Chicago Cubs History

In 1870, the Chicago White Stockings played their first road game against the St. Louis Unions, defeating the Unions 47-1. After a summer of various contests among the teams, the time was right for the organization of a professional league, the National Association, in 1871.

The Chicago White Stockings were close contenders all summer, until disaster struck in October with the Great Chicago Fire. The fire destroyed the clubs ballpark, equipment and uniforms. The club completed its schedule with borrowed uniforms, and finished second in the National Association.

After the 1875 season, the White Stockings acquired several key players, including pitcher Albert Spaulding of the Boston Red Stockings and Adrian “Cap” Anson of the Philadelphia Athletics. Meanwhile behind the scenes, Club president, William Hulbert, was leading the formation of a new and stronger organization, the National League.

In 1876, the White Stockings became one of eight charter members of the National League.

Joe Tinker(shortstop), Johnny Evers(second base)and , Frank Chance(first base) were three legendary Cubs who played together from 1903-1910. They along with third baseman Harry Steinfield, formed the nucleus of one of baseballs greatest teams of all time.

After Chance took over for the ailing Frank Seele in 1905, the Cubs won 116 games in 1906. The 1906 club still holds the record for the highest winning percentage in the modern era, with a .763 mark. However, they lost in the 1906 World Series against their cross-town rival Chicago White Sox in five games.

In 1907, the NL race could be summed up in one word: Chicago. Frank Chance’s juggernaut fell off to a 107-45 record, 17 games in front of Pittsburgh. With no hitters over .300, the Chicago attack slipped by more than a hundred runs, but the Cubs pitching continued it’s dominance of the NL hitters. Led by Jack Pfiester’s league leading 1.15 ERA and Carl Lundgrens 1.17 ERA, Chicago pitchers occupied four of the top five spots on the ERA leader board. The Cubs won the NL pennant. The Cubs went on to record the first sweep in World Series history by defeating the Detroit Tigers.

In 1908, the Cubs repeated as champs of the National League. For the second straight year, the Cubs humiliated the Tigers in the World Series four games to one. This World Series triumph would be the last for the Cubs.

Around 1918, chewing gum magnet William Wrigley obtained majority ownership.

During the 1930s, the Cubs were one of baseballs best teams. In 1929, the Cubs won the NL pennant only to lose to the Philadelphia A’s in five games after the A’s overcame an 8-0 deficit in a ten run seventh inning in game four. This is still the biggest inning in World Series history.

In 1932, 1935 and 1938, the Cubs won the NL pennant, but lost all three to the New York Yankees and the Detroit Tigers.

The Cubs enjoyed one last NL pennant in 1945 behind MVP Phil Cavarretta, who hit a league leading .355, scored 94 runs, and knocked in 97. Stan Hack batted .323 and scored 110 times. The key to the Cubs success was pitching staff of Ray Prim, Claude Passeau, and 22-10 Hank Wyse. Right-hander Hank Borowy went 11-2 with an ERA of 2.14 in 14 starts. As it turned out, the Cubs pitching failed them in a close, seven game series.

From 1947 to 1966, the Cubs were one of the National Leagues worst teams. During that time, the Cubs only finished at .500 or better twice, most of those teams lost over 90 games.

The Cubs had a big lead in the newly created National League East in August of 1969, led by all-star Ron Santos, Hall of Famers Ernie Banks, Ferguson Jenkins, and Billy Williams. The Cubs lost their 9 1/2 game lead over the Mets and ending the season 8 games out of first place, leaving Chicago fans in disbelief.

After the fall in 1969 to the Mets, most of the core players were still in Cubs uniforms. However, after 1973 most of the players had retired or been traded to other clubs. From 1973-1983, the Cubs combined for 165 games under.500, and the teams high point during that stretch was in 1978 when the team went 81-81, and even in that season, the Cubs were 42-22 and in first place when they lost 17 of their last 22 games and finishing just at .500.

