Future author Jim Bronsan is our next #23. Jim wore three different numbers during his four seasons with the Cubs, including #23 during the 1958 season. After spending two seasons as a swingman in the bullpen, Brosnan became a full time starter with the 1958 Cubs. I wonder if that's why he switched uniform numbers?
But it was a short stay in the rotation. He made eight starts and posted a 3-4 record with a 3.14 ERA. That doesn't seem too horribly bad, especially for someone wearing #23. On May 18, he only went 3 2/3 innings against the Giants, giving up four runs. Two days later he was traded to the Cardinals and #23 went back into storage.
Brosnan is more well know for a couple of books he wrote. The Long Season detailed his 1959 season, which saw him again traded mid-year, this time to the Reds. It was the first "inside" look at baseball, though is was very "aw, shucks" when compared to Jim Bouton's Ball Four, which came out ten years later.
He also wrote The Pennant Race, which chronicles the Reds 1961 pennant-winning season. After he retired in 1963, he continued writing.
As a kid, I had this book of his, Little League to Big League, which had chapters on several professional athletes who played Little League as kids. Cubs Ron Santo and Rich Nye were among the featured players. Da Coach Mike Ditka also had a chapter.
Schwing! Mike Myers is...
...Dieter, Wayne Campbell, Linda Richman, Austin Powers, Dr. Evil, Shrek....
...that's a pretty impressive list of characters.
And he was a pitching prospect in the Cubs farm system for six season. I didn't know that!
No, not him, the other one.
The other one spells his last name just a little different. But like the actor, he is also Canadian, born in London, Ontario.
Meyers was the Cubs' 26th round draft choice in 1997. By November of 1999 he had been added to the Cubs 40 man roster. But then the injury bug hit him.
He had stints on the DL in 2000 (elbow tightness),
2001 (sprained right ankle), and 2002 (shoulder tendinitis). The shoulder problem caused him to miss the entire season, as he had surgery on May 17.
He was a non-roster invitee to the Cubs major league camp in 2003, but was sent to the minor league camp on March 15. He spent the season at AAA, posting a 5-2 record with a 4.60 ERA.The Cubs released after the season. Meyers spent the next three seasons in the Mets and Brewers organizations, but never made it to the majors.
Poor Mike never made the bigs. I'm so verklepmt. Please...discuss amongst yourselves.
I've got 7,104 Cubs cards from 30 different brands listed on a spreadsheet. A random number generator picked five cards, one each from the past several decades.
Today, I have a first....and also a second. For the first time ever, the random number generator selected a card that was previously picked. For the '70s, it selected the 1972 Cubs Rookie card, that I already looked at here. And then, for the '80's, it grabbed the 1984 Dickie Noles card, which was picked early here. I figured with over 7,000 different Cubs, I'd be pretty safe from duplicates. And until today, I was. And then, two duplicates on the same day. I wonder what the odds of that are, and if I should buy a lottery ticket today, too!
Once I saw that I had duplicates, I went back to the number generator to get different cards, so you have five new ones to see today.
1950's / 1960's - Topps 1969 #20 Ernie Banks This is the only Ernie Banks card I had as a kid. It was given to me in the early '70s'. Otherwise, I had never even seen a card of Mr. Cub. I always wondered if Topps issued cards regionally, making Cubs card more scarce in the Chicago area, and therefore getting kids to buy more cards? Anyone else have problems finding your local team's stars? This card also features the same picture used on the 1968 card. You wonder why Topps didn't have more pictures on file of a veteran star like Ernie Banks?
1970's - Topps 1972 #364 Johnny Callison This card shows us the veteran outfielder in front of the batting cage at Candlestick Park. I tried to blow up the card to figure out who the batter in the cage was, but the picture wasn't clear enough. Callison didn't even play for the Cubs in 1972. He was traded on January 20 to the Yankees for the infamous "player to be named later." It wasn't until May that the Cubs named one, pitcher Jack Aker.
1980's - Topps Traded 1985 #35T Ray Fontenot The Cubs picked Fontenot up from the Yankees during the off season. He spent the 1985 season alternating between the starting rotation and the bullpen. At one point during the year the Cubs had their entire rotation on the disabled list. Guys like Fontenot filled in, and didn't do a very good job. He was 6-10 with a 4.36 ERA. I thought of him as Fonte-NOT.
1990's - Bowman 1992 #647 Mike Morgan He joined the Cubs as a free agent for the 1992 season and was 16-8. A nice pick up, right? Wrong! He tanked in both '93 and '94, with records of 10-15 and 2-10.
2000's - Goudey 2009 4 in 1 #16 Ryne Sandberg This card features one Hall of Famer with three current players. This is one of two 4 in 1 cards that Sandberg appeared on.
Moe Thacker is next up in our look at all the Cubs who wore #23. Moe was a back-up catcher who spent parts of four different seasons with the Cubs and wore four different numbers. He sported #23 during his first run with the Cubs in 1958. Thacker spent the first two weeks of August with the Cubs filling in for starting catcher Sammy Taylor. Moe got seven starts and played in 11 games, hitting .250. But when Taylor was healthy, Thacker went back to the minors for the rest of the season.
Between 1958 and 1962, Moe played in a total 157 games for the Cubs. He hit a measly .177. The Curse of #23 continues!
Moe was one of several different Moes that Cubs had in the late '50's and early '60's. Here is what I wrote about them last year.
