Chicago Cubs Land Seven Players on the All-Star Team

As we approach the All-Star break, 2008 is sizing up as a great year for the Chicago Cubs. For some time they had the best record in the Major Leagues. Although the Tampa Bay Rays now have taken over the top spot for the majors, the Cubs, who are playing .598 (55-37) after their July 10 loss to the Cincinnati Reds, still own the best record in the National League. And they have held the lead in the Central Division for months now.

And, if you are into numerology or if you just like round numbers, 2008 is auspicious for another reason. It has been exactly one century, that is, one hundred years, since the Cubs last won a World Series championship.

Adding more fuel to the fire, it needs to be pointed out to Cubs fans (because they would never notice otherwise) that there are two baseball teams in Chicago. And today, July 10, 2008, they are both in first place. The Chicago White Sox lead the American League Central Division.

So there is talk that, since the Cubs are winning so consistently, they have a good chance to make it to the play-offs. And more talk that, since it's a leap year, a presidential election year and a century since it last happened, the Cubs are destined to win the World Series. And even more talk that, with the airline industry in turmoil and the price of gas so high, it is fitting for the World Series to be in one place. Like Chicago.

In other words, for the umpteenth time in Cubs history, Chicago vibrates with the notion that THIS IS OUR YEAR.

It's no accident that they are doing well in the standings. The Cubs have an excellent team. And the All-Star selection shows it. For the first time in its history, the Cubs have put seven men on the All-Star team. Now, don't forget that there are only nine guys on the field at any one time. Under American League rules, you can add a tenth to the line-up. And, of course, you need reserves for any game. You need a full roster.

But seven is a lot of men when it comes to a ball team. You can't count them on one hand. And seven men in Chicago jerseys have been selected for the 2008 All-Star Game.

So, let's take a look at who those players are.

Catcher Geovany Soto, wearing jersey number 18, is a switch hitter, who throws right. When Geovany Soto takes the field at Yankee Stadium on July 15, he will be the first rookie catcher to start an All-Star Game for the National League. Although he won't turn 26 until Inauguration Day, 2009, he already has playoff experience. He started against the Arizona Diamondbacks in the 2007 National League playoffs and hit a two-run homer in Game 2, putting the Cubs ahead in that game. (Of course, the Cubs later lost the game and the series.)

Soto was named National League Rookie of the Month in April 2008, chalking up a .341 batting average, five home runs, eight doubles and 20 RBI's for the month. Going into the June 10 game, his batting average was .289, with 16 home runs and 55 RBI's.

Outfielder Kosuke Fukudome, jersey number 1, bats left and throws right. Although this is Fukudome's first year in Major League Baseball, he is a baseball veteran with an international career. In 1996, at the age of 19, he became the youngest player ever chosen for an Olympic baseball team. He and the Japanese national baseball team won a silver medal that year. He played on the Japanese Olympic team again in 2004 when the team won a bronze medal. He also placed first in the 2006 World Baseball Classic. And in the meantime, he was building a career in the Japanese Central League with the Chunichi Dragons. He played for Chunichi for a total of nine seasons, winning the 2006 MVP award, before signing with the Chicago Cubs in December, 2007.

Fukudome was a hit right off the bat when he debuted on March 31, 2008 against the Milwaukee Brewers. Literally. He got a double on the first pitch he faced in the majors. He went 3-for-3 with a walk in that game, including a 3-run home run in the bottom of the ninth inning. The home run tied the game, but the Brewers went on to win in extra innings.

Going into the July 10 game, Fukudome is batting .287 and has 7 home runs and 36 RBI's.

Outfielder Alfonso Soriano, number 12, bats and throws right. On June 11, Alfonso Soriano was hit by a pitch from Atlanta's Jeff Bennett and broke his hand. He has been on the disabled list ever since and is not expected to return until late July. He will miss the All-Star Game as a result of the injury. But during the balloting for the All-Star Game, Soriano kept insisting that he would be ready to play for the National League in the game.

It's not as though his career is lacking for All-Star experience. One the contrary, he has plenty. He was first selected for the All-Star team in 2002 and has been selected to join the team every year since then. He was the MLB All-Star MVP in 2004. He has started All-Star teams in two positions and has played for both leagues. So his attitude toward the 2008, wanting to play in the face of a broken hand, kind of reminds you of Oliver. Please. . . could he have more?