During the late 70s and early 80s, the Cubs featured players such as Dave Kingman, Rick Reuschel, Bill Madlock, Jose Cardinal, and Ivan De Jesus. In 1983, the Cubs traded DeJesus for Ryan Sanberg and Larry Bowa.

During the middle of the 1984 season, the Cubs acquired pitcher Rick Sutcliffe from the Cleveland Indians. The club was managed by Jim Frey who had a good core team guided by 1984 MVP Ryan Sanberg, Lee Smth and third baseman Ron Cey. The Cubs finished the season with a league’s best 96 victories and won the NL East division crown. In their first postseason since 1945, the Cubs faced off against the San Diego Padres in the NLCS. The Cubs won the first two games by scores of 13-0 and 4-2. The Padres had home field advantage in games 3, 4 and five, with the Cubs needing only one more victory to advance to the World Series. After being beat in game 3, the Cubs lost a heartbreaker in game 4, when the teams star closer Lee Smith gave up a game-winning bottom of the ninth home run. Many Cubs’ fans remember Steve Garvey running around the bases pumping his fist in the air after he hit the home run. Game five was just as heartbreaking as the Cubs led 3-0 in the sixth inning when disaster struck as first baseman Leon Durham made a critical error helping the Padres win the series.

Anchored by Sanberg and Andre”Awesome” Dawson, the team finished up the season with 93 wins and the Cubs clinched the NL East. The Cubs featured young faces that helped the Cubs win their division like first baseman Mark Grace, who led the team in hitting in just his second year with the Cubs, Joe Giradi, who helped provide stability behind the plate for young pitchers Greg Maddux and Mike Bieliecki. This time, the Cubs faced the San Francisco Giants in the NLCS. Even though the Cubs played a good series, they still lost four games to none.

In 1998, Cubs outfielder Sammy Sosa was in race with St.Louis’s Mark McGwire for the single season home run record. Sammy finished the year with an amazing 66 home runs finishing second all-time. Sammy won the NL MVP. The Cubs also had the Rookie of the Year Award in Kerry Wood, who struck out a MLB tying 20 strikeouts in one game against the Houston Astros. In the postseason the Cubs faced off against the Braves, but the Cubs played poorly and were swept out of the playoffs.

In 2003, the Cubs won their first division crown in 14 years, behind Sosa, Wood and star pitcher Mark Prior. In the NLDS, the Cubs beat the Atlanta Braves for their first postseason series win since 1908.

In the NLCS, the Cubs took a three games to one series lead over the Florida Marlins and it appeared the Cubs would make their first World Series appearance in 58 years. The Cubs won game five thanks to the pitching of Josh Beckett. The Cubs took a 3-1 lead in the 8th inning of game six when fan, Steve Bartman, attempted to catch a foul ball that Moises Alou was also trying to catch to record the out. The play rattled the team, and opened the door for the Marlins to score 8 runs in the 8th inning to win the ball game. In game 7, the Marlins beat the Cubs, and once again, the Cubs were on the outside looking in.

Many Chicago Fans blame the 2003 loss on fan Steve Bartman. When Bartman left the game, he had to be escorted out by police.

In 2004, the Cubs held the Wild Card lead by a game and a half and then lost 7 of their last 9 games and gave up the lead to the Houston Astros. The final game of the season was meaningless, but star player Sammy Sosa left the game early which annoyed Cubs fans, this incident got Sosa traded.

After a five year stint with the Cubs, manager Dusty Baker was let go in 2007. Veteran manager Lou Piniella became the Cubs manager. Soon afterwards, the Cubs were sold to Sam Zell. In 2007, the Cubs gave Alfonso Soriano the richest contract in team history. During the season, the Cubs rallied to overcome an 8 1/2 game deficit and win the NL Central Division for the first time since 2003. Alfonso Soriano led the team in home runs with 33, Derrek Lee led the team in hitting with a .317 average, while also leading the team in doubles with 43. Pitcher Carlos Zambrano led the staff with 18 wins. During the NLDS, the Cubs luck ran out as they lost to the Arizona Diamondbacks in three games.