That stretch included a controversial tie against the Giants on Sept. Chicago alertly—and controversially—forced Merkle out at second, taking the winning run off the board for the Giants. Chicago went on to beat Detroit once again for its second straight championship. They would have a long wait until their third. Longest World Series championship droughts. In the Cubs won their fourth pennant in five years but lost a five-game World Series to the Philadelphia Athletics. Over the course of the next decade, Brown, Tinkers, Evers and Chance all left, and the team slumped to the bottom of the league.
The new ownership soon brought a pennant back to the Cubs, who finished first in the NL in but again lost the World Series, this time to a Boston Red Sox team led by ace southpaw Babe Ruth. Chicago was poised to tie the Series at in Game 4 when it carried an lead into the bottom of the seventh. Before Ted Williams, there was Rogers Hornsby, the best righthanded hitter of all time.
With an aging Hornsby acting as player-manager for the first half of the season, the Cubs won 90 games to secure the pennant but ran into the buzzsaw that was the New York Yankees. Coming off a win season and playing in their fourth World Series in seven years, the Bronx Bombers easily swept aside the Cubs. In the summer of , construction began on the centerfield bleachers and the scoreboard at Wrigley Field, both of which remain in place to this day. That same year, team president Bill Veeck suggested planting ivy on the outfield walls as part of team owner P.
Wrigley approved, and the ivy has remained an iconic part of the ballpark ever since. Wrigley Field's most memorable moments. Behind staff ace Dizzy Dean, Chicago won the first game to cut the lead to half a game.
The next day, the two teams were tied at five going into the ninth. With darkness falling and no lights at Wrigley, the umpires ruled that the game would be stopped after the ninth and, if still tied, replayed the next day. But with two outs in the bottom of the frame, catcher Gabby Hartnett launched a walk-off home run to give the Cubs the win that moved them into first place. Chicago ultimately won the pennant by two games but was swept again by the Yankees in the World Series.
After several years of sub-. Pitted against the Tigers in the World Series, the Cubs won two of the first three games. But during Game 4 at Wrigley, Billy Sianis, the owner of the nearby Billy Goat Tavern, was asked to leave the game because the smell of his pet goat, Murphy, was bothering the other fans. In the first-ever tiebreaker for a wild-card spot, Steve Trachsel takes a no-hitter into the seventh inning and leads the Cubs to a victory over the San Francisco Giants.
Louis Cardinals' slugger Mark McGwire in a home run race that captivated the nation. Sosa becomes only the fourth player ever to hit more than 60 home runs in a year, as his 66 were the second most in major-league history to McGwire's Kerry Wood, in just his fifth major-league start, strikes out 20 Astros in the complete-game victory, tying a major-league record for most strikeouts in a game.
Wood became just the fourth Cubs player--and the club's first pitcher - to earn Rookie of the Year honors. Wood goes with strikeouts and a 3. While the team could not repeat the previous season's glory, Sosa, in , becomes the first player in major-league history to reach the homer mark twice. Mark Grace becomes the first Cubs during the s to lead a decade in hits. The first baseman also was the s doubles leader and finished 2nd in singles behind the Padres Tony Gwynn.
Coming off the Wild Card season, the club establishes single-year marks for home, road and total attendance. September 25, Frank Castillo tosses 8. May 6, Rookie Kerry Wood ties major-league record by fanning 20 batters in Cubs' win vs. September 13, In Cubs' inning win vs. Milwaukee, Sammy Sosa hits home runs Nos. September 28, Cubs capture NL wild-card postseason berth with win vs. Giants in one-game playoff. September 18, Sammy Sosa becomes first player in major-league history to reach homer mark in back-to-back seasons.
The new millennium began as a tale of two seasons. In , the team finished with a record and established a club record when 51 players appeared in at least one game -- breaking the old mark of 49, set in The club also said goodbye to Mark Grace, who was a fixture at first base for the North Siders for 13 seasons. There were also many moments to celebrate, such as when Eric Young became the first Cub since the first season of Chicago National League baseball to steal five bases in a single game.
In , the organization's fortunes reversed direction. In addition to finishing -- games better than they had the previous year and only the sixth time since that the Cubs finished a season with a plus. The Cubs became the only team in Major League history to go an entire season without allowing an opposing pitcher to go the distance against them.
Their pitching staff established a Major League record 1, strikeouts, besting the mark of 1, set by Atlanta in And with 2,, fans attending home games, the Cubs closed out the season with the second-highest home attendance figure in park history.
Sammy Sosa also concluded with one of the most memorable four-season offensive stretches in Major League history.
