For many of the ‘Me Generation‘ the first face of the Chicago Cubs was Ryne Sandberg, then it was Sammy Sosa and for a majority of the last 10 years it was Kerry Wood. Bruce Miles wrote a detailed article on Ryan Dempster being “the total package” and made arguments for Dempster being the new face of the franchise.
Miles rightfully stated that Carlos Zambrano “has seniority, but he’s had his ups and downs with teammates, managers, the media and fans.” The argument against Zambrano being the ‘the top Cub‘ is justified, but Big Z has received the loudest ovation during player introductions at the Cubs Convention for the last three years.
So who is the face of the Chicago National League Ball Club? Bruce Miles pointed out “Derrek Lee is a quiet leader” and did not mention Alfonso Soriano. Miles listed all of Ryan Dempster’s accomplishments and what he has done for the community.
Jim Hendry spoke highly of Dempster throughout the off-season. Not only did the Cubs GM talk of his clubhouse leadership, he mentioned on several occasions receiving phone calls from Dempster asking if he needed any help with recruiting other players.
XM Radio discussed a similar topic earlier in the week and asked their listeners which player they considered the face of their team. The answers all varied and some were quite entertaining.
So with Kerry Wood now donning a different ‘C’ on his cap and the fact ‘The Big Three‘ are not visibly vocal leaders, is Bruce Miles right? Is Ryan Dempster the new face of the Chicago Cubs?
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