Top Ten most underappreciated Chicago athletes

Last August, I did a list on the top ten most overrated Chicago athletes (that list is subject to change now). So, on the opposite end, here are 10 guys who don’t get enough recognition. Before you read on, I’d like to apologize for having so many Cubs on here (I root equally for both teams, so forget the bias angle).

10. Brad Miller The main reason why the Bulls have made a late season surge was the acquisition of Miller and John Salmons from Sacramento. While Salmons very easily could have been on this list by himself, Miller’s veteran experience has done wonders for this team, especially for Tyrus Thomas and Joakim Noah. And his 13 point and eight rebound average for the month of March have shown that Miller still has something left to offer on the court as well.

9. Ryan Theriot Who led the National League in base hits last season? That would be Theriot. He rarely strikes out, is real sure-handed at shortstop (although he has a weak arm) and hit .307 last year. Still, many Cubs fans don’t seem to be sold on Theriot as the long-term answer at the position. With all the great shortstops in the National League, Theriot gets sort of lost in the shuffle.

8. Matt Thornton You wouldn’t recognize Thornton if he’s not wearing his number 37 jersey. And when you talk about the best setup lefties in baseball, his name rarely gets mentioned. But, with a big thanks to Don Cooper, Thornton has the best stuff of any Chicago reliever not named Carlos Marmol. Last season, he was just filthy, posting a 2.67 ERA and striking out well over a batter an inning. Team USA recognized his value by selecting him for the WBC, so when will the rest of Chicago?

7. Alex Brown Brown was one of only two Bears on defense, the other being Lance Briggs, who played up to his ability last season. You know Brown’s going to get you close to seven sacks every year, and where he really stands out is the job he does against the run, something Adewale Ogunleye could take lessons on. Another thing that goes unnoticed is the number of holding penalties he draws on offensive linemen. They don’t keep stats for that, but I bet Brown was one of the league leaders in that category last season.

6. Ryan Dempster Some people might argue that you can’t really be underappreciated when you win 17 games, finish with an under 3.00 ERA, and make the All-Star team, but let me ask you this: if you were to put 100 Cubs fans in a room and ask them who the team’s best pitcher was, how many would say Dempster? I’d guess less than 10, with Zambrano and Harden splitting the majority of the votes. Even though he has only done it for one season, I still don’t understand why more people don’t consider Dempster the Cubs’ ace over the overrated and inconsistent Zambrano.

5. Ben Gordon Here’s maybe the biggest sports myth in Chicago: Derrick Rose is the most important player on the Bulls. No way. It’s Gordon. Think about it: how many games would the Bulls have won this season without Gordon? Probably around 25. I know he doesn’t play very good defense, and he does force a lot of bad shots, but without Gordon’s consistent scoring, the Bulls would be really bad. Re-signing him this offseason is a must, something I never would have thought I’d say as recently as a couple months ago.

4. Duncan Keith On an up and coming Blackhawks team, names like Kane, Toews, Havlat, Sharp, Campbell and Versteeg get the most attention. Now in his fourth season, Keith has quietly turned into one of the league’s best defensemen. He leads the Hawks and ranks fourth in the entire NHL with a whopping plus-33. Keith also is the leader on the team in minutes, and has been a huge reason why the Blackhawks have turned into a contender a year earlier than most people expected.

3. Ted Lilly When the Cubs shelled out 40 million for Lilly, a lot of people were very skeptical, because his career numbers up until that point were along the lines of a number four starter, yet he was being paid like a number two. In his two seasons on the North Side though, Lilly (32-17, 3.96 ERA) has been nothing short of real solid. He’ll never get much recognition pitching behind the Cubs’ big three, but without Lilly these last two seasons, especially in 2007, the Cubs don’t make the playoffs.

2. Robbie Gould Before the Bears traded for some guy named Cutler, Gould was right up there with Matt Forte as the most important player in the Bears’ offense yet he was pretty much taken for granted as fans focused on the team’s offensive struggles at all the other positions.. Gould was one of the few dependable things on this Bears team these last two seasons, hitting 57 of 65 field goal tries, an 87.6% that was good for sixth in the NFL during that span. It’s tough for field goal kickers to ever get their proper due, but Gould has solidified the position after a string of really bad kickers in Chicago ever since Kevin Butler left in the mid-90s.

1. Reed Johnson This is a guy every team would love to have. He won’t hit for much power or steal many bases, but Johnson is a career .284 hitter, can play all three outfield positions and has a knack for coming up with the clutch hit. If the Cubs are going to win their division for a third straight year, they’ll need Johnson to produce like he did last season (.303 BA), because who knows what they’ll get from Kosuke Fukudome over a full season.