During that span, the Cubs resident slugger hit at least 50 home runs each year, joining Babe Ruth and Mark McGwire as the only players with more than two roundtripper campaigns. He also established the total base record for a four-year period with 1, and his RBI total of was the most in the Majors since Lou Gehrig drove in from Sosa also set the big-league record for most homers over a six-year period with The season also saw Sammy Sosa tag total bases for his second plus campaign, setting club marks for extra-base hits and slugging percentage , topping the records set by Hack Wilson.
Sosa is the only player since World War II to accomplish this feat, having previously reached it in as well. And those spikes were apparently made for walking. Sosa was intentionally walked 37 times in , breaking the big league mark for a right-handed batter. Sosa wasn't the only Cub in to post impressive numbers. Jon Lieber became the first Cub since Greg Maddux in to win 20 games, posting a record and a 3.
Kerry Wood fanned batters in , reaching the K plateau for the second time in his career. Wood is the first Cub since Fergie Jenkins to record multiple strikeout seasons. In , the Cubs struggled to a record and fifth place finish, 30 games back.
The pitching staff did lead the Major Leagues in strikeouts with 1, but Cubs batters also whiffed the most with 1, Among the bright spots: Sammy Sosa led the National League in home runs 49 for the second time in three years and also runs scored He belted his th career homer in the last game of the regular season and was one swing away from joining the club.
Kerry Wood and Matt Clement ranked third and fourth in the NL in strikeouts with and , respectively. The only other time the Cubs had two pitchers with strikeouts was when Fergie Jenkins and Ken Holtzman did so. Wood made a career-high 33 starts and topped innings pitched for the first time. One of the highlights of the season was the emergence of rookie right-hander Mark Prior, the Cubs' No.
He fanned 10 in his first start, the highest total by a Cubs pitcher in his debut since New Chicago Cubs manager Dusty Baker wanted to see improvement in He never imagined the team would be five outs away from the World Series. It wasn't exactly a smooth ride as superstar Sammy Sosa missed a month with a sore big toe and was suspended seven games for using a corked bat.
Joe Borowski calmly handled the closer duties, saving 33 games. He'd started the season with two saves in his career. General manager Jim Hendry was aggressive and found players to fill voids, acquiring Kenny Lofton, Aramis Ramirez and Randall Simon in the second half.
The Cubs won the division title in the second-to-last game with a doubleheader sweep against Pittsburgh. The team then saluted one of its legends, Ron Santo, by retiring his No. It marked the first postseason series win for the franchise since The Cubs were five outs away from advancing to the World Series for the first time since but lost Games 6 and 7 of the NL Championship Series at home and were eliminated by the Florida Marlins.
It was a wild ride. For the first time since , the Chicago Cubs completed back-to-back winning seasons in But that proved to be little consolation for a club that was expected to make a return trip to the postseason but finished third in the NL Central.
The Cubs were ravaged by injuries, including Mark Prior, who did not make his season debut until June 4 because of an inflamed Achilles tendon, Kerry Wood, who missed two months with a sore triceps and Sammy Sosa, who missed nearly a month with back spasms. Nomar Garciaparra -- who was acquired on July 31 in a four-team trade -- was also hindered by injuries, battling nagging problems with his Achilles, wrist and groin, and was unable to provide the spark the Cubs were looking for.
The season was not without its excitement, however. Greg Maddux, in his return to the Cubs, became the 22nd Major League pitcher to win games, Sosa passed Ernie Banks to become the club's all-time home run leader and the Cubs boasted four home run hitters Moises Alou, Derrek Lee, Aramis Ramirez and Sosa for the first time in team history.
Oh, what might have been. It was a disappointing year for the Cubs, who had high hopes for the season, but were again bitten by the injury bug that played a major part in their campaign, good for fourth in the NL Central. The slugger flirted with the Triple Crown for the majority of the season and finished with a. Lee also led the team in doubles 50 , triples tied with three , homers 46 , runs , RBIs and stolen bases tied with The Cubs also found a solid closer in Ryan Dempster, who made the switch to the position during the season and became one of three Major League pitchers to both make a start and save 30 games in a single season.
He finished the season with 33 saves in 35 opportunities. But injuries hindered the Cubs' postseason chances. Nomar Garciaparra missed three months with a groin injury, Kerry Wood's injured right shoulder forced him to push back his Opening Day start and nagged him all season, causing him to miss two months, Mark Prior missed significant time after being hit in the elbow on a line drive and Aramis Ramirez missed the final six weeks because of a leg injury.
