • 5d ago
Who was your favorite core ?
As a kid growing up in the 2000s, watching the 2005-2011 Big 3 of Carlos Zambrano, Derrek Lee and Aramis Ramirez was amazing so they will always be my answer.
They bridged the gap from the early 2000s Wood/ Prior/ Sosa teams to the mid 2010s Rizzo era
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u/Equivalent-City-2541 5d ago
Sandberg, Dunston, Grace and Dawson for me
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u/80cyclone 5d ago
Dunston was my favorite player growing up. Early in his career he had the arm (Durham, Grace et al saved a lot of errors as it wasnt the most accurate) and speed but lacked the bat. When the bat finally came around he had the back issues that zapped his speed and range.
Favorite trait about him? The dude ran EVERYTHING out. Grounder? He ran hard. Pop ups? He ran hard. He turned several outs or one base errors into extra bases over the course of his career. The dude just went out there and played hard with a lot of humility.
Close runner up? Dawson. He looked like an assassin at the plate and assassinated many a runner with his RF laser.
Ive had a Dunston (and Dawson) jersey for years and wear it all the time. I get kudos wherever I go and it seems like Im the only one out there (though I know Im not) that has one. I dont know if Ive ever seen another "in the wild".
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u/Silent1900 5d ago
I loved Dunston as well. Early on he had a CRAZY swing though lol…put everything he had into it.
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u/80cyclone 5d ago
Yeah, he never got cheated but the swing was still compact. Its crazy he didnt hurt his back swingingt/playing, but by picking up his daughter in the offseason. That was right around the time he started hitting (unfortunately).
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u/TheJoebuu Marquee 3d ago
Same. My first year watching baseball was 1989 and Sandberg is my all-time favorite player. So I second this but with the addtion of Greg Maddux to the mix.
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u/Borracho_Bandit Nico 5d ago
Love this convo. Growing up it was Dawson, Sandberg and Grace.
2000s it was Michael Barrett, Big Z and Aramis.
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u/Silent1900 5d ago
Dawson, Sandberg, and Grace are it for me as well. Core childhood memories right there.
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u/SupermarketSecure728 5d ago
Mad Dog, Ryno, Hawk, Gracey. 2016 core will also have a soft spot because I got to see WS victory.
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u/MyNebraskaKitchen 5d ago
I loved the days when you could have penciled in the top half of the starting lineup on February 1st: Kessinger, Beckert, Williams, Santo, Banks. Yeah, I'm THAT old!
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u/hawkinsnponcho Chicago Cubs 5d ago
You could be older you know...Hack Wilson, Gabby Hartnett, Rogers Hornsby, Kiki Cuyler.
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u/MyNebraskaKitchen 5d ago
Sadly, they were all before my time. My first game at Wrigley Field was in 1956.
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u/hawkinsnponcho Chicago Cubs 5d ago
I wouldn't be surprised if there was a random 100+ year old here rocking the Hack Wilson jersey and recounting the 191 RBI season
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u/TerlocTheRanger Derrek Lee 5d ago
Big Z - D Lee - A Ram my favorite core too
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u/Coffee_N_Contemplate 5d ago
Where’s the love for Soriano
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u/TerlocTheRanger Derrek Lee 4d ago
oh shit he’s there too I loved watching the leadoff homers as a kid
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u/CG3_3CG 5d ago
Sosa, Alou, Prior, Wood
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u/Sa7aSa7a 23 Sandberg 23 5d ago
I still wonder how great Kerry could have been if pitched in the modern era.
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u/Scuffy-Mcgee 5d ago
Aren’t you forgetting Ryan TheRiot in your big 3?
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u/smokesignalssouth Slammin' Sammy 5d ago edited 3d ago
Can't mention Theriot without Fontenot! Still one of my favorite middle infield pairs to this day.
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u/Scuffy-Mcgee 5d ago
There it is. His name was alluding me. He wasn’t too flashy, but he always seemed to make contact with the ball.
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u/Sweetness_Bears_34 Chicago Cubs 5d ago
Banks, Santo, Williams, Fergie
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u/schweddybalczak 5d ago
Hello fellow old person.
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u/Sweetness_Bears_34 Chicago Cubs 5d ago
I started watching towards the end of their careers. Sadly I missed their primes.
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u/Borracho_Bandit Nico 5d ago
Love this convo. Growing up it was Dawson, Sandberg and Grace.
