It’s often said that the Cardinal/Cub rivalry is a friendly one. That’s only true because so many friendships and relationships have fans of either side, so naturally it’s friendly for them. For fans who don’t know each other, the rivalry is just as nasty as any other—go to a Cards/Cubs games in either city and you’ll see several incidents. If they ever played each other in the NLCS, more than likely the fans who know each other would no longer get along either. This week saw another turn in the rivalry, as Jim Edmonds signed with the Cubs to the chagrin of both teams’ fans. It’s not too often that players switch from one team to another, especially ones of Edmonds’ stature. This week’s Top 7 looks at those who have.
Tie for 7th place
There are several guys worth mentioning so we’ll have to make this spot a tie. Shawon Dunston is a guy who has withstood the test of time—people still today talk about the Shawon-O-Meter, his ungodly arm, his uncanny ability to refuse walks, and his borderline insane intensity. Jeff Fassero and Jason Marquis deserve mention because they are two rare guys who can actually bond Cardinal and Cub fans because both fanbases despised them. Todd Wellemeyer has pitched well for the Cardinals, which pisses Cub fans off to no end because his ERA for them was around 600. Hopefully, Matt Clement can continue that trend for Cards fans if he ever pitches again. Still other guys, like Delino DeShields and John Mabry, are just kind of there, and it’s easy to forget that they played for both teams.
6. Gary Gaetti
Gaetti had a great year for the Cards in 1996, their first division title in nine years. He moved over to the Cubs in 1998 and helped them down the stretch in their wild card run, hitting somewhere around .780 in his first couple of weeks. Hailing from Centralia, Illinois, he is also the subject of a southern Illinois legend—he apparently hit a home run in high school at Mt. Vernon that hit a warehouse across the street from the school some 550-600 feet from home plate. Anyone that ever played in Mt. Vernon in high school surely heard the story.
5. Todd Zeile
Zeile was a highly touted prospect with the Cardinals who made Mike Piazza look like Pudge Rodriguez defensively. He then switched to the infield, was never too good there either, and it caused the Cardinals to make a rare trade with the Cubs, getting Mike Morgan, Francisco Morales, and Paul Torres.
4. Dennis Eckersley
Unfortunately for fans of both teams, they did not get the Eckersley that had hundreds of saves and could not be touched for years. They got either a starting pitching Eck, or an Eck that was beyond frustrating. The mustache was consistent throughout both tenures though, so that’s a positive.
3. Lee Smith
Besides getting his name randomly mentioned by Harry Caray in the “what’s the score?” part of Ferris Bueller’s Day Off, Smith also played for both the Cardinals and the Cubs. Speaking of Harry, it should be mentioned that he was a Cardinal announcer longer than he was for the Cubs. If this list were simply crossover personnel, you could make an argument for Harry to be #1 on the list.
2. Jim Edmonds
It’s just hard to imagine this one working out. Edmonds, who is personally responsible for some of the greatest Cardinal moments of the last twenty years, is absolutely despised by Cub fans, mainly because he used to consistently destroy them and annoy Carlos Zambrano to no end. Seeing Jimmy in a Cub uniform for Cards fans was the strangest sight since seeing Mark McGwire with the birds on the bat for the first time.
1. Lou Brock
What, were you were expecting Ernie Broglio in this spot? By the way, I’m sure that I forgot someone. Apologies in advance.
Jason Major writes the Top 7 for Inside STL. E-mail him at jason.major@yahoo.com.