Cubs Players Project Round Up: Frank The Tank, Goose Gossage, and The Only Cub Who Could Hit Aroldis Chapman

[Brandon Glick]

As January comes to an end, it's time to take a look at what's new on the Chicago Cubs Players Project here on North Side Baseball!

Image courtesy of © Eric Hartline-Imagn Images

What is the Players Project? It's a community-driven, wiki-style project focusing on Cubs players of all stripes. It's open to all North Side Baseball users, and we've had contributions from current players, past players, and players who never even made the major leagues but played in the Cubs’ farm system. Create your favorite player today!

Welcome back, everyone! We've seen some really fun players added to our in-house Cubs database this month, so I wanted to highlight some of the most fascinating entries. As a reminder, any user here on the site can hop in right away and add their favorite player to the system. Perhaps your next entry will be featured in a future round-up!

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Frank "The Tank" Schwindel was often the only source of Cubs joy following the trade deadline fire sale in 2021. In August of that season, Frank Schwindel slashed .344/.394/.635 (171 wRC+) with six home runs, winning NL Rookie of the Month honors (as a 29-year-old). Then, in September, he slashed .344/.388/.600 (162 wRC+) with seven home runs and won Rookie of the Month honors again! While he certainly wasn't the long-term Anthony Rizzo replacement — that title now belongs to Michael Busch — his contagious smile, camaraderie with fans, and bewildering success made Schwindel one of the most memorable Cubs of the post-2016 era, even if his 15 minutes of fame went as fast as they came.

 

 

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Rich "Goose" Gossage is one of the best relief pitchers of all time and one of the closers who pioneered the modern understanding of that position in the bullpen, but his one nondescript season with the Cubs was noteworthy only because of the fact that it was one of his few non-noteworthy seasons. 36 years old at the time of his arrival in Chicago, Gossage's best days were well behind him, and he tallied just 13 saves against nine blown saves while in a Cubs uniform. Fun fact: Gossage posted a positive WAR with seven of the teams he played for, and a negative WAR for just one. You don't need to think very hard to figure out which unlucky team was the latter.

 

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Whether you're a longtime Cubs fan or you only just started following the team this winter, we can all collectively bond over the fact that none of us should remember that Taylor Teagarden played for the franchise. His time with the team was relatively unremarkable, as he slashed a hilarious .200/.200/.200 in 15 at-bats with the Cubs in 2015, which was good a -0.2 WAR and 11 OPS+ (2 wRC+).

However, at a game yours truly was in attendance for, Teagarden — who was pinch-hitting for the pitcher's spot after a double-switch swapped out Chris Denorfia earlier in the game — hit a game-winning single off of prime Aroldis Chapman on July 22, 2015. Chapman was on a run of 13 consecutive scoreless outings at that point, and beyond that, no Cubs team had scored a run off Chapman in more than two years, since May 3, 2013 (and they lost that game anyway despite scoring three runs off Chapman). That had been a run of 15 consecutive scoreless outings for Chapman against the Cubs, until Teagarden's hit.

 

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Of course, other entries, like those for Ted Lilly and Ian Stewart, continue filling up our database. The Chicago Cubs Players Project is open to all North Side Baseball users. If you're a Cubs history buff or just want to dive into the background of your favorite player, come on board!

Please stop by the Players Project by hitting the button below!

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