In the last half of the 1930s, Bill Lee was on a very good Chicago Cubs starting rotation that would take the team to two National League Pennants, 1935 and 1938.  Lee was far from just a participant from 1935 to 1939, and he would have four 18 Win Seasons, including a 22 Win campaign in 1938, which was enough to lead the National League.  That year Lee would also lead the league in Earned Run Average, Shutouts, and ERA+ while also finishing second in MVP voting.  Overall, he would win 139 Games for the Cubs.

Mike "King" Kelly was considered an innovator in his day as it is believed that he was the first to foul off pitches deliberately.

Bob Rush may have had a losing record with the Chicago Cubs (110-140), but in his defense, he did not have a lot of strong teammates around him, and the Cubs were not particularly good at the time.  Still, we are talking about a two-time All-Star who finished in the top ten in bWAR for Pitchers four times and in Strikeouts four times.  He would record 1,076 Ks for Chicago and was one of the better players the team had in the 1950s.

Ned Williamson played the entire 1880's with the Chicago White Stockings, where his strength was his defensive skills.  Used at Third Base and Shortstop for most of his career, Williamson would twice lead the National League in Defensive bWAR and was in the top five in that statistic four other times.  Had there been a Gold Glove Award back then, Williamson would have likely won at least six (or should have) for his work at Third Base as even by traditional metrics, he was a six-time leader at his position in Assists and five-time leader in Double Plays Turned.