On the 30th anniversary of the infamous 8/8/88 date, the first night game to be played ever at Wrigley Field, that ended up being rained out, let’s look at the Cubs this season and the Cubs 30 years ago on this date.  Here is Cubs current team status line and the last time we did this.

CHN Team Status

BAT	PITCH	Rs	Ra	W	L	UR	LR	TeamID
55.6	37.9	527	428	61	44	4.6	0.9	CHN	7/30/2018
58.6	39.7	565	460	66	47	5.0	1.7	CHN	8/8/2018

BAT flat, PITCH flat, UR up a little, and the Cubs went 5-3 gaining 2 games with a real WAA=+19.  The PE estimate based upon run differential is now around +21 so the Cubs are converging on expectation.  This usually averages out in the long run.  Here are the current top Cubs based on this data model.  Note: The below sort only uses CHN contributions.  Chavez and Kintzler will be listed below in the relief section.

Top Cubs

Rank	WAA	Name_TeamID	Pos
+007+	6.61	Javier_Baez_CHN	2B-SS-3B
+064+	2.71	Steve_Cishek_CHN	PITCH
+092+	2.18	Ben_Zobrist_CHN	2B-LF-RF
+101+	2.10	Anthony_Rizzo_CHN	1B
+103+	2.10	Jason_Heyward_CHN	RF-CF
+112+	2.04	Jon_Lester_CHN	PITCH
+129+	1.89	Brandon_Morrow_CHN	PITCH
+178+	1.49	Kyle_Schwarber_CHN	LF
+182+	1.47	Pedro_Strop_CHN	PITCH
XXXXX	1.22	Kris_Bryant_CHN	3B
XXXXX	1.18	Carl_Edwards_CHN	PITCH
XXXXX	1.03	Mike_Montgomery_CHN	PITCH

Baez still in top ten and sill at +007+.  He leads the race for NL MVP according to this data model but there are 7 more weeks left in this season.  Let’s look at how Cubs stack up with the rest of MLB with regards to lineup, starters, and relief.

CHN Tier Data

Type	Tier	Name_Teamid	WAA
Lineups	1	CHN	14.87
SP	3	Cole_Hamels_CHN	-0.80
SP	3	Kyle_Hendricks_CHN	0.13
SP	2	Jon_Lester_CHN	2.04
SP	3	Jose_Quintana_CHN	-0.02
SP	3	Mike_Montgomery_CHN	1.03
RP	2	CHN	6.89

Cole Hamels is now Tier 3 average and almost above water with his WAA.  Lester dropped to Tier 2 and everyone else in the rotation is average.  Relief at Tier 2 and lineup top of the league (based upon their last lineup).

CHN Relief

Rank	WAA	Name_TeamID	Pos
+064+	2.71	Steve_Cishek_CHN	PITCH
+164+	1.62	Jesse_Chavez_TOT	PITCH
+182+	1.47	Pedro_Strop_CHN	PITCH
XXXXX	1.18	Carl_Edwards_CHN	PITCH
XXXXX	0.90	Brandon_Kintzler_TOT	PITCH
XXXXX	0.82	Justin_Wilson_CHN	PITCH
-100-	-1.81	Tyler_Chatwood_CHN	PITCH
Total	6.89

Duensing on DL and Rosario must have been optioned off.  Our source for these rosters might not be totally up to date and the Cubs move players around a lot.

Blast from the Past 8/8/88

It was a shocking development to see lights in Wrigley Field that day.  The Cubs didn’t go to the playoffs again until 1989 however.  Let’s see how they were doing on this day 8/8/88.

CHN Team Status

BAT	PITCH	Rs	Ra	W	L	UR	LR	TeamID
-37.0	24.0	431	440	53	56	4.5	-0.4	CHN	8/8/1988

Bad BAT, good PITCHing and at 53-56 the Cubs were almost even steven for the season.

Top Cubs on 8/8/88

Rank	WAA	Name_TeamID	Pos
+037+	3.61	Greg_Maddux_CHN	PITCH
+110+	1.72	Andre_Dawson_CHN	RF
+130+	1.53	Al_Nipper_CHN	PITCH
+132+	1.53	Jamie_Moyer_CHN	PITCH
XXXXX	1.07	Pat_Perry_CHN	PITCH
XXXXX	0.50	Rich_Gossage_CHN	PITCH
XXXXX	0.46	Vance_Law_CHN	3B
XXXXX	0.34	Les_Lancaster_CHN	PITCH
XXXXX	0.29	Shawon_Dunston_CHN	SS

Only 4 guys in top 200.  Maddux pitching well ranked #37.  He finishes the year ranked #74.  This is his first above average season in his HOF career.  Maddux doesn’t explode as a superstar until 1992, his final season with the Cubs.

Update 8/9/2018:  Just realized there are a few notable players missing from the above list.  Since Cubs on 8/8/88 were slightly below average, not everyone can be valued as a superstar.  Even HOF players, like Ryne Sandberg, have off years and this was one of them.  On this day his full line looked like this.

Rank	WAA	BA	OBP	PA	RBI	R	Name_TeamID	Pos
XXXXX	-0.36	0.254	0.316	456	44	52	Ryne_Sandberg_CHN	2B	8/8/88
XXXXX	0.48	0.264	0.322	679	69	77	Ryne_Sandberg_CHN	2B	Full 1988

He’s only slightly below average on 8/8/88 and has a good August and September to finish the year above average.  Sandberg goes on a run for the next four years which propels him into the HOF.  Here’s another notable player left out.

Rank	WAA	IP	ERA	Gs	Gr	Name_TeamID	Pos
XXXXX	0.02	144.7	3.79	21	0	Rick_Sutcliffe_CHN	PITCH	8/8/88
XXXXX	-0.88	226.0	3.86	32	0	Rick_Sutcliffe_CHN	PITCH	Full 1988

Sutcliffe on the other hand was almost completely average on 8/8/88 and didn’t pitch well during August and September.  Here is how the Cubs ended that season.

BAT	PITCH	Rs	Ra	W	L	UR	LR	TeamID
-10.1	-30.0	660	694	77	85	-1.5	1.7	CHN	1988

Other than being the first year for lights at Wrigley 1988 was a highly forgettable season overall — much like many years to follow and many years preceding.  That is all for this update.  Usually good historical Cubs teams are highlighted here where we don’t run into this problem of leaving out star players.  End of Update 8/9/2018

Average teams are average because of their players and the above reflects that.  And to reminisce a little more, here are the top ten players at the end of the 1988 season.

Top MLB players 1988

Rank	WAA	Name_TeamID	Pos
+001+	10.56	Jose_Canseco_OAK	RF-DH
+002+	8.99	Kirby_Puckett_MIN	CF
+003+	8.97	Orel_Hershiser_LAN	PITCH
+004+	8.32	David_Cone_NYN	PITCH
+005+	8.21	Dave_Henderson_OAK	CF
+006+	7.92	Dwight_Evans_BOS	RF-1B
+007+	7.73	Dave_Winfield_NYA	RF
+008+	7.01	Will_Clark_SFN	1B
+009+	6.99	Darryl_Strawberry_NYN	RF
+010+	6.83	Mark_Gubicza_KCA	PITCH

Dodgers with Orel Hershiser win the World Series that year.  That is all for now.  Until then ….