Missing on the List

The Cubs have submitted their list of its five best players in history. This list contains:

Ernie Banks
Fergie Jenkins
Ron Santo
Ryne Sandberg
Billy Williams

That's a decent list. But Paul Sullivan wonders why Sammy Sosa isn't on the list.

Well, the answer is simple. Sosa was a dillweed when he left. He pissed on his bosses. He pissed on his teammates. And, he pissed on the fans, a cardinal sin in this marketing driven Cubs era we all witness.

But, a better question is, "Why these five names?" The answer, of course, is marketing. All these guys are alive and available for interviews. Some better names might include:

Cap Anson - he was kind of a George Halas for the National League.
Gabby Hartnett - Hit possibly the most famous homer in Cub history for a World Series bound team.
Frank Chance - Only manager in Chicago history to win back-to-back World Series titles
Johnny Evers and Joe Tinker - Go read the poem.
Hack Wilson - Still holds the record for most RBI in a season. Also, Tom Hanks' character in "League of their Own" is loosely based on Wilson.

There are plenty of other potential nominees. Phil Cavaretta. Billy Herman. Mordecai "Three Finger" Brown.

Why isn't Sosa on the list? Pshaw.

Why aren't Wilson, Brown and Chance on it. Only because they can't be interviewed would be this page's guess.

Perhaps they will send text messages to Boers and Burnstein.