50th Season All-Time Oaks and Cubs - 1980-89

Fan voting for the All-Time Iowa Team continues with players from 1980-89. The six players with the most votes through Wednesday, May 2 will be included in a 50th Anniversary Card Pack, to be given away at Principal Park on Thursday, June 21. Click here to vote. 
Please note: Choices are based both on success in Iowa and in the major leagues. Availability of player photos also impacts this decade of Iowa baseball. 

RHP Greg Maddux
 Maddux suited up for the Iowa Cubs for the 1986 season and part of 1987. He won 10 games in '86 with a 3.02 ERA (43ER/128.1IP), striking out 65 and walking 30. He earned a September call-up that season, making his debut on Sept. 2, 1986. Maddux began the '87 season back with Iowa before earning a spot in the Cubs' starting rotation and beginning a 23-year Hall of Fame career; which included 740 games started, 3,371 career strikeouts, a career 3.16 ERA, eight All-Star Games, the eighth-best winning percentage in MLB history at .610, 18 Gold Gloves and four Cy Young awards, all capped off by a 2014 Hall of Fame Induction. 

OF/1B Dave Martinez
Martinez played for the 1986 I-Cubs over the span of 83 games, amassing a .289 batting average (92H/318AB) with 42 stolen bases (second-best behind Chico Walker). He made his Major League debut for the Cubs on June 15 of the '86 season, and became the 10th-youngest player of the 1986 MLB season at 21. Martinez played a little over two seasons with the Cubs before spending the rest of his 16-season career with Montreal, Cincinnati, San Francisco, Chicago (AL), Tampa Bay, Texas, Toronto and Atlanta--accumulating 1,599 hits in 1,918 games with a .276 batting average. Martinez began his coaching career in 2008 as the Tampa Bay bench coach under Joe Maddon ('08-'14), before returning back to Chicago for three seasons to serve in the same capacity for Maddon. 2018 marks his first season as a Major League Manager, as he was named the skipper of the Washington Nationals on Oct. 30, 2017. 

OF/1B Joe Carter
Carter played parts of the 1983 and 1984 seasons with Iowa. Seeing playing time in a total of 185 games, while knocking 237 hits--good for a .309 Iowa career batting average--39 doubles, 36 home runs, 150 RBI and 51 stolen bases. Carter went on to have a 16-year MLB career spent with Chicago (NL), San Diego, Baltimore, San Francisco and the majority between Cleveland (six seasons) and Toronto (seven seasons). From 1989 to 1991, he appeared in all 162 games and was first in at-bats in the AL in 1989 (651) and the NL in 1990 (634) and hit a league-best 121 RBI for the 1986 season with Cleveland. His MLB accolades include, two silver sluggers, five All-Star Games and two World Series. 

UTL Chico Walker
An outfielder, second and third baseman, Chico Walker played parts of four seasons from 1985-1987, 1990 for the Iowa Cubs in the midst of an 11-season MLB career. Walker had his best professional season in Iowa, which came in 1986 when he hit .298 (158H/530AB) with a .487 slugging percentage and swiped an Iowa franchise record 67 bags. He spent his Major League career with Boston, Chicago (NL), California (AL) and New York (NL). 

1B/OF Rafael Palmeiro
 Selected 22nd overall by Chicago in the 1982 June Draft, Rafael Palmeiro played one of just three seasons of minor league ball with Iowa. In his 57 games, he amassed a .299 average (64H/214AB), a .547 slugging percentage with a .913 OPS. Palmeiro went on to have a 20-year career in the MLB, spent with Chicago (NL), Texas (AL) and Baltimore. His MLB accolades include two silver sluggers, four All-Star selections, three gold gloves and Major League Player of the Year. He was a career .290 hitter (.288 MLB) (.302 MiLB) with 2,023 RBI, 3,325 hits and 597 home runs--hitting 569 of them at the Major League level. Palmeiro is one of five MLB players to have both 3,000-plus hits and over 500 home runs. 

RHP Mike Capel
Drafted by the Cubs in the 1983 June Draft out of Texas (Austin), Capel spent parts of the 1987, 1988 and 1989 seasons with Iowa, eating a total of 263 innings with a 4.57 ERA and 186 strikeouts. He threw a majority of those innings during 1987 (108.1IP) and 1989 (97.0IP), which bookended a call-up to Chicago during the 1988 season for 22 games with 29.1 innings of work. The 6-foot-one righty started eight games for the I-Cubs in 1987, but is best known as a reliever, where he saw all of his Major League action over three seasons for Chicago, Milwaukee and Houston. Capel capped off his career with an MLB 4.62 ERA (73H/62.1IP) with 43 strikeouts. 

OF Henry Cotto
 Cotto suited up for the I-Cubs for the entirety of the 1983 season, hitting .261 (111H/426AB) with 32 stolen bases. The outfielder was called up to Chicago for the 1984 season, seeing time in 105 games, while hitting .274 with 40 hits in 146 at-bats. Cotto was sent back to Iowa, where he played in eight games of the 1984 season before being traded to New York (AL). He bounced between Triple-A and New York for three seasons before heading to Seattle in 1988, seeing time in an average of 98 games per season over the span of six years. He saw his best offensive MLB season during the 1991 season with Seattle when he hit .305 (54H/177AB) with an .811 on-base plus slugging percentage. He totaled 10 MLB seasons with a career average .261 average with 569 hits in 2,178 at-bats. 

