The 2011 Cubs Naughty & Nice List

It's become a Christmas tradition here on Everything Cubs Blog... the yearly Cubs Naughty & Nice List! Let's find out who's been good and who has not this year!

Nice

• The Golden Era Committee- for finally putting Ron Santo into the Hall of Fame
• The Santo Family- for handling the honor the right way even though it came too late
• Starlin Castro- for providing hope for the future for the Chicago Cubs
• Matt Garza- for stepping up as the ace of the Cubs pitching staff
• Sean Marshall- for being valuable enough to net the Cubs three solid players
• Tom Ricketts- for making major changes in the front office
• Theo Epstein- for starting a major rebuilding phase
• Brett Jackson- for being the Cubs top prospect
• Jed Hoyer- for joining forces with Theo in Chicago
• Jim Hendry- for handling his departure with class
  
• Bill Buckner- for returning to the organization as a minor league coach
• Reed Johnson- for continuing to play the game hard each and every day
• Jeff Samardzija- for embracing his role as a reliever and putting together a strong year
• Bryan LaHair- MVP minor league season, joined the Cubs in September
• Darwin Barney- for winning the second base job and playing well for most of the season
• James Russell- for the strides he made as a relief pitcher this season
  

Naughty

• The National Baseball Hall of Fame Voters- for keeping Ron Santo out during his lifetime
• Jim Hendry- for his failure to reach a World Series during his time on the North Side
• Mike Quade- for the poor decisions that he made in his only season as Cubs skipper
• Carlos Zambrano- can you get more naughty than Big Z?
• Casey Coleman- for his ERA, which was over 6
• Carlos Marmol- for blowing too many saves in 2011
• Tyler Colvin- for a disappointing final season in Chicago
• Kosuke- for being overpaid throughout his tenure on the North Side
• Alfonso Soriano- for being nearly untradeable
• Geovany Soto- batting average saw a dip, throwing errors increased
• The minor league system- for not being able to provide quality players when the Cubs needed them this season

Click here for past Naught & Nice Lists: 2010, 2009, 2008

Have a Merry Christmas Cubs fans!

Cubs Naughty and Nice List 2010

It is Christmas Eve!!! At Everything Cubs blog, that means it is time for a post that has become a staple here during the holiday season, the Cubs Naughty and Nice List! Click here for the list from last year. Let us dig in...

Nice

• Ron Santo- for being the world's biggest Cubs fan. Nobody deserves to be on the nice list more than Ronnie. Just a flat out nice guy.
• Kerry Wood- for taking a huge hometown discount to come back to the Cubs.
• Jim Hendry- for bringing Kerry back.
• Tyler Colvin- for earning a spot in the outfield with his hot bat during the season.
• WGN Radio- for the way they did a great job honoring Ron and for bringing back a weeknight sports show, which debuted last night!
• Pat Hughes- for his well deserved five year extension.
• Ryne Sandberg- for coming to Santo's funeral even though he is no longer a member of the organization.
• Mike Quade- for doing such a great job once he took over for Lou Piniella.
• Starlin Castro- for putting up a great batting average throughout his rookie season.
• Marlon Byrd- for his "gamer" mentality and the 100% effort that he brings each day. Plus, he represented the Cubs in the All Star game with a spectacular catch.
• Carlos Silva- for a solid first half, which was more than enough to make the Milton Bradley trade worth while.
• Derrek Lee- for being a fan favorite for years in Chicago.
• Ryan Dempster- for being a leader and a great guy.
• Carlos Marmol- for all those Ks.
• Oneri Fleita- for the progress the farm system has made this season.
• Chris Archer- for his fantastic season on the farm.
• Andre Dawson- for being patient and finally earning a spot in Cooperstown.
• The BBWAA Voters- for finally getting it right and putting the Hawk into the Hall.

Naughty

• Jim Hendry- for paying Carlos Pena $10 million.
• Rudy Jaramillo- for his failure to improve the Cubs offense, even though it is probably not his fault.
• Larry Rothschild- for leaving the Cubs for the Yankees.
• The Veterans Committee- for failing to elect Ron Santo to the Hall of Fame while he was alive.
• The Hall of Fame- for forcing Dawson to wear an Expos' cap against his wishes.
• Randy Wells- for his sophomore slump on the hill.
• John Grabow- for being injured or ineffective all season.
• Aramis Ramirez- for his .241 batting average.
• Ryan Theriot- for saying that he is finally on the right side of the Cubs/Cards rivalry.
• Jeff Samardzija- for his 8.38 ERA in seven games.
• Carlos Zambrano- for his temper tantrum at U.S. Cellular Field.

Once again, have a happy holidays! Go Cubs Go!

Cubs Naughty and Nice List 2009

Merry Christmas Cubs fans! Before we take a break from baseball, it's time for this year's Cubs Naughty and Nice List. Click here for the 2008 list.

