Born on the Fourth of July

Happy 234th Birthday America!

As we celebrate our nations birthday this fourth of July, I thought I'd check to see if there were any Cubs with a 4th of July birthday.

I came up with three of them. One is someone you've heard of, although not as a Cub. The other two would be known only to the most dedicated of fans.





This picture of Dan Larson is from the Cubs 1982 Media Guide

Dan Larson, born July 4, 1954. Larson was one of a host of Phillies that Dallas Green brought over in 1982. He was a part of the trade that brought Keith Moreland and Dickie Noles to the Cubs for starter Mike Krukow. Larson started six games and worked out of the pen for another six. His record was 0-4 with a 5.67 ERA. He was sent back to the minors in early June and never returned to the majors. There are no Cubs cards of him, and in fact, though he played in parts of seven different seasons, he had only one Topps card, the one above from 1977.


This card is from the TCMA Best of the '50's set released in 1979. He is wearing a uniform, hat, and stirrups the Cubs wore for just one season, 1957.

Chuck Tanner, born July 4, 1929. Here is the name you should recognize, though as his time as a manager, not a player. He spent 1 1/2 seasons with the Cubs in 1957-58 and put up the best numbers of his career. His average over 168 games was .280 with 11 HR and 59 RBIs.



Bill Tremel, born July 4, 1929, the exact same day as Chuck Tanner! Tremel pitched in 57 games for the 1954 - 1956 Cubs. Working exclusively out of the bullpen, he posted a 4-2 record with a 4.05 ERA.