Bring Me Your Torch

This season on “Survivor” they have former contestants matched up against each other in what they call “Heroes” vs. “Villians”. Right after watching an episode I turned on the MLB Channel and saw a highlight involving Reed Johnson. It got me to thinking about Former Cubs, Heroes and Villians.

Heroes – these are the guys when you see them doing well for another team you say “Man that’s great! I hope he doesn’t come back and kill the Cubs, but I’m happy for him.”

We’ll start the list with the aforementioned Johnson. All this guy did was bust his tail. He’ll always be remembered for his catch in Washington.

Mark DeRosa – Fan favorite and it turns out his biggest shortcoming while with the Cubs was that he didn’t hit lefthanded.

Jacque Jones – Struggled early in his first year then crashed and burned in his second year. But he handled the boos and criticism with class. Plus he provided a memorable CFCL Draft Day Moment. When Dem Rebels acquired Jones, Nick Hansen of Nick’s Picts suggested Bentel pronounce Jones' first name as “Jac-Que” (phonetically Ja-KAY) with arms extended above the head and hands swishing back and forth on each syllable.

David Aardsma – Never reached his potential with the Cubs but his 39 saves with Seattle last year sure would look good on the northside.

Jaime Moyer – OK he last played for the Cubs 21 years ago after only spending three seasons with the Cubs and now people may cheer for him more for his age (47) than for his former Cub status. A true gentleman and ambassador for the game.

Kerry Wood – Fought like hell to come back from injuries. Stood up to take the blame (undeservedly) for losing game 7 of the NLCS.

Juan Pierre - I've always been frustrated that he was here for only one year. But that wasn't his fault. He played 162 games, stole 58 bases, collected 204 hits and didn't commit an error. If anyone wants to put him on the villian list it would be for his .330 OBP and that it took three top pitching prospects (Ricky Nolasco anyone?) to get him. But again, that wasn't his fault. And not having Dontrelle Willis and Reynel Pinto on the Cubs right now isn't the worst thing in the world.

Now moving to the Dark Side. These are the guys when you see them doing poorly you say “Man that’s great!”

Milton Bradley – Number One Villian. Could have learned a lesson from Jacque Jones on how to handle a slow start. Makes Russell Hantz look like a pussycat.

Mark Prior – How truly injured he was we’ll never know but what an arrogant ass.

Alfonso Soriano – Perhaps the worst signing ever. Unfortunately he has the damn Immunity Idol for another four years.

Dusty Baker – Managed the pitching staff like Tiger Woods handles a marriage commitment. Never took responsibility for running the team the way it needed to be run. Wouldn't bench or drop Sosa in the order until Sosa said it was ok. Huh?

Kyle Farnsworth – Was more interested in partying with the fans at 3am than he was in throwing strikes at 1:20pm.

There are a few guys that could fall into either camp. LaTroy Hawkins, Corey Patterson, Felix Pie. None of them were “bad” guys, they just didn’t perform up to expectations. And of course there a dozens more, but I kept this to current players only.

Come October we’ll see if Tribal Council sends another Cubbie packing with his torch extinguished.