Nice

• Jim Hendry- for working out a trade for Milton Bradley
• Randy Wells- for coming out of no where to have a great rookie season
• Aramis Ramirez- for getting through his injury and still leading the team in batting average at .317
• Derrek Lee- for being one of the few Cub players to have a great year
• Ryan Theriot- for playing in 154 out of 162 games
• Carlos Marmol- for doing great once he took over for Kevin Gregg as Cubs closer
• Pat & Ron- for another great season of Cubs baseball on WGN Radio
• Len Kasper and Bob Brenly- for telling it like it is in the Cub TV booth
• Ryan Dempster- for putting an OK year together despite his off the field issues
• Kerry Wood- for blowing two saves when he returned to Chicago as an Indian
• Bruce Miles, Carrie Muskat, Paul Sullivan, Gordan Wittenmyer, and all the other media members- for dealing with Milton Bradley on a daily basis
• Jake Fox- for coming up and sparking the Cubs offense, which earned him his ticket to Oakland:(
• Starlin Castro- for giving us hope for the future
• Jeff Baker- for being versatile infielder that can swing the bat once he came over from the Rockies
• Sam Fuld- for being another guy who provides a spark whenever the Cubs call him up
• Bobby Scales- for making it to the bigs after all that time in the minors
• Koyie Hill- for returning to baseball after his horrific accident several years back. Great year for Hill.
• Ryne Sandberg- for being patient in the minor leagues
• Ted Lilly- for representing the Cubs in the All-Star Game
• All the loyal Cub fans- for being patient and waiting until next year

Naughty

• Jim Hendry- for signing Milton Bradley in the first place, and having a horrible offseason last year
• Milton Bradley- for... well I think you know
• Alfonso Soriano- for struggling all season
• Mike Fontenot- for not producing like he did in '08 once he earned the starting job
• Geovany Soto- for reporting to camp out of shape, smoking pot in the WBC, and for stinking most of the season
• Lou Piniella- for lacking the fire we want to see from him
• Kosuke- for not being worth the money the Cubs are paying him even though he had an OK season
• Gerald Perry & Von Joshua- for the lack of Cub hitting in 2009
• Aaron Miles- for hitting .185 in 74 games with the Cubs
• Kevin Gregg- for blowing 7 saves and having a 4.72 ERA
• Chad Fox- For having a 135.00 ERA. No that is no a type-o. 135.00!
• Neal Cotts- for going 0-2 with an ERA over 7 before being sent down to the minors and then placed on the DL
• Mike Wuertz- for finally doing good once the Cubs dump him
• Rich Harden- for his injuries and inconsistency
• Jeff Samardzija- for going 1-3 with a 7.53 ERA
• Reed Johnson- for being injured so much that the Cubs might not re-sign him (I hope to see ya back Reed!)
• The National Baseball Hall of Fame- they'll be on this list every year until the Hawk and Ronny are in

Click to check out my Cubs product reviews for the holidays!

My posting will not return until Saturday (December 26) unless some big news breaks.

Thank you so much for reading, and once again have happy holidays!

Cubs 2008 Naughty and Nice List

Well, tomorrow's Christmas Eve and it's time to put together our 2008 Cubs Naugty and Nice lists. Here's what I got:

Nice:
Ryan Dempster- for leading the team in wins
Jim Hendry- for adding Reed Johnson, Jim Edmounds and Rich Harden
Sweet Lou- for winning manager of the year
Geo- for winning Rookie of the Year and for having a great year
Mark DeRosa- for having the only Cubs playoff HR and for dealing with the trade rumors for 2 year in a row
Mike Fontenot- for being the most underrated guy on the Cubs.
Carlos Zambrano- for tossing a no-no
Jeff Samarjiza- for having a great first few months in the Bigs
Pat Hughes- for being such a great play-by-play man
All the Cubs fans who are still loyal despite the lack of winning
Henry Blanco- for accepting his role even thought he got little playing time
Sam Fuld- for signing lots of autographs in Spring Training
Jason Marquis- for no good reason
Ted Lilly- for being the best 4th starter in the game of baseball
Carlos Marmol- for being a great set up man
Adam Dunn- for wanting to be a Cub

Naughty:
Jim Hendry- for letting Kerry Wood go
Derrek Lee- for grounding into so many double plays
Alfonso Soriano- for choking in October
Aramis Ramirez- for choking in October
Matt Sinatro- for getting lost when he drove to Cincinnati with Lou
Kosuke- for falling apart after the first 2 months of the year.
Joey Gathright- for jumping of cars
Felix Pie- for never proving himself
MLB Veterans Committee- for leaving Ronny out, again
-The Cubs fans that say they won't follow the team as closely any more because of the sweep to end the season.
Rich Hill- for have a "lost" season
Ronny Cedeno- for taking up Matt Murton's spot on the 2008 Cubs roster
Micah Hoffpauir- for waiting his turn
Bob Brenly- for not getting that managers job
Raul Ibanez- for signing with the Phills
Dave Otto- for being boring when ever he fills in for Ron Santo
MLB Network- for stealing Dan Plesac and his train
TBS- for giving the Cubs bad luck in the playoffs

Well what do you think? Leave a comment!

Trivia Answer: Reed Johnson did gymnastics as a child.

The Next 2 Days Comcast Sports Net will be reliving the Cubs and White Sox 2008 seasons. Here's the schedule:
Christmas Eve:
7:00 PM CT- CSN Rewind: 2008 Chicago White Sox
Christmas Day-
10:00 AM- Repeat CSN Rewind: 2008 Chicago White Sox
Noon- Sox Classic; Cle @ CWS Sept. 28, 2008
2:30 PM- Cubs Classic; Mil @ Cubs Sept. 18, 2008
7:00 PM- CSN Rewind; 2008 Chicago Cubs

Check out the holiday episode of Cubscast from yesterday.

And listen to "Harry Caray" visiting with Steve Cochran of WGN Radio on Christmas Eve 2004.

Well, I'm going to take a break the next few days to enjoy Christmas. I'll be back with an update on the Cubs on Friday.
Everyone, have a very Merry Christmas.
☺ Brandon