Love Letters From Pronk is an ongoing series where Pronk shares his love for somebody connected to the Cubs. Sometimes funny, sometimes weird, Pronk likes to make 100% sure people know that they are loved, and best expresses that through gushing letters. Today's pick: Cubs bullpen catcher Chad Noble
Chad Dudley Noble (AKA Nobes) is one of those guys you love to have on your side. Normally, we don't give a lot of attention or credit to a mere bullpen catcher, but Chad shows the importance of building a thorough team. From top to bottom, the Cubs are loaded with great characters and teammates. How stacked are the Cubs? Even the bullpen catcher is funny and insightful.
When the Cubs won the pennant in 2016, Noble was right in the middle of the celebration:
Before a very important game with playoff implications, Noble solved a dire situation before it cost the Cubs the a W:
Noble does handle pitchers especially well, as seen here in this (cringes) tiktok:
Chad Noble is a great guy, who deserves some love.
Dear Chad,
Thank you for being a great part of this Cubs organization. Since you joined the team in 2014, there has been a lot of success. You deserve some credit. The Cubs have had an above average bullpen the entire competitive era, even though the front office typically wouldn't spend big free agent bucks on it. There's a lot of reclamation projects that have walked into the bullpen at Wrigley and found success. A big part of that is how those guys get coached. So way to go!
Great organizations will often start by acquiring top level talent at the highest levels. But if an organization is to truly become great, they need some of the low guys on the totem pole to also be great. The grunts are an essential part of every organization, and will often elevate things to greatness. You've been great, and helped make the Cubs as awesome as they have been.
Thank you for all the laughs and great work you do.
XOXO,
Pronk
PS: important question that all Cubs fans have been dying to know: whose idea was it to do dances in the bullpen during rain delays and home runs?