Baseball Legends: Hazen Shirley “Kiki” Cuyler (Pirates 1921-1927, Cubs 1928-1935, Reds 1935-1937, Dodgers 1938)

An outstanding hitter and the fastest player in the NL in his prime, KiKi Cuyler reached the majors in 1921 with the Pittsburgh Pirates and was a regular in the lineup in 1924, when he hit .354. In 1922, he hit .357 with 45 doubles, 26 triples, 18 homers, 102 RBIs, 144 runs scored, and 41 stolen bases.

In the 1925 World Series against the Washington Senators, he had a game-winning home run in the second game, and in game seven his 2-run double in the 8th defeated Walter Johnson and Washington 9 to 7, making it the only time in his career he would be part of a championship team.

Baseball Legends: Billy Williams (Cubs 1959-1974, A’s 1975-1976)

“In baseball a player knows just two things: today and yesterday. There’s never a tomorrow until it gets here.” — Billy Williams

It’s amazing when you can remember how a player swings the bat after decades of not seeing him do it. Pictures of Ruth and Aaron are seen often in the media, but for someone to be called Sweet Swingin’ Billy it must be something special. From a very relaxed stance, and careful stride, this slim, wiry athlete would whip the bat through the zone in a way that could take the ball out of the park to any field.

Baseball Legends: Ferguson Jenkins (Phillies 1965-1966, Cubs 1966-1973, 1982-1983, Rangers 1974-1975, 1978-1981, Red Sox 1976-1977)

“The game is easy. Life is hard — No guarantees.” ~ Ferguson Jenkins

Known as “Jenks” to his teammates, he was better known as “Fergie” to the baseball fans of the time. The day Jenkins was traded to the Chicago Cubs, one newspaper headline read “Ferguson Who?” In 1966 Jenkins pitched in relief and won 6 games. On August 25, 1966 Leo Durocher made him a starting pitcher. Jenkins pitched every fourth day for the next six years accumulating more than 20 wins each year. From 1967 to 1980, Jenkins led Major League Baseball with the most wins (251) in that 14-season span while often pitching at home in hitter’s ballparks.

Baseball Legends: Ernie Banks (Cubs 1953-1971)

Cool Papa Bell signed Ernie Banks to a contract for the Kansas City Monarchs in 1950 at age 19. He returned to them after two years in the army, where the Cubs discovered him at the end of the 1953 season. Ernie Banks, “Mr. Cub”, was the first black player for the Chicago Cubs.

Ernie Banks broke into the majors in quiet fashion in 1954 with 19 home runs in his first full season. His second full season ended in grand fashion when the spindly-looking Banks took a letter-high fastball out of Busch stadium off of Lindy McDaniel for his fifth grand slam of the year, setting a new record for most grand slams in a season. Neither Gehrig nor Ruth had ever hit that many grand slams in one season. Banks’ record stood until the 1987 when Don Mattingly hit six grand slams in one season, the only slams of his career. Travis Hafner tied Mattingly’s record in 2006.

Baseball Legends: Ralph Kiner (Pirates 1946-1953, Cubs 1953-1954, Indians 1955)

Ralph Kiner is crucial to my love of baseball; to me he will always be the voice of Mets play-by-play, along with the wonderful Lindsey Nelson and Bob Murphy. His signature home run call: “It is gone, goodbye.” Mr. Kiner is still contributing to broadcasts and can offer a great story for any occasion.

He had a great postgame show called Kiner’s Korner in which he interviewed perspiring Mets about all the reasons they lost. He is known for some malapropisms, but Kiner also came up with gems. One of my favorites: in describing Phil Niekro’s knuckleball he said, “It’s like watching Mario Andretti park a car.”

Baseball Legends: Ryne Sandberg (Phillies 1981, Cubs 1982-1997)

If you ask a sports fan the significance of the number 23, most of the time they will tell you that Michael Jordan wore that number for the Chicago Bulls. However, there is another Chicago sports legend that had 23 stitched onto his jersey: Cubs second baseman Ryne Sandberg.

Sandberg came to the Cubs with Larry Bowa in a trade with the Phillies for Ivan DeJesus. He made an immediate impact, batting .271 and stealing 32 bases for the 5th place Cubs in 1982. It wasn’t until 1984, though, that Sandberg truly stepped into the national spotlight, hitting .314 with 19 home runs en route to the NL MVP award and leading the club to the playoffs for the first time since 1945. 1984 was also the first of a 10-year run on the All-Star team, voted as the starting second baseman every year except 1985 (he was beat out that year by Tom Herr of the Cardinals).