Over the course of a career that has taken him from Japan to the Yankees, to the Rangers, to the Nationals, to the Cubs, he has demonstrated both power and speed. When Soriano became a member of the 200-200 Club (200 career home runs and 200 career stolen bases), he did it in 929 games, shattering Eric Davis' previous record of 1,053. He now has 256 home runs and 236 stolen bases.

Though he will miss the All-Star Game this year, the Cubs will be happy to have him back later in the month. He was batting .283 when he went on the DL, with 15 home runs and 40 RBI's. And the Cubs need players like that if this is the year they'll make it back to the World Series.

Pitcher Ryan Dempster, number 46, bats and pitches right. This is the second year that Ryan Dempster has been selected for the All-Star Game. He had the honor in 2000, as well. And it has been an excellent season for him. He is the first Cubs pitcher in 31 seasons to start 10-0 at home. In his 118 innings pitched this season, he is 10-3 with a 3.13 ERA and 98 strike-outs.

Although he is now in the starting rotation, Dempster was a closer for the Cubs for some time. He excelled at that position. In 2005, he got 33 saves in 35 opportunities. But don't get the wrong idea about those other two games. Though he missed the save for them, he got the win.

Pitcher Kerry Wood, number 34, bats and throws right. When Kerry Wood debuted in the MLB, he was expected to have a tremendous career. In his fifth start as a big-leaguer, in 1998, he threw a one-hit, no-walk, 20-strikeout shout-out against the Astros. It's no great surprise that he was Rookie of the Year in 1998. And he was selected for the All-Star Game in 2003. But injuries have impeded his progress throughout his career.

Injuries caused the Cubs to move him from the starting line-up to the closing position. And he has had success in that role this year, with 23 saves in addition to his 4-2 record. His ERA is 2.89. He has struck out 54 and walked 12.

Pitcher Carlos Zambrano, jersey number 38, is a rare switch hitting pitcher who throws right. Don't let the nick-name fool you. You might think that a guy named the "Big Z" would be kind of a snore. No, the "Z" is for the zinging noise that the baseball makes as it whizzes past the batter into Geovany Soto's glove.

After some time off this season with a strained right shoulder, Zambrano came off the 15-day disabled list on the Fourth of July to pitch six innings of shut-out ball against the St. Louis Cardinals and then eight innings of one-hit ball against the Cincinnati Reds. The one hit in that game was a home run that Zambrano atoned for by retiring the last 20 guys he faced before leaving the game. Less than a week after his return from the DL, he is 2-0 with a 0.64 ERA. His season record is 10-3 with a 2.84 ERA and 78 strike-outs.

He is known as a demonstrative player, using exuberant body language and gestures to indicate his reaction to his performance. He is also known as one of the best batting pitchers in baseball, with a .235 career batting average, 13 home runs and 39 RBI's. Earlier this season, Zambrano went four-for-four in a game against the Pittsburgh Pirates, the first Cubs pitcher to do so since 1964.

Third baseman Aramis Ramirez, wearing number 16, hits and throws right. Ramirez has been selected as a reserve to the All-Star Game. Only the fourteenth player in MLB history to have hit three home runs in two different games, he got his one thousandth career hit in 2006 and his two hundredth career home run in 2007. He has had more than 100 RBI's four seasons in his career, with 112 in 2001, 106 in 2003, 104 in 2004, and 101 in 2007. Though he struggled as a fielder early in his career, he has made strides in improving both his range factor and his error total.

Ramirez made a tremendous contribution to the Cubs as they won the National League Central Division in 2007. In addition to his 101 RBI's, he batted .310 for the year, hitting 26 home runs. His record continues strong in 2008, batting .291 with 16 home runs and 63 RBI's less than a week before the All-Star Game. And, as if Cubs fans needed another reason to love him, he hit four home runs in a three-game series against the White Sox in the first leg of the City Series at Wrigley Field.

With players like this, it's no wonder that so many of them are on the All-Star Team this year. And it's no wonder that, once again, as so many times before, Chicago Cubs fans are thinking that this year may just be the year that they get back to the World Series. And it may even be the year, the first year in a century, that they win it.