Monday Name That Cub

It’s too easy when you use pictures from baseball cards! I’ve got every Topps base and traded cards of any Cub from 1951 to 2008. I can spot the pictures pretty easily and will now excuse myself from any future posts with baseball card photos….

And Broberg was a lousy 1-2 with a 4.75 ERA in 1977.

I may not have spelled it right though

…. Broberg was one those coulda woulda shoulda guys that came in a clump in the 70’s. Essentially straight from school (college in his case) and supposed to be a good to great starter and just never panned out. Two other guys from that era who come to mind who flamed out even much faster than Broberg were Larry Monroe from Forest View High School in Arlington Heights (I went there when he did), who was drafted by Veeck and the Sox and David Clyde from Texas. Both appeared in the majors right after being drafted and never did much of anything after that. Monroe has fashioned a nice career as a Sox exec since then though.

…from that old show Simon and Simon. Gerald McRaney.

1. Was drafted by the Oakland A’s in 1968 and offered a $175,000 signing bonus (big at the time). He turned it down and returned to college, mainly to avoid being drafted into the Vietnam War.
2. Three years later, he was drafted by the Senators and signed only with the stipulation that he’d never have to pitch in the minors.
3. The Dodgers signed him as a free agent after a decent year with the depleted A’s, but when they told him he’d start the season in Triple-A, he asked for his release and went back to law school, essentially retiring.
4. He came out of “retirement” in 1989 and played in the short lived “Senior League” (remember that?).

I have a friend who swore Broberg was going to be huge for the Cubs after he had a great spring for them the season he was in Chicago. My friend still refers to guys that have huge springs and then suck during the season as “pulling a Pete Broberg”.