Here’s another photo from BCB reader Clark Addison.
It is, quite clearly, a play at the plate. There are enough letters on the back of the runner’s jersey to identify him: That’s Jason Marquis. Here’s the full photo:
Marquis pitched for the Cubs for two seasons, 2007 and 2008.
The catcher’s uniform doesn’t show a team, but only one team wore road jerseys with that sand color. That’s the Padres.
So we are looking for a play where Marquis was sliding into the plate against the Padres during those two seasons, in a game at Wrigley Field, since Marquis is wearing the home pinstripes.
That made this fairly easy. There were only two games Marquis appeared in against the Padres at Wrigley as a Cub. (Yes, I checked games other than pitching, since Marquis did serve as a pinch runner occasionally.)
This is a photo of Marquis sliding into the plate in the bottom of the fifth inning Monday, April 16. 2007. He had led off the inning with a double, and Cliff Floyd singled. Marquis was safe on the play, giving the Cubs a 4-1 lead. They eventually won the game 12-4. Michael Barrett, Matt Murton and Cliff Floyd all homered.
Here’s the scoring play:
It would have been a fairly close play, but as you can see, the ball got away from the catcher, Pete LaForest. In the background is the on-deck hitter, Ryan Theriot.
Marquis had a reputation as a “good-hitting pitcher,” but in reality, he was just about as bad as most. In his career he batted .196/.214/.278 with 167 strikeouts in 663 at-bats. He did hit five home runs, including a grand slam against the Mets in September 2008. Marquis will always be, then, the last Cubs pitcher to hit a slam.