The Company Aramis Ramirez Keeps

With just 15 hits in his first 101 at-bats entering play on Wednesday - a .149 average - Aramis Ramirez's woeful start is reminiscent of some other unforgettably bad starts by third basemen in the franchise's history.

Ron Santo? Bill Madlock? Stan Hack?

No, no, and no.

Try a pair of third sackers who are remembered more for their failures than their accomplishments - Gary Scott and Kevin Orie.

Ramirez, through 27 games, has just three homers and three doubles. It's the kind of start that Scott had in 1991 and 1992 and Orie experienced in 1998.

Let's compare each player's stats through the Cubs' first 27 games of each particular season:

Ramirez, 2010: 15-for-101 (.149), 3 2B, 3 HR, 14 RBI

Orie, 1998: 20-for-99 (.202), 5 2B, 1 HR, 11 RBI

Scott, 1991: 13-for-68 (.191), 3 2B, 1 HR , 5 RBI

Scott, 1992: 4-for-44 (.091), 1 HR, 5 RBI

Scott finished the 1991 season hitting .165 in and the 1992 season hitting .156. Orie hit .181 for the Cubs in 1998 before he was traded to Florida just prior to the trade deadline that year.

Also of note: Ryne Sandberg began his Cubs career as a third baseman in 1982 and collected just three hits in his first 36 at-bats. He was 17-for-91 (.187) after the Cubs' 27th game, but recovered to hit .271 for the season en route to a Hall of Fame career.