Injuries again hurt the Cubs, who lost 96 games in First baseman Derrek Lee fractured his wrist in a freak collision in mid-April, and the offense sputtered. Cubs pitchers led the Major Leagues in strikeouts, but ace Carlos Zambrano stole the show at the plate.
The right-hander belted six home runs to tie the single-season record for most by a pitcher Ferguson Jenkins, and also won his first Silver Slugger award. Zambrano was winless in April, yet rallied to win 16 games and finished fifth in the Cy Young voting. Manager Dusty Baker compiled a record in four seasons with the Cubs, but after the season ended, he was not retained.
In October, the team hired Lou Piniella as the club's 50th manager. The Cubs made their first postseason appearance since but they were swept in the National League Division Series by the Arizona Diamondbacks. Cubs pitchers led the Majors in strikeouts for the seventh straight season. Carlos Zambrano set a career-high with 18 wins while two newcomers, Ted Lilly and Jason Marquis, won 15 and 12 games, respectively.
Ryan Dempster was the closer but Carlos Marmol was the star of the bullpen, compiling a 1. This was Alfonso Soriano's first season in Chicago, too, after signing an eight-year contract and the left fielder hit 33 homers and 70 RBIs. Soriano carried the club in September, hitting a Major League record seven leadoff homers in the month. The parent Tribune Co. This season was the th anniversary of the last Cubs' World Series championship, and they capped it by winning their second straight National League Central title with a league-leading 97 wins.
It was the first time since that the team had advanced to the playoffs in consecutive years. Ryan Dempster switched from closer to starter and won a personal high 17 games while Kerry Wood went from starter to closer and saved The pitching highlight came Sept.
The game had been relocated from Houston because of Hurricane Ike. The Cubs led the National League and were second in the Majors with runs scored. They had four players with at least 80 RBIs and five with at least 20 home runs.
In his first season behind the plate, catcher Geovany Soto belted 23 homers and drove in 86, and won National League Rookie of the Year. Soto was the first rookie catcher ever to start an All-Star game for the NL. The Cubs missed their bid to three-peat in the National League Central, finishing second at It was the second time the Cubs had a winning record in three consecutive seasons in the last 70 years. Lou Piniella is the first Cubs manager since Charlie Grimm to post a.
Derrek Lee led the team with a. Aramis Ramirez shoulder missed 50 games, Reed Johnson foot missed 49, and 10 others missed at least Ramirez did drive in 65 runs in 82 games. The Cubs had eight players with 10 or more homers for the first time since , including Milton Bradley, who had a tumultuous first year in Chicago. Bradley batted. The biggest surprise was rookie Randy Wells, a converted catcher, who finished tied for the team lead with 12 wins with All-Star Ted Lilly.
Wells became the first rookie to reach double-digit wins since Kerry Wood won 13 in Carlos Marmol took over the closer's job in mid-August and went for in save situations. The sale of the team was finally completed. The Tribune Co. Tom Ricketts was named chairman, and didn't promise a World Series championship, but did emphasize getting there was the Cubs' goal and that they had the personnel to get there.
While most of baseball celebrated the Year of the Pitcher, the season may best be remembered as the Year of the Rookies for the Cubs. The team finished fifth at , 16 games behind the Cincinnati Reds in the National League Central.
The Cubs never topped. Eighteen rookies played, including 12 pitchers. Eleven players made their Major League debuts in , with the most notable on May 7 when shortstop Starlin Castro burst onto the scene. He hit a three-run homer in his first at-bat and added a three-run triple against the Reds. Tyler Colvin hit 20 homers in his first full season, the fourth most by a Cubs rookie, but his season ended early when he was stabbed in the chest by a broken bat Sept. Another star rookie was Andrew Cashner, part of a young bullpen, who made his Major League debut May The Cubs did lead the NL in quality starts but went in one-run games, the most losses in the Majors.
Carlos Marmol set a franchise mark with strikeouts in relief. His Carlos Zambrano ended the season with a 1. This was to be Lou Piniella's final season, but he began his retirement early, leaving after the August 22 game to tend to family matters. Mike Quade, a Chicago-area native who was the third base coach, took over, becoming the Cubs' 51st manager.
They went under "Q," the second-best record in the Major Leagues in the span behind the Philadelphia Phillies' mark. On October 19, Quade agreed to a two-year contract with a club option for Manager Mike Quade, who grew up a Cubs fan in the Chicago area, faced an uphill battle after the first five games when the team lost both starters Andrew Cashner and Randy Wells to injuries. They acquired a lot of talent in the deadline deals this year.
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