I remember Nieves as a player, but I'd be lying if I said I remembered his contributions to that 1998 team. With just two plate appearances and two innings at shortstop, his contributions on the field were about as minimal as you can find. He did have a sacrifice hit in one of those two times up at the plate, so I definitely appreciate his hard work.
But even though he ranks last on this list, he had a nice career that only started in 1998. He played a couple more years for the Cubs before playing two more with the Angels. He also had minor league stints for the Yankees, Cardinals, and Padres.
Really, I'm not sure if Nieves ever had more fun playing baseball than when he washed out of the major league system and went down to Mexico. In 2005, he tore up the Mexican League with a slash line of .358/.408/.579. Had he done that in 1998, he would have ranked 13th in the MLB, ahead of such Nieves wannabes as Jeff Bagwell, Manny Ramirez, and Ken Griffey Jr.
He then went on to become a minor league manager for the Dayton Dragons. The fans were so excited by the hire that they sold out every game. This is incredibly rare in minor league baseball and just shows the star power that Nieves carried by being a member of the 1998 Chicago Cubs.
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Introduction
#47 - Matt Karchner
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