They are not the best players, or most well-known.
What I noticed was their last names. They all begin with the letter Z. How odd, I thought, that three players on the team have Z last names
But then I was thinking of recent Cubs teams and players like Zobrist, Zagunis, and Zastryzny. Go back a few year for Zambrano.
The Cubs seem to have more than their fair share of Z-named players.
So I did some digging. It turns out that the Cubs have had 15 different players with a Z name, and that is by far, the most of any MLB team. The next closest is 9.
Here's a listing of the 15 CubZ
Carlos Zambrano - 2001-2012
Eddie Zambrano - 1993-1994
Oscar Zamora - 1974-1976
Rob Zastryzny - 2013, 2016-2019
Rollie Zeider - 1916-1918
Todd Zeile - 1995
George Zettlein - 1874-1875 - no cards of him exist.
Bob Zick - 1954 - His MLB career was just eight games with the Cubs in 1954. No cards of him exist, so I created one, using the 1954 Red Heart template.
Don Zimmer - 1960-1961
Heinie Zimmerman - 1907-1916
Ben Zobrist - 2015-2019
Julio Zuleta - 2000-2002
Dutch Zwilling - 1916
And how about the rest of the teams? Here's how many Z's they have
9 - Pirates, Giants, Twins, Yankees
8 - Reds, Cardinals, Dodgers, Orioles, Red Sox, White Sox, Athletics
7 - Phillies, Tigers
6 - Marlins, Astros, Rangers, Royals
5 - Mets, Indians
4 - Diamondbacks, Braves, Brewers, Mariners, Rays, Blue Jays
3 - Nationals
2 - Rockies
1 - Padres, Angels
Wow, talk about Z domination.
ReplyDeleteI forgot all about Todd Zeile.
Interesting. I wouldn't have thought there were that many "Z" players in total.
ReplyDeleteOff the top of my head... and before looking at your list, I only came up with Carlos Zambrano. Kinda embarrassed that I didn't remember Zobrist.
ReplyDelete