Duplicate Initials: C.C.

Players with the initials "C.C." are not as prevalent as the previous B.B. but there are plenty of players that come to mind. First many of you might think of C.C. Sabathia but sorry I meant first and last initials.

There is Cecil Cooper, Carl Crawford and Coco Crisp. Lesser knowns, Clay Carroll, Chris Carpenter, Chien-Ming Chang, Carmelo Castillo and Casey Cox. I could have also been a homer and just used a Chicago Cubs team photo or even non-players with cards like Charles A Comisky or former President Calvin Coolidge.

No, instead I went with a "star" from the early seventies, billed a "the next Willie Mays" by Leo Durocher in 1972 (then the manage of the Houston Astros). A supreme talent who burst onto the big league circuit at the age of 19; a rocket of an arm, blazing speed, a solid glove and a bit of pop in his bat. Five time Gold Glove winner, four time all-star and had 20 HR's and 50 stolen bases three consecutive years (1972, 73, 74).

While he never lived up to that super-stardom label (nobody else has managed to do that either), Cesar Cedeno was a very good player; career numbers of 199 HR's, .285 BA and 550 SB. Mostly known for hs days in an Astros uniform (1970-81) but also played for the Cincinnati Reds (1982-85), St Louis Cardinals (1985) and finished his career with the Los Angeles Dodger (1986). Historian Bill James ranks Cedeno as the 21st best center-fielder of all time.

I found a quote from The Baseball Page written by Dan Holmes and Kirk Robinson that best summarizes Cedeno: " A talented player in the mold of Willie Mays, Cesar Cedeno never reached superstar status for many reasons, some beyond his control. The Dominican-born Cedeno was involved in a scandalous off-the-field episode that resulted in the death of his girlfriend; played much of his career for a team that rarely made headlines above the Oklahoma border; suffered from playing in the Astrodome, a stadium that cost him power numbers that may have gave him notoriety; and finally, injuries and attitude problems cost him playing time. Despite all of that, Cedeno had a very good career, winning five Gold Gloves and finishing among league leaders in steals, batting average, and doubles on many occasions. "

There you go . . . my entry for Duplicate Initials: C.C. . . . Cesar Cedeno . . .

The Last Game of 1969

George Henry Decker Jr (everyone called him Joe for reasons I do not know) played for the Chicago Cubs from 1969 thru 1972, the Minnesota Twins in '73 thru '76 and made it back to the big leagues in 1979 with Seattle. His career was unremarkable with a lifetime record of 36-44 appearing in 152 games. 1974 was "his year", going 16-14, pitching 248 innings, starting 37 games, completing 11 of them for the Twins.

A couple of unique items about Decker as a Chicago Cub.

In 1969, Decker appeared in just four games yet was the winner in game # 162, a 5-3 winner against the New york Mets in the final game of the year. Though the game had no meaning in the standing it was the only win for Decker that year giving him a 1 - 0 record for 1969 (along with Hank Acquire ad Jim Colborn). Decker did hit one career homerun, off Phil Niekro on May 1, 1970.

Decker also made history by being fined $ 100.00 by manager Leo Durocher in 1970 for an "x-rated" outburst. This fine was supposedly the only fine Durocher ever collected from a Chicago Cub - ever. Decker was an "angry" young man with considerable talent and Durocher did not deal with "young" very well.

Joe Decker passed away on March 2, 2003 but he will always be remembered by me for being the winning pitcher in the last game of the season in 1969.

The Cubs of 1963 - a "team"

My new friend, blogger and fellow Cub fan, Paul, Wrigley Wax has inspired me to look at my Chicago Cub team photo cards. I like these too and he has presented a very interesting “floating head” commentary. If you have not already, I encourage you to visit his blog.


First, the 1963 Cubs had a winning record, their first over .500 mark since 1946, fighting hard to an 82 – 80 record. The prior year, 1962, the Cubs managed only 59 wins – now that is a one year turn-around of 23 games and in today’s standards would still be remarkable. (Even though the Tampa Bay Rays improved by 31 games from 2007 to 2008 in the “year of the Rays”)

Second, attendance at Wrigley was the most since 1952 with over 979,551 entering the gates. Interesting to note is that the 1927 season was the first year over 1 million Cub fans attended and not until 1984 division championship year did they exceed 2 million, and just 20 years later in 2004 the Cubs hit that elusive 3 million attendance mark.

Ron Santo led the team in all the major offensive statistics; batting average, .297, RBI’s 99, hits 187 and tied for the team lead in HR’s with Billy Williams clubbing 25 a piece. Santo played in all 162 games that season (for the second straight year) and Williams only missed one game. Ernie Banks only played in 130 and had an injury plagued sub-par year.

As for pitching, Dick Ellsworth led the team with a 22-10 record, 290 innings pitched, 19 complete games and 185 strikeouts. All were career bests for Ellsworth.

And finally, 1963 was the first year that P.K. Wrigley had one “head coach”. Yes that is what he called Bob Kenendy, “head coach”. The three years prior, Wrigley instituted what he deemed a “group of coaches” and not being happy with the results. Wrigley’s thought was the owner was the “boss” and the manager was “just a worker” and a part of the puzzle. It was not until the hiring of Leo Durocher in 1966, who demanded to be called manager, that Wrigley agreed to use the term “manager”.

So, I salute the 1963 Cubs; Santo, Williams and Ellsworth and the entire team, certainly not the best but one of the most improved and worthy of mention, even though it was 46 years ago and I was only 3 years old.