Players who played for the Cubs and Athletics | Immaculate Grid Answers for Grid 120 July 31, 2023

Are you hooked on Immaculate Grid, the daily trivia game from Baseball Reference? We sure are! We’ll warn you right now—this blog post contains spoilers. But if you’re looking for a little help with today’s grid (or you already filled it out and want to know who else qualified) read on.

To fill out today’s grid, you need to choose a player who played for both the Cubs and Athletics. There were 204 players who played with both Chicago and Oakland. Here are some examples:

Arismendy Alcántara

Arismendy Alcántara is an outfielder and infielder who made his major league debut in 2014.

Alcántara was signed by Chicago Cubs scouts Jose Serra, Marino Encarnacion and Carlos Reyes in November 2008. He made his pro debut with the 2009 DSL Cubs 1, hitting .275/.349/.415 with 8 triples, 20 steals (in 22 tries) and 44 runs in 65 games. He tied for 8th in the Dominican Summer League in triples. In 2010, he made his US debut, batting .283/.315/.402 for the Boise Hawks, tying Rymer Liriano for the Northwest League lead with six triples. In 2011, Arismendy produced at a .271/.303/.352 clip for the Peoria Chiefs. He made strides with the 2012 Daytona Cubs, hitting .302/.339/.447 with 7 triples and 25 steals while only being caught four times. He tied for 6th in the Florida State League in triples and for 7th in steals. Baseball America named him Chicago’s 10th best prospect going into 2013. He opened the season with the Tennessee Smokies and was showing increased power (.277/.357/.473, 11 homers) around the halfway point, earning him a spot on the World team for the 2013 Futures Game.

Eric Sogard

Eric Sogard came to the majors in 2010. His brother Alex Sogard made his pro debut the same year. A cousin, Nick Sogard, is also a professional player.

Sogard was named his team’s MVP as a high school sophomore after hitting .418. His junior year, he hit .547 with 34 RBI in 64 AB and a 1.047 slugging percentage, winning 4A All-State honors. He fell to .450 as a senior and again was 4A All-State. He set school records for career hits (115), average (.466) and OBP.

As a college freshman, Sogard was just 4 for 22. He had a solid summer with the Liberal BeeJays at .347/.436/.516. As a sophomore, Eric improved to .353/.432/.625. He was third in the Pacific-10 Conference in slugging and tied Ike Davis for the team lead with nine homers. He made All-Conference as an infielder. In the West Coast Collegiate Baseball League that summer, he led with a .347 average, 38 walks and a .513 OBP. Baseball America named him the league’s #5 prospect.

Yan Gomes

Yan Gomes became the first major leaguer from Brazil.

Born in Sao Paulo, Gomes was first introduced to baseball when his father met a Cuban baseball coach in Brazil, who recruited the young Yan to play. The family moved and he grew up in Florida; Andre Rienzo would be the first major leaguer born and raised in Brazil. He hit .481 as a high school junior. Going on to college, he hit .310/.399/.465 as a freshman for the University of Tennessee, starting at first base and backing up J.P. Arencibia at catcher. In 2008, the sophomore batted .316/.398/.446 while replacing Arencibia as the starting catcher. He was second on the team in average behind Kentrail Davis.

Ben Zobrist

Ben Zobrist had a fourteen-year career in the major leagues as a multi-positional player and was a three-time All-Star. He was selected by the Houston Astros in the sixth round of the 2004 amateur draft. He was signed by scout Rusty Pendergrass for $55,000 and began his pro career in the New York-Penn League that summer, leading the circuit with a .339 average. He hit .333/.500/.500 for the USA in the 2005 Baseball World Cup. On July 12, 2006, he and pitcher Mitch Talbot were traded to the Tampa Bay Devil Rays for Aubrey Huff. Zobrist made his big league debut the following month.

He was the shortstop on the only 2-6-2 triple play in major league history. It came in the 1st inning of a September 2, 2006 game against the Seattle Mariners with runners on first and third. Raul Ibanez struck out (Out #1); Adrian Beltre tried to steal second, but was tagged by Zobrist (Out #2); and Jose Lopez tried to steal home, but was tagged by catcher Dioner Navarro (Out #3).

Ryan Sweeney

Ryan Sweeney was drafted in the second round of the 2003 amateur draft by the Chicago White Sox and signed by scouts Paul Provas and Nathan Durst. He began his professional career that year with the Bristol Sox (.313/.387/.448) and Great Falls White Sox (.353/.389/.412). In 2004, he hit .283/.342/.379 for the Winston-Salem Warthogs, pretty good for a 19-year-old in high A ball. He was named to the Carolina League All-Star team as a utility outfielder.

The big left-handed outfielder only homered once in 429 AB for the 2005 Birmingham Barons, while batting .298/.357/.371 and battling a wrist injury. He had a .294/.346/.452 line with the 2006 Charlotte Knights before getting a call-up to Chicago. He was rated the International League’s #5 prospect by Baseball America. He was just 8 for 35 with no walks or extra-base hits for the 2006 White Sox.

All 204 Players

You can see all 204 players who played with both Chicago and Oakland on Baseball Reference. Good luck with your grid!

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