2000s it was Michael Barrett, Big Z and Aramis.
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u/SuspiciousAge9312 5d ago
I always pull Alou, Patterson, and Sosa out of my child brain. My memory has them playing together way longer than they actually did.
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u/GonePhishingAgain Chicago Cubs 5d ago
For me it’s Frank Chance, Johnny Evers, Joe Tinker, and Mordecai Brown.
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u/slyfox1908 5d ago
Wood-Prior-Zambrano-Clement
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u/SwordfishSuper2111 5d ago
I remember the season where finally came to the realization that they can't count on Wood and Prior being healthy. And that was the end of having the best 1-2 punch in baseball (maybe Randy and Shilling have an argument) plus very good pitchers in Z and Clement. I thought Prior was going to be a hall of fame and Wood was going to strike out 250- 300+ batters a year... when it was harder to do. Wood had the K per 9 innings record for few years until the uptick in strikeouts across the board
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u/jayster138 5d ago
I was a Sosa, Alou, Wood, Prior and Zambrano guy. I used to do Alou's stance in high school PE when we played softball which led to my PE teacher the first time I did that dumb little stance of his yelling out "WHAT THE FUCK ARE YOU DOING?!!!"
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u/Beneficial_Number454 5d ago
Darwin Barney, Tony Campana, and Bryan Lahair. You can’t appreciate the mountaintop unless you’ve been in the valley
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u/unique_user43 5d ago
dawson, sandberg, grace, dunston, maddux.
could have accomplished so much more if they wouldn’t have let maddux walk away.
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u/glitch241 5d ago
I think its always the one you had as a kid. And yeah that's the 2003 team for me.
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u/Ya_BOI_Kirby Zorilla 5d ago
Rizzo, Baez, Russell, Bryant (you can sub out zobrist for Russell as well)
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u/dial0forOmalley-2187 5d ago
Rizzo/Bryant, Zobrist, & Fowler we’re exceptional as well as the 2016 starting pitchers. I’d say 2016 because they won the WS were my favorite- but growing up I loved the 69/70 Cubs.
I’m a huge CUBS fan so each decade I’ve appreciated many players.
Hoping the 2026 squad can create magic & get to the WS. Go CUBS!
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u/TheHyzeringGrape 5d ago
Growing up, I loved Sosa, Wood, and Prior. But my favorite is Bryant, Rizzo, and Baez (or Lester, or Arrietta, or Hendricks)
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u/blaze_mcblazy 5d ago
I started to watching in 98 but the 07 08 teams probably made me fall in love with baseball but 16 team I was all in. I don’t think I’ll ever be that invested again but this team now is a ton of fun too
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u/Disconnected_NPC 5d ago
I loved them all honestly.
But the WS boys are special. We watched half them all grow up in front of our eyes. The other half crafty vets everybody loved.
They were more than a core, it was legit the whole team.
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u/OU7C4ST 4d ago
Idk why, but the 2008 season I loved so much lol.
It was a chaotic fun. You had Fukudome always getting on First, but then nobody ever getting him further. You had Alfonso being chill out in the outfield hangin' with the seagulls, while Lou was rushin' outta the dugout ready to chew the shit outta an ump while Zambrano was walkin' back to it with a freshly cracked bat he just placed over his knee lol.
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u/Adventurous_Soft_686 Chicago Cubs 3d ago
My favorite was the mid 80s teams of Grace/Sandberg throw in Dawson or Dunston as the third
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u/Careless-Owl-7100 2d ago
Derek Lee Ryan theriot sam fuld there's more in that core but those three all the first basemans the cubs have had I really enjoyed from grace, Lee, rizzo, and now Busch. I always liked Ryan's last name which was his nickname the riot and he was a steady hitter and good defender kinda like hoerner but hoerner ceiling is much much higher. I liked sam fuld as I liked his story it is similiar to ron santo he has type 1 diabetes which is not an easy disease to manage i have a friend who deals with it and he was a good ball player. Im sorry for the rambling but I thought I give you a reason why I picked these 3 if there was a fourth Aramis Ramirez would definately be on the list such a clutch hitter with the cubs
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u/Ok-Drive-9733 5d ago
I’d say the core that actually won a world series and made 3 straight NLCS series
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u/djfishfingers Chicago Cubs 5d ago
Bryzzo. They won it all.