OF Doug Dascenzo
Known as a switch-hitting lefty during his 14 seasons of professional baseball, Dascenzo was drafted by the Cubs in the 12th round of the 1985 June Draft. He spent the 1988 and 1989 seasons with Iowa, where he hit .295 (149H/505AB) and .281 (121H/431AB), respectively. Dascenzo enjoyed a seven-season Major League career spent with Chicago (NL), Texas (AL) and San Diego. After retiring from his playing career in 1998, Dascenzo began his coaching career within the San Diego organization and has since managed a handful of minor league teams; as well as being a minor league base running/outfield coordinator and third base coach for the 2014 Atlanta Braves. He most recently was a coach with Double-A Tennessee.  
SS Shawon Dunston
 Shortstop Shawon Dunston was the first-overall selection of the 1982 June Draft. Before becoming a two-time MLB All-Star and winning an NL East title in 1989 with teammate and fellow middle-infielder, I-Cub Ryne Sandberg, Dunston played parts of three seasons with Iowa from 1984-1985 and a short, five-game stint in 1987. As an I-Cub, Dunston was a career .395 hitter (130H/501AB). Post-Iowa, Dunston played 18 seasons for six different organizations, including, Chicago (NL), San Francisco, Pittsburg, Cleveland, Saint Louis and New York (NL). He wrapped up his Major League career with a .269 average with 1,597 hits over 5,927 at-bats. 

OF Dwight Smith
Smith spent the 1988 and parts of the 1989 and 1992 seasons in Iowa. Amassing a .289 batting average with 177 hits over 596 at-bats. Smith began his Major League career in 1989 with a Chicago call-up, where he played in 109 games and finished second on the Rookie of the Year ballot. He saw playing time in five seasons at the Big League level with Chicago, before being traded to California in 1994. He ended the season with Baltimore and was subsequently traded to the future World Series Champions, Atlanta Braves for the 1995 season. Smith was a .292 hitter during` his 15 professional seasons, hitting .275 at the Major League level with 1,987 plate appearances, and .299 in his nine minor league seasons. 

1B Mark Grace
 Grace played in 21 games for Iowa before making his way up to Chicago, where he would have a 16-year Major League career spent between the Cubs and Arizona Diamondbacks. During his stint with the I-Cubs, Grace hit .254 (17H/67AB) and drove in 14 with four doubles. At the Big League level, Grace retired as a career .303 hitter (2,445H/8,065AB) with 173 home runs, 1,146 RBI, four Gold Gloves, a 2001 World Series Championship and three All-Star selections. 

LHP Jamie Moyer
Moyer suited up for Iowa for part of the 1986 season en-route to his MLB debut with Chicago on June 16. While in Des Moines, he won three games with two losses (.600 W-L%) with a 2.55 ERA (12ER/42.1IP) with 25 strikeouts and 11 walks. During his 25-year MLB career, Moyer set himself atop several lists, including becoming the oldest active player, the most wins/losses and strikeouts for active MLB pitchers and oldest pitcher in MLB history to win a game-retiring at the age of 48. His Major League stats stand at 269 wins, 209 losses (.536 W-L percentage), a 4.25 ERA (1,926ER/4074.0IP), 2,441 strikeouts and 1,155 walks over four decades of work with eight teams. Moyer was a 2003 All-Star and 2008 World Series Champion. He was also the recipient of the Roberto Clemente Award. 

C Joe Girardi
Girardi played parts of the 1989 and 1991 seasons with Iowa, playing 32 of 44 games during 1989. An Iowa career .234 hitter (35H/146AB), Girardi spent 15 seasons in the Major Leagues, playing for Chicago (NL), Colorado, New York (AL) and Saint Louis. He amassed a .267 average (1,100H/4,127AB) and a .991 fielding percentage behind the plate. He began his coaching career as the manager of the 2006 Marlins and then as the Yankees' skipper for 10 seasons. 
UTL Pat Tabler 
Tabler played parts of two seasons with Iowa, from 1981-1982. Between his two seasons in Des Moines, Tabler amassed a .324 average (219H/663AB). His .342 average for the 1982 season was good for second-best on the team behind Scot Thompson (.344), and took the most free passes during that time with 85 walks. A 16th overall selection of the 1976 draft, Tabler had a 12-year MLB career, which began after being traded by New York (AL) to the Cubs. The infielder played second, third, first and later became a designated hitter. Tabler won the 1992 World Series with Toronto and was a 1987 All-Star, hitting .307 (170H/553AB) with 86 RBI on the season. 
UTL Gary Varsho 
Varsho played the 1987 season in Iowa as well as parts of 1988 to 1990 in Des Moines. He accumulated a .278 average over his four seasons, with his best being 1987, when he hit .302 with 152 hits over 504 at-bats. Varsho played eight MLB seasons and amassed a .244 batting average with 10 home runs, 84 RBI and 204 hits in 837 at-bats. After his playing career, Varsho was the Philadelphia bench coach from 2002 to 2006 and then served in the same role for Pittsburg in 2010. He is now a scout for Los Angeles (AL).