How does Crow-Armstrong compare to Cubs’ greatest center fielders?
You can only hope to contain Cubs center fielder Pete Crow-Armstrong, at least through the first 35 games of this season.
Through Sunday, he was batting .272 with 9 homers and 26 RBI while playing Gold Glove defense in his second full MLB season. Not a bad return the Cubs got for Javier Baez at the 2021 trade deadline.
Which begs the question … how good is Crow-Armstrong compared to the Cubs’ great center fielders of the past?
This week’s High Five takes a closer look at the top center fielders in franchise history, not including 19th century guys like Jimmy Ryan and Bill Lange.
5. Lou Brock
Brock gets in on a loophole because while only 115 of his 2,600 games were played in center field, 111 were with the Cubs from 1961 to 1964.
Brock’s tenure in Chicago was brief (we won’t regurgitate one of the worst trades in baseball history), but he went on to enjoy a Hall-of-Fame career with the St. Louis Cardinals as the top base stealer in MLB history until Ricky Henderson came along.
4. Dexter Fowler
Fowler makes the list over 1980s center fielder Bob Dernier for one reason: the 2016 World Series victory.
Fowler, who led off Game 7 of the World Series against Cleveland with a home run, played two beloved seasons in Chicago as part of a 14-year career.
He hit a combined 30 home runs with 94 RBI from the lead-off spot, and stole 33 bases. He was an All-Star in 2016.
3. Rick Monday
Best known for rescuing an American flag from being burned on the field while playing at Dodger Stadium in 1976, Monday was a terrific center fielder for the Cubs from 1972 to 1976.
Monday actually received MVP votes in 1976 when he batted .272 with 32 homers and 77 RBI. In five seasons with the Cubs, he hit 106 homers with 293 RBI.
2. Andy Pafko
“Handy Andy” was a four-time All-Star who finished fourth in the 1945 MVP voting while helping the Cubs to a World Series appearance — their last until 2016.
Twice Pafko drove in more than 100 runs and three times he batted over .300. Over nine seasons with the Cubs, he hit .294 with 126 home runs and 584 RBI.
1. Hack Wilson
Wilson was a brute for the Cubs from 1926 to 1931.
Best known for driving in a MLB record 191 runs in 1930, Wilson led the league in home runs four times. He won the MVP in 1930 — batting .356 with 56 homers and a 1.177 OPS — and four times finished in the top 10.
In six seasons with the Cubs, Wilson belted 190 home runs with 769 RBI while hitting .322. He carried the Cubs into the 1929 World Series, where the Philadelphia Athletics won in five games despite Wilson batting .471 with 4 walks.