Billy Williams

November 30, 1961
Billy Williams is named NL Rookie of the Year 

Javier Baez

December 1

Happy Birthday to Javier Baez

A breakthrough year for Baez in 2018.  He led the league in RBI's (111), won the NL Silver Slugger (2B) and finished 2nd in NL MVP voting to Brewers, Christian Yelich.  

Jose Cardenal

December 3, 1971

Cubs trade Jim Colborn, Earl Stephenson & Brock Davis for Jose Cardenal.  

In 3274 plate appearances with the Cubs, Cardenal batted .296.  His 129 stolen bases is 23rd in team history.  His 9.7 WAR is 2nd among Cubs outfielders of the 1970's behind Billy Williams.  

Lee Smith

December 4

Happy birthday to Lee Smith (Cubs, 1980-1987)

Congratulations to Lee Smith for his election to the Hall of Fame in 2019.

I remember Smith pitched for the Cubs when relievers often pitched more than one inning so I went to Baseball Reference's Play Index to see who has the most 1 inning plus saves in MLB history. 

Smith was 4th with 169 behind 3 Hall of Famers, Rollie Fingers (200),
Rich Gossage (193) & Bruce Sutter (188). 

His 478 career saves still ranks 3rd in major league history, behind only Mariano Rivera (652) and Trevor Hoffman (601).  

Ron Santo

December 5, 2012

Ron Santo is elected to the Hall of Fame by the Veteran's Committee.  Santo was a 9-time All-Star, 5-time Gold Glove winner (3B) and led the NL in triples (13) in 1964, 4 times in walks (1964, 1966-1968) and OBP twice (1964, 1966).  

Stan Hack

December 6

The birthday of Cubs great, Stan Hack.  He played all 16 years of his MLB career with the Cubs, leading the NL in hits twice (1940, 1941).  His 2,193 hits as a Cub is 6th in team history behind Cap Anson, Ernie Banks, Billy Williams, Ryne Sandberg & Mark Grace.  

Kyle Hendricks

December 7

Happy birthday to Kyle Hendricks.  He won the NL ERA title in 2016 (2.13) when the Cubs won the World Series.  

Paul Assenmacher

December 10
Happy birthday to Paul Assenmacher  (Cubs, 1989-1993).  He was 22-16 with a 3.42 ERA and 33 saves in 331 innings in his 5 year Cubs career. 
A very underrated relief pitcher.  He has a career ERA+ of 118 in 14 MLB seasons. 

Bill Nicholson

December 11

The birthday of Bill Nicholson (Cubs, 1939-1948).  In 1943, Nicholson led NL in HR (29) & RBI (128).  He finished 3rd in NL MVP voting.

In 1944, Nicholson led NL in HR (33), RBI (122) & Runs Scored (116).  He finished 2nd in NL MVP voting.

Fergie Jenkins

December 13

Happy birthday to Fergie Jenkins (Cubs, 1966-1973, 1982-1983).  

Fergie won 20+ games for the Cubs in 6 straight years.  He was the first Cubs pitcher to win the NL Cy Young Award in 1971.  He led the NL in complete games 3 times while with the Cubs (1967, 1970, 1971).  He led the NL in wins (24) in
1971 and led the NL in strikeouts (273) in 1969. 

He was elected to the Hall of Fame in 1991 (his 3rd year on the ballot) with Rod Carew & Gaylord Perry.  Tony Lazzeri & Bill Veeck were elected the same year by the Veteran's Committee. 

Dave Kingman

December 21

Happy birthday to Cubs outfielder (1978-1980), Dave Kingman.  He led the NL in home runs (48) in 1979 and was known for hitting some very long home runs with the Cubs at Wrigley Field.