#TBT: Felix Pie

It's been over 10 years since Felix Pie made his major league debut for the Chicago Cubs. The once highly-touted prospect played three seasons for the Iowa Cubs from 2006-08.

Former Cubs general manager Andy MacPhail signed Pie as a 16-year-old outfielder out of the Dominican Republic on July 3, 2001. He made his organizational debut with the Mesa Cubs in 2002, the Cubs' Rookie affiliate.
With his raw tools and lean physique, Pie always had huge, and sometimes unrealistic, expectations and hopes attached to his name. He was named a Top 100 Prospect by Baseball America for five consecutive seasons, peaking at #27 prior to the 2006 season. Pie made his way through the Cubs farm system quickly, making it to Triple-A Iowa for Opening Day of the 2006 season.
In 141 games as a Triple-A rookie for Iowa in 2006, Pie batted .283 (158-for-559) with 78 runs, 33 doubles, eight triples, 15 home runs, 57 RBI and 17 stolen bases. He finished second in the Pacific Coast League in hits and fourth in total bases (252) that season, with his 559 at-bats ranking third-most in a season for an Iowa player all-time.
Pie started the 2007 season with the I-Cubs, batting .444 (16-for-36) in 11 games before receiving his long-awaited MLB call-up. On April 17, Pie made his major league debut at Wrigley Field, occupying the leadoff spot and playing center field. His first big league plate appearance had him matched up against San Diego Padres starting pitcher, 41-year-old Greg Maddux. He grounded out in his debut at-bat, but got to Maddux in his third at-bat, doubling in Henry Blanco in the fifth inning.
Pie batted just .215 (38-for-177) in his debut season, but made the Cubs' postseason roster as a 22-year-old, becoming the youngest Cubs position player to log a postseason at-bat since Phil Cavarretta in the 1938 World Series.
He continued to excel with Iowa, batting .300 (337-for-1123) with 62 doubles, 18 triples, 34 home runs, 155 RBI and 37 stolen bases in 281 total games with the I-Cubs from 2006-08. Unfortunately, Pie's raw talent and run production at the minor league level never fully translated into long-term MLB success. He finished his Cubs career with a .223 batting average in 130 games between 2007-08, before being traded to the Baltimore Orioles for a pair of pitchers on January 18, 2009.
Pie spent time in the majors with the Orioles (2009-11) and Pirates (2013) after his departure from the Cubs, and most recently played in Korea (2014) and his native Dominican Republic (2015-17) over the past four seasons.
While Pie never met the lofty expectations that were set by the organization and many Cubs fans tied to him while he was a top prospect, the 32-year-old will be entering his 17th season in professional baseball in 2018.