Cubs Trivia

Which dubious single-game NL record did Glenn Beckert set in 1972?
Good luck with that one....
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A wild stab--and I swear I haven't looked it up:

Most double-plays hit into in a single game. (As I recall, Beckert was awfully slow-footed for a middle infielder.) Four DPs? Five?

Record for # of guys left on base (12)?


Most naked backflips performed while waiting to catch a popup?

i'm going with most errors in a game. i'll guess 6

either chris looked it up or we have a serious trivia buff amongst us...

the game in question...
Beckert 0 for 6 in a 18-5 win over the Mets

1st: Beckert FO8 with bases loaded
3rd: Beckert FO2 with runners on 2nd/3rd
Beckert FO9 with runners on 2nd/3rd
5th: Beckert FO8 with man on 2nd
7th: Beckert FO5 with man on 3rd
Beckert FC5-4 with bases loaded

pure Cubbery...

Most GIDP?

Ahh - he did have the misfortune of coming up with two-out I guess.

Does that mean in the 3rd and 7th, he came to the plate twice?

And left 4 on, over 2 ABs, in each of those innings?


Not pure Cubbery, as the Cubs won 18-5!

The search for the record that best personifies Cubbery continues....

So -Chris "guessed" the exact number?

Maybe he was AT the game?

He crapped his pants...twice.

Sorry I'm a couple days late and probably a dollar short on this one, I didn't read all the comments, but as for the Paul Byrd HGH timing, Dr. Hecht, YES, at least according to XM radio, Sen. Mitchell absolutely happens to be a part owner of....

you guessed it, the Boston Red Sox.

And if somebody else already posted all this, forgive me, I don't get to check in here as often as I'd like.

And one more thing, Az Phil rocks!! (I remember looking forward to his words before he became a "staffer")

What's with the Beckert hate? I loved the way Beckert played when I was growing up - the guy was a marginal player who worked hard at becoming a decent 2B, and he broke up a lot of DP during his playing days. You could do a lot worse than to use him as a prime example of "Cubbery."

You want to talk about terrible Cub infielders? Hey, let's talk about the immortal Steve Ontiveros, or the mighty Mick Kelleher. Beckert doesn't deserve to be on that list.

You'll notice that at no time did I use the words "grit," "hustle," "grinder," or "Eckstein - like" in the above description.

Tony S.:
"Sen. Mitchell absolutely happens to be a part owner of….

you guessed it, the Boston Red Sox."

Mitchell is not a part owner of the Red Sox, he is a "Director" for the team. But it was a little interesting how the news conveniently came out when the Indians were up 3-2 in the series.

By Cub standards, or even by any standard, Ontiveros was not "terrible." He hit .299 in 1977 and .285 in 1979, with more than 500 at bats both years. Sure, he did not drive in a lot of runs, but he was not "terrible."

This may be a bit too easy.

But since his name came up, how does Steve "I like dirt" Ontiveros figure into the 10/22 trivia question?


Cubs traded Bill Madlock (10/22 trivia answer) for Ontiveros and Murcer I believe in 1977. Murcer was acquired to replace the power lost when the Cubs traded Rick Monday earlier that offseason (which he largely did).

You could do a lot worse than to use him as a prime example of “Cubbery.”

Just to clarify, Dmac - "Cubbery" is loosely defined as the ability to come up monumentally short, resulting in a loss. It's not anti-Beckert per se. Just a consideration as to whether his record-setting game belongs in the A-Gonz/Brant Brown/Leon Durham pantheon.

Since the Cubs won, there is a good argument that his feat was not an example of Cubbery.

"By Cub standards, or even by any standard, Ontiveros was not “terrible."

By defensive 3B standards, he was nothing short of abysmal. You conveniently forgot that little segment on player evaluation.

Brick - thanks for the translation. I had assumed it meant complete sucktitude (which I think it still does).

well that didnt take long.

Indeed. Madlock and Rob Sperring for Ontiveros, Murcer and Andy(?) Muhlstock(?)

I remember as part of his warm up ritual Ontiveros used to grab a handfull of dirt out of the batters box and rub it all over his uniform before each at bat.
The more tense the situation, the more dirt he would grab.
He did the same thing after each wiff.

By the end of the game he always looked like "pig pen" from charlie brown.

I think he is most remembered for his vividly odd appearance on the old 'hair club' commercials.

My nominees for terrible Cub infielders (limiting myself to my lifetime of memories)...

Bump Wills (notable because he blocked Sandberg from 2B for a good chunk of Ryno's rookie year...Lee Elia's Neifi)

Luis Salazar (old and bad...Don Zimmer's bad he made me think that Steve Buechele at 3B was an "upgrade")

Jeff Blauser, on "terrible" list because of expectations. He's Exhibit A in "Why We Should Not Trade for Renteria" this offseason...Renteria's the same age Blauser was when he became a Cub. Blauser in year before he was a Cub: .308/.405/.482, only his second season hitting over .300. Renteria: .332/.390/.470, only his third season hitting above .300.

I remember those hair club for men commercials, champ. They were disturbing, in a Dorian Gray zeitgeist way.

Ontiveros is now a hitting coach in the independent Golden League. His official bio says: "He was well-known for his frequent testimonial advertisements for a scalp treatment involving a revolutionary hair re-sodding technique."

“Cubbery” is loosely defined as the ability to come up monumentally short, resulting in a loss."

Sounds like former Cub Bill Buckner!

More interesting tid bits...

• Buckner was wearing a Chicago Cubs batting glove underneath his fielding mitt when he committed the infamous Game 6 error.

Bet you didn't know that!

woah there...

I was just pointing out that Glenn Beckert had a really, really bad day at the plate. I guess we can argue if it was a true Cubbery moment or not but nothing against the guy's career.

fluff piece on Pawelek with a classic Nuke LaLoosh line..

"We basically came up with the idea that I have to stop thinking," he said. "Just get up on the mound and have some fun like I used to.

I'd forgotten all about those hair club commercials - but I distinctly remember him playing almost any hard - hit ball off his left shoulder, then stumbling after it as it rolled into LF. The guy was just brutal out there, Ron Cey with less range (if you can believe that).

If I "conveniently forgot" about that "little segment" about Onti, his defense, then I guess you "conveniently forgot" that Onti was not a "terrible" hitter by any reasonable standard.

Look, I was just trying to say that, overall, by any reasonable standard, the guy was not terrible. When you made your comment, I did not see that you were limiting your appraisal to the guy's fielding skills.

Taking it all into consideration, I don't think Onti was a "terrible" infielder. And as far as his defense goes, I don't think he was all that bad, certainly not by Cubs' standards, which is what I thought you were talking about. For example, his fielding percentage in 1977 and 1979 was about the same as Bill Madlock's fielding percentage. No, I am not saying Madlock was gold glove. Again, I am just saying that, by any reasonable standard, Onti should not be on the list of terrible Cub infielders.

Madlock played third like he wished he was batting.

In his three years with the Cubs he was 39 runs below average, according to BP (and my Dad).

Ontiveros in his four years with the Cubs was 30 runs above average (my dad never gave an opinion on that, but I can get one if you want).

Conclusion: If you think Madlock was a good fielder, you're experiencing bleedover effect. You're qualified to vote on the Gold Glove award, but as a GM you would make Ed Lynch look like Branch Rickey/

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