Cubs to retire No. 31 in honor of Maddux, Jenkins

Why wasn't Jenkins' #31 already retired? Greg Maddux or no Greg Maddux, Fergie was the best Cubs pitcher in modern history. Imagine what he could have done in today's era where clubs actually have relief pitchers and starters only pitch for six innings ...

Good move. Jenkins was an amazing pitcher, I believe he won 20 games seven years in a row, the 20th win on the last day of the season a couple of times. There were no "quality starts" back in those days--only complete games. Fergie Jenkins, WE SALUTE YOU!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Great! A long overdue honor for Fergie.

Now, let's get the Bulls to retire # 2 for Norm Van Lier and the Bears to retire # 89 for Mike Ditka

Retire Maddux's jersey is ridiculous. Not because he doesn't deserve it, he's clearly one of the greatest pitchers of all time. But seeing his number forever etched in Cubs lore will be a constant reminder of one of the dumbest, most frustrating moments in Cub fan history.

Allowing your Cy Young award winning pitcher to get away (right when he was at his peak) for no apparent reason - we all know the Cubs had the cash to spend, just not the common decency to do it. I was seriously considering forever abandoning my Cubs hat at the time. It begged the question, "Why support your team if they don't care about winning or are too incompetent to do it?

I think Maddux's number should have only been retired in Atlanta and when he does go to the hall of fame, I hope/know he'll go in as a Brave. Cubs fans carry enough baggage as it is.

Retiring Maddux's jersey is ridiculous. Not because he doesn't deserve it, he's clearly one of the greatest pitchers of all time. But seeing his number forever etched in Cubs lore will be a constant reminder of one of the dumbest, most frustrating moments in Cub fan history.

Allowing your Cy Young award winning pitcher to get away (right when he was at his peak) for no apparent reason - we all know the Cubs had the cash to spend, just not the common decency to do it. I was seriously considering forever abandoning my Cubs hat at the time. It begged the question, "Why support your team if they don't care about winning or are too incompetent to do it?

I think Maddux's number should have only been retired in Atlanta and when he does go to the hall of fame, I hope/know he'll go in as a Brave. Cubs fans carry enough baggage as it is.

Two guys the Cubs let go too early (before they were as old as their number 31) and brought back with very little left in the tank. Great pitchers, not their fault, but their careers are testaments to the Cubs' futility. Retiring 31 stings a little...

Greg Maddux?
Please! There is only one #31 for the Cubs and that is Ferguson Jenkins.
Maddux is an Atlanta Brave no matter how much the Cubs and their fans want to think otherwise.
At least Fergie was traded to Boston for future batting champ Bill Madlock. The Cubs just let Maddux walk away by being cheap.....picked him up 12 years later and then dump him, only to get him again and then... let him go for the 3rd time!

This honor belongs to Jenkins and Maddux should have never worn the number in the first place. It was like Leon Durham wearing the #10.
Did the Cubs even consider having Santo sharing that number with Durham when they retired it?
Of course not.
Here are some of their Cubs stats in comparison.

Wins - Jenkins 167, Maddux 133
S.O. - Jenkins 1898, Maddux 1305
ERA - Jenkins 3.26, Maddux 4.02
B.B. - Jenkins 496, Maddux 517
Complete Games - Jenkins 156, Maddux 47

Jenkins was the man for the Cubs and his success came in a Cubs uniform. He dominated the N.L. for years as a Cub.
Throwing in Maddux as a co-retiree is a slap in the face to Fergie and is just a way to throw a bone to the average 25 year old Cub fan who knows nothing about the team’s history before Sammy.
Maddux is a Hall of Famer but he did it in a Braves uniform.

Jenkins should be standing alone when they retire "his" number.

Finally. They should do it for fergie. Maddox spent most of his career with the braves and that is who he'll go into the hall with, not to mention, he sat in the dodgers dugout all through the playoffs last year against the cubs and told the dodgers pitchers how to mow down the cubs hitters, and down they went. Maddox sunk the cubs in the playoffs now they want to retire his number? This is so Cub it hurts. They should retire SAnto from the radio booth and correct one other over due wrong, he is past his use by date by about a decade or so.

Wow, all these years later, they "remember" to retire Fergie's 31??!!

I am so worried about this Cubs teams. The Brewers are so good. I am doubt we will win the division. I can see the Brewers taking the division by 2-3 games.

Happy to see Fergie honored, and Maddux whom I grew up admiring, but I'd rather see the flags hung up without the numbers being retired. We're seeing so many guys with ugly numbers like Gaudin's 57, Howry's 62, and now Gregg's 64 these days. Geovany had to endure that hideous 58 on his back before finally becoming a regular. I'd rather see the numbers of previous legends reissued -- put some pressure on the new guy to live up to what the previous #31 accomplished!

We could also hang up a lot more flags for the many greats from early in the team's history when they didn't yet wear numbers, and for the guys from the '30s who changed their numbers a lot.

Retiring them also prevents future players from showing their admiration for their heroes. Had Sammy Sosa come up with the Pirates, he wouldn't have been able to wear #21 in Roberto Clemente's honor! There's got to be a better way to honor players than to permanently ban future players from wearing their numbers.

Retiring #31 for Maddux is so typical of the Cubs. Anyone that knows anything about baseball knows this is totally ridiculous. The Cubs stabbed Maddux in the back! Man, did he ever get his revenge. He had the class and decency to let it all go when he returned.

Honestly, this is exactly the type of thing that makes me wonder who is in charge of the Cubs. This move is more ridiculous than when Jerry Reinsdorf retired #3 while Harold Baines was still playing, and that is saying a lot. At least Reinsdorf really liked Baines personally. This is just another shameless publicity stunt. The Cubs will do anything for attention.

Great post Phil. Perhaps the Cubs have learned from the Bulls why you don't wait. Don't wait until its too late to honor people.

Good post Phil.

Nobody should have worn that number after Fergie, and not a single pitcher has come close to equalling his stats on a year to yaer basis since he left.

Not one.

There will never, EVER be another pitcher who wins 20 games a season for seven consecutive years. That record will probably stand longer than DiMagio's hitting streak.

Now that the Cubs will retire # 31 for Fergie Jenkins and Greg Maddux, I believe it's time the Bulls and Bears do the same for the late Norm Van Lier and Mike Ditka.

Both Van Lier and Ditka are Chicago sports icons and have been long associated with each team and I really don't understand why each number hasn't been retired in the past, the only reason I can think of is petty arguments which should been laid to rest years ago

And, it's an 'absolute' insult to both players and fans to be forced to watch the likes of Rory Sparrow, Dennis Hopson, Mark Bryant, Khalid El-Amin, Eddy Curry, Tim Thomas, and Thabo Sefolosha wear # 2 for the Bulls after Van Lier.

In addition to the likes of Terry Stoepel, Bob Wallace, Mel Tom, James Scott, Mitch Krenk, Keith Ortego, Will Johnson, James Coley, Ryan Wetnight, Kelly Blackwell, Dustin Lyman, and Fontel Mines wearing # 89 for the Bears after Ditka.

It must have been awful for Van Lier and is for Ditka to watch players with minimal talent wear their numbers as it was for Billy Williams, Ron Santo, Pierre Pilote, and Dick Butkus before their numbers were finally retired and taken out of circulation

Walter, I don't think it was awful for them. If anything, seeing lesser lights wear their numbers only drew attention to how great those stars really were.