There was a lot to cover when it came to the Cubs’ cleats, it took me a little while to put this one together…

The cleats above belong to Derrek Lee, Mark DeRosa, Ryan Theriot, Ronny Cedeno, Daryle Ward, Aramis Ramirez, Carlos Zambrano, and Alfonso Soriano.  As you can see, there’s a growing trend of bold red accents in the Cubbies’ footwear, and that’s something that I really like — the blue and red together mesh really well with Chicago’s classic uniforms.  More details on these cleats (as well as a few mysterious cases of cleat-sharing) after the jump, and as always, larger views of all of these are available in the Player Exclusive Gallery.

(AP Photo/Charles Rex Arbogast)

Derrek Lee: These Nike Air Zoom Clippers are my favorite Cubs PE for several reasons.  I’ve always loved low-cut baseball cleats with tongue flaps, and there really aren’t many eye-popping low models around the league.  With all the white and red in these, this is the by far the best Clipper PE in all of baseball.  The use of white in particular really make these pop, and the white accents around the mid-foot also make a pinstripe effect that goes perfectly with the Cub’ home uniforms.

(AP Photo/Charles Rex Arbogast, Jonathan Daniel/Getty Images)

Alfonso Soriano: Soriano has worn two blue / red Under Armour PE’s this year.  The model on the left is the Raptor Mid, and the model on the right is the Ignite, an upcoming 2009 model.  Aside from having great Cubs colorways and some custom embroidery, I really like how these look with high socks.  Most mid-cut cleats (5-Tool, Vero Mid, etc.) look bulky with hiked up pants, but these are sleek enough to pull it off.  I’m still working on the rendering of the Raptor PE, but I’ll get those up in the gallery soon.

(Jonathan Daniel/Getty Images, AP Photo/M. Spencer Green)

Aramis Ramirez / Carlos Zambrano: Aramis and Z are two of Easton’s higher profile players, and they’ve both been wearing similar Foundation models for a while now.  They’re both mid models, both have red stitching, and both have some custom embroidery… the main difference is that Zambrano has a zippered lace cover.  They look decent on the field, but I’d really like if they both switched to a Mojo model like the pair worn by rookie Micah Hoffpauir.  Aramis also wore a grey Mojo PE at the All-Star Game… a similar pair was produced for Zambrano, but he ended up wearing his standard gamers that night.

(AP Photo/Charles Rex Arbogast, Jonathan Daniel/Getty Images)

Mark DeRosa (the Michael Young Series): Besides being the Cubs’ utility man extraordinaire in terms of fielding, DeRosa has also been versatile with his cleat selections.  However, until recently, I’m fairly certain that the majority of his footwear supply has come from the Rangers’ Michael Young, a close friend and former teammate of DeRosa’s.  Young wore an identical Huarache 2K5 model in 2007 (and DeRosa also started wearing that model last season), and my suspicions were confirmed earlier this year when I saw this photo and noticed the #10 (Young’s number, not DeRosa’s) embroidered on the Shox Fuse cleats he was wearing.  Young has worn that model, complete with the #10 embroidery, throughout this season.  (As a sidenote, I’ll be adding Young’s Fuse cleats to the PE Gallery when I get to the Rangers.)

(AP Photo/Charles Rex Arbogast, Jonathan Daniel/Getty Images)

Ronny Cedeno: Much like DeRosa, Cedeno has worn some very respectable Nike PE’s this year, but I don’t think that they’re his either.  He started wearing his Young-esque 2K5’s around the same time as DeRosa last year, and he’s recently started wearing a pair of 5-Tools that are strangely similar to what Russell Martin (and on a humorous note, Tommy Lasorda) was wearing in spring training.  No word on how Cedeno got his 5-Tool model, but I’m willing to bet that it wasn’t the result of a lucrative Nike contract.

(Jonathan Daniel/Getty Images)

Jason Marquis / Ryan Theriot / DeRosa (Nike Fuse): As far as I know, this hasn’t happened with any other team in the majors.  At some point in July, Theriot (who was wearing Reebok earlier in the year), DeRosa, and Marquis all started wearing custom Fuse cleats with identical uppers (which can be made on NikeID).  I don’t know if it was a decision on their part or a move by Nike to make an “official” Cubs colorway, but I really like it.  Aside from the display of team unity, they look great.

(Jonathan Daniel/Getty Images)

Daryle Ward: The Cubs cleat weirdness continues.  Nice Clippers… but come on.  Daryle Ward?  Can anybody explain this?

Nick Laham/Getty Images)

Kosuke Fukudome: Like the cleats worn by Matsuzaka and Okajima, I don’t know much about these aside from the fact that they aren’t available in America.  These Asics cleats are interesting though… the royal blue matches the Cubs’ colors a lot better than most blue cleats, and it looks like the upper is made from suede or a suede-like material.

That’s it for the Cubbies… Next up in the recap series will be the Chicago White Sox, and this will be another one that will take me a few days (it will take some serious time to just cover Jermaine Dye and A.J. Pierzynski).  I guarantee that it’ll be worth the wait — you South Siders out there will be pleased.

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