Oh, what the 2001 Cubs season might have been if the Cubs hadn’t allowed outfielder Luis Gonzalez to walk at the end of the 1996 season. Sosa wouldn’t have had to single-handedly attempt to carry the Cubs into the playoffs. Gonzalez’s 57-home run, 142-RBI season would have paired nicely with Sosa’s unbelievable campaign. But, alas, the Cub version of Gonzalez apparently never lifted weights or ate Wheaties or whatever he did during the 2001 season. Instead, he left to continue putting up the sort of numbers that land a man at #49 of the Top 79 Cub Killers of My Time.

Luis Gonzalez was drafted by the Houston Astros in the fourth round of the 1988 draft. He debuted with the Astros on September 4, 1990, in a 10-8 win over the Los Angeles Dodgers in Chavez Ravine. Gonzalez swung at and missed three straight pitches in a third inning pinch-hit appearance for starting Astro pitcher Mark Portugal, who had given up seven runs in the first two innings.

Gonzalez became a regular in left field for the Astros in 1991 after the departure of the great Franklin Stubbs. Gonzalez’s first appearance against the Cubs occurred in his first year as a starter on April 30, 1991 B.E. (that’s “Before Essian”), at Wrigley Field. Gonzalez went 2-4 with a triple and an RBI, setting a trend of Cub-killing which would continue throughout the course of his 19-year career. In 546 career plate appearances against the Cubs, Gonzalez hit 26 home runs, 7 triples, 35 doubles, drove in 92 RBIs, and walked 53 times. His .970 OPS against the Cubs is better than it is against any other team which he’s faced in at least 26 games, and it’s 125 points higher than his career OPS.

Gonzalez was even deadlier as an opposing player in Wrigley Field. Seventeen of his 26 home runs came as a visitor to the very Friendly Confines, and so did half of his 92 RBIs against the Cubs.

Gonzalez is on that depressing, ever-growing list of players under suspicion for steroids. Maybe it’s because he hit nearly twice as many home runs in 2001 as he did in any other season. Maybe it’s because of those worm-like veins slithering around his forearms. Or maybe it’s because he flew into a ‘roid rage when his name was mentioned in connection with steroids. I don’t know. I’m not a doctor. Or a pitcher. Or a syringe. Or even a qualified blogger. But I do this. Gonzo murdered Cub pitching for 17.5 years and earned his way onto the T79, be it with an asterisk or not.

Why You Should Hate Hiim: August 17, 2001 – August 19, 2001. If you recall, the 2001 Cubs season was actually pretty fun up until about this exact moment. Don Baylor’s team of first-inning bunters led the division for a good chunk of the summer. And then, they went to Arizona for a three-game series. They entered the desert with the NL Central lead, having just taken two of three games from the Astros at then-Enron Field. But they weren’t prepared for the juggernaut that was Bob Brenly’s purple-clad warriors. The Diamondbacks were just coming off back-to-back three-game sweeps of the Braves in Atlanta and Pittsburgh at home.

The Cubs had no chance. They were meekly swept out of Arizona by scores of 7-2, 5-3, and 13-6, and they flew back home two games behind Houston in the Central and only a half game ahead of the Cardinals for the Wild Card lead. They would never re-take first place in the Central, and ended up finishing third and missing the playoffs entirely.

Gonzalez went 5-10 during the three-game series with two doubles, a home run, four RBIs, two runs scored, and three walks. His line from the series was .500/.615/1.000. I can’t recall whether or not Gonzalez went on to do anything else memorable during that 2001 season, but I still carry the testicle scars of that August series in Arizona.

Did You Know? Gonzalez played American Legion Baseball for Post 248, former team of none other than Lou Piniella. He has also apparently never heard of Facebook. Or Twitter. Or MySpace. Or Friendster.