NEWSLETTER
Let’s just have a moment to explore something interesting, shall we?
The Cubs do not have captains, and you know this because we often think about Anthony Rizzo as the captain … but without the ‘C.’ Theo Epstein has been asked about making it happen for Rizzo, but he expressed reluctance to do it: “We don’t have to put a C on anyone’s chest to know who our leaders are.” Fair enough.
But did you know it wasn’t always the case that the Cubs didn’t have captains? Even in relatively recent times? I knew there was a brief period of captains about 20 years ago, but I’ll admit, I didn’t know the full story, nor did I realize there were six of them at one time until I stumbled on this three-year-old tweet:
6 Cubs wore captain's C in 2000, '01 (clockwise from top left): Sammy Sosa, Mark Grace, Kevin Tapani, Rick Aguilera, Eric Young, Joe Girardi pic.twitter.com/BZyQG2LFCL
— Paul Lukas (@UniWatch) May 22, 2017
In turn, that sent me down a rabbit hole to find the origin story of the six captains in 2000, and I found the UniWatch article that generated his tweet. It turns out that the story of the Cubs having those six C’s is actually part of a MUCH more interesting story.
Although baseball has had its captains through the years like any other sport, having a ‘C’ on your chest, so to speak, is incredibly rare. As of the UniWatch article in 2017, and per Paul Lukas’s research, there have been just 13 players to have worn the ‘C’. Total. That’s it.
The first instance came back in 1983, when Cincinnati Red Dave Concepcion got the honor, which was so novel that it required explaining:
1983 Reds yearbook page announcing/explaining Dave Concepcion's captaincy "C." Larger version here: https://t.co/koG6AdSDk0 pic.twitter.com/9sRpgRFbXf
— Paul Lukas (@UniWatch) May 22, 2017
From there, only 12 other players got the physical ‘C’ on their uniforms, and HALF of them were Chicago Cubs in 2000 and 2001 under then-manager Don Baylor. Sammy Sosa wore it both years, as did Kevin Tapani. Mark Grace and Rick Aguilera also got the ‘C’ in 2000, with Eric Young and Joe Girardi getting it in 2001. Four captains each year, six total over the two years. Baylor apparently felt it was important to not only bring back the captaincy (I believe the Cubs had not had a captain since Ron Santo), but also to put the physical letter on the uniform. Interestingly, he must not have thought it was important for his third year managing the team in 2002 (which lasted only half a season … ).
So, then, Don Baylor and the Cubs are single-handedly responsible for nearly half the ‘C’s in baseball history. In a way, then, it wouldn’t be surprising to see the Cubs – with Anthony Rizzo – be the club to bring it back.
I say “bring it back” because no one in baseball has worn the ‘C’ in nearly a decade. It feels like something from a brief era gone by.
Which, by the way, brings me back to Theo Epstein.
Of those 13 players who have worn the ‘C,’ it turns out that the last one of them got the honor from none other than Epstein, himself. It was catcher Jason Varitek back in 2005, as presented by a goateed Epstein:
