One of the early stars of Chicago baseball was Outfielder Jimmy Ryan, who played for the Cubs back when they were called the White Stockings and when they were the Colts.  Oh, and also when they were the Orphans.  He also was with the Chicago Pirates of the Players’ League.  Simply put, if you went to a professional baseball game in Chicago from 1885 to 1900, you saw Jimmy Ryan play.

A member of the 2,500 Hit Club, Jimmy Ryan, would accumulate 2,084 of them with the Chicago Cubs.  Ryan would bat .308 for Chicago and would lead the National League in Hits in 1888, the same season he would do so in Doubles and Home Runs.  The Outfielder would finish in the top eight in OPS six times, and while he was never considered a superstar, he was a consistent producer for an extended period of time and a worthy person on this list.

Ryan was one of the many former Cubs named to the franchise Hall of Fame in 2021.