In this series' Day 2 article there was quite a bit of speculation about who I'd choose for the last day of the Cubs' spring-training reporting date countdown.
Here's the complete list of Cubs who have worn No. 1:
Woody English (1932-36), Charlie Grimm (manager, 1937-38), Jimmy Wilson (manager, 1941-42), Bill Serena (1954), Jim Fanning (1955-57), Richie Ashburn (1960-61), Mel Wright (coach, 1971), Jose Cardenal (1972-77), Cookie Rojas (coach, 1978-81), Larry Bowa (1982-85), Dave Martinez (1986-88, 2000), Rick Wrona (1988-90), Doug Strange (1991-92), Tommy Shields (1993), Doug Glanville (1996-97), Lance Johnson (1997-99), Augie Ojeda (2001-03), Kenny Lofton (2003), Jose Macias (2004-2005), Tony Womack (2006), Kosuke Fukudome (2008-11), Tony Campana (2012), Cody Ransom (2013), Gary Jones (coach, 2014)
Not too many players overall and for a decade in the 1960s, no one at all. There haven't been many good No. 1 players. The best is probably Richie Ashburn, now a Hall of Famer, though not for his two years in a Cubs uniform. Ashburn did draw 116 walks in 1960. That's third-most for a season in Cubs history (tied by Sammy Sosa in 2001). Lance Johnson did pretty well for the 1998 wild-card team, as did Kenny Lofton for the 2003 N.L. Central champs. Doug Glanville and Kosuke Fukudome had their moments. I could have picked Dave Martinez, who wore this number in two different stints for the Cubs separated by a dozen years, but he'll be wearing No. 4 this year as bench coach, so I decided to go in another direction, and that direction is...
... Augie Ojeda, who the Cubs acquired before the 2000 season in a deal for a minor-leaguer named Richard Negrette.
Augie is listed on his baseball-reference page at five feet, nine inches.
I admit I've never personally measured him. But that just can't be right. I'd say 5-5 is closer to reality. Honestly, Augie seems like the unlikeliest of players to have had a nine-year big-league career and have contributed to postseason clubs (2003 Cubs, 2007 Diamondbacks). He was a pretty good defensive player and could draw some walks (career .320 OBP with a .243 BA). He hit seven career home runs in 1,062 at-bats, which should surprise you. He never seemed to have anything resembling power.
He put together 3.3 career bWAR, which is pretty good for a 13th-round draft pick.
One Augie game I will always remember is this one, the first game of a doubleheader against the Cardinals September 2, 2003. The Cubs were still fighting for the division title and this doubleheader included a makeup game from a rainout in May. Augie had come into a tie game in the top of the 12th inning in a double-switch and in the bottom of the 12th hit a ball that missed being a walkoff homer by about three feet.
Can you imagine the scene if Augie Ojeda had hit a walkoff against the Cardinals?
Three innings later, he led off the 15th with a single and after a flyout, Sammy ended that game with a walkoff homer.
Augie was a fun player to watch and had a better career than anyone might have predicted. Hope you've enjoyed this countdown and tomorrow... spring training begins!