The first thing I thought of — and maybe you did, too — on seeing the name “HESTER” was Devin Hester, the Hall of Fame Bears kick returner/defensive back.
Obviously, this isn’t Devin Hester.
I had no recollection of this Diamondbacks player when BCB reader Clark Addison sent me the photo, so off I went to baseball-reference.com to look him up.
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John Hester played for the D-backs in 2009 and 2010, then for the Angels in 2012 and 2013. A catcher, he played a total of 93 MLB games.
Exactly two of those were at Wrigley Field.
Here, we see him sliding into second base, with a relay going to first on a double-play attempt.
One of the games Hester played in Wrigley was in early May, so the ivy couldn’t have been as thick as we see it here.
This play happened Friday, Oct. 2, 2009 in the top of the sixth. The D-backs were leading 7-0. Hester drew a walk after Eric Byrnes had led off the inning with a home run.
Billy Buckner hit into a double play, and that’s what we are looking at here. Billy Buckner? No, not the Bill Buckner who played for the Cubs. This Billy Buckner pitched for the Royals, Diamondbacks, Angels and Padres from 2007-14. Pitchers, of course, still batted back then. In 30 MLB plate appearances, this was the only GIDP of Buckner’s career.
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The Cubs second baseman is Jeff Baker, who played for the team from 2009-12.
The Diamondbacks defeated the Cubs 12-3 that afternoon, seven of the runs off Tom Gorzelanny.
Unfortunately, there doesn’t appear to be any video of this game that’s survived, so all I can show you is this play, another little slice of Cubs history.
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