Gabby and Cap: Real Hometown Heroes

Sammy Sosa thinks he should have been on the list of five players the Cubs submitted for the "Hometown Hero" contest that Major League Baseball is sponsoring. Let me make two comments. First, you have to wonder about any election where you are told to vote as many times as you want, whether it is run by MLB or the Chicago Board of Elections.

Second, while Sammy probably should have been on the list, two other omissions were worse: Cap Anson and Gabby Hartnett.

Cap Anson was the first player to get 3,000 hits. He is the Cubs all-time leader in singles, doubles, RBIs (243 ahead of Ernie), and batting average. He was the manager of what was then called the Chicago White Stockings for so long that when he left people called them the Orphans. If there was such a thing back then, he was Mr. White Stocking.

Just as bad was leaving off Gabby Hartnett. Hartnett was a team leader for four pennant winners from 1929 to 1938, managing the Cubs to the last one. I understand the Sandberg game. I watched it on TV with my 20-day old daughter.It was a great game, but it does not compare with Gabby’s "Homer in the Gloamin’". Before Ernie, Gabby Hartnett was Mr. Cub.

Cubs fans understand history. That is why Ernie and Billy and Ron and Fergie are still so popular. But we also understand Cubs history did not start in the 1960s or even 1953. Leaving Cap Anson and Gabby Hartnett off our Hometown Heroes list is an insult not just to these two great players, but also to all the Cubs fans who came before us.