Chicago Cubs

Team information

• Inaugural season: 1876
• Home ballpark: Wrigley Field, Chicago, Illinois
• Owner: Ricketts family
• Team colors: Blue, red, and white

Overview

The Chicago Cubs are a Major League Baseball (MLB) team that plays in the Central division of the National League (NL). A founding member of the original NL in 1876 as the Chicago White Stockings, the team first took the field as the Cubs in 1903. Over the course of their long history, the Cubs have won several World Series championships, numerous NL pennants, and various other accolades. In 2016, the Cubs made history when they beat the Cleveland Indians to break a 108-year World Series championship drought, the longest streak of its kind in all major North American sports. Heading into the 2024 season, the Cubs amassed an all-time record that included 11,244 wins and 10,688 losses for an overall .513 win/loss percentage. Known for their deeply devoted fan base, the Cubs are often considered one of baseball’s most popular teams. The Cubs are also one of the MLB’s most financially successful teams, worth an estimated $4.1 billion in 2023.

In addition to their on-field activities, the Chicago Cubs also maintain an active commitment to philanthropy. These efforts are primarily performed through Cubs Charities, an organization aimed at utilizing the overwhelming passion of Cubs fans to improve the lives of children and families in need across the Chicago region. Cubs Charities specifically seeks to provide access to various sports opportunities to promote health, fitness, and education among those most in need.

History

The history of the Chicago Cubs began with the formation of the NL in 1876. Among the charter members of the NL was a team in Chicago called the Chicago White Stockings. Formed as an amateur team just two years prior, the White Stockings were the earliest predecessor of the Cubs. Led by multi-position player Cap Anson, the White Stockings quickly emerged as one of the NL’s best teams, winning six championships in the league’s first eleven seasons. In the 1890s, the White Stockings twice adopted different monikers, becoming the Colts in 1890 and the Orphans in 1898. When the MBL was officially formed in 1903, the team finally became known as the “Cubs,” a name that served as a nod to the team’s many young players.

In their first few years, the Cubs showed considerable promise, winning 82 games in 1903 and more than 90 games in both 1904 and 1905. The early Cubs began to reach their pinnacle in 1906. That year, the team won 116 regular season games and reached the World Series for the first time in the MLB era before ultimately falling to the crosstown rival Chicago White Sox. Undeterred by this loss, the Cubs resumed their winning ways in 1907 and eventually defeated the Ty Cobb-led Detroit Tigers to win the first World Series championship in franchise history. The Cubs subsequently repeated this remarkable feat the next year, beating the Tigers once more to claim a second-straight World Series title.

In the 1910s and 1920s, success was harder to come by for the Cubs. During that period, the team won NL pennants in 1910 and 1918 only to lose in the World Series. Outside of those two runs, the Cubs otherwise failed to make the postseason at all. The situation did not significantly improve until the end of the 1920s. Starting in 1929, the Cubs won the first of several additional NL pennants, with subsequent wins coming in 1932, 1935, and 1938. Still, the team continued to fall short of winning another World Series.

Following their 1938 NL pennant victory, the Cubs entered a prolonged slump during which they suffered losing seasons every year until 1945. That year, the Cubs won another NL pennant and returned to the World Series once more. It was during that particular World Series that the Cubs were first hexed with the legendary “Curse of the Billy Goat.” According to one common version of the story, a local tavern owner named Billy Sianis was forced to leave Chicago’s Wrigley Field during Game 4 of the series after coming to the game with his goat. When he was ejected from the stadium, Sianis reportedly cursed the Cubs, prophesying that the team would not appear in another World Series for more than seventy years.

In the years after the “Curse of the Billy Goat” was issued, the Cubs endured a long period of bitter disappointment. For nearly forty years, the team failed to make the postseason at all. One of the Cubs’ closest brushes with success during that time came in 1969, when a promising season that seemed likely to result in a playoff return ultimately ended in an epic collapse that left the team out of postseason contention once again. The Cubs finally reached the postseason again in 1984, but fell short of returning to the World Series after losing to the San Diego Padres in the National League Championship Series (NLCS). Amidst further losing seasons in the 1980s, 1990s, and 2000s, the Cubs reached the NLCS twice more in 1989 and 2003 before losing again. The latter of these NLCS appearances ended under especially difficult circumstances. Entering Game 6 of the series up three games to two, the Cubs appeared to be on the verge of returning to the World Series at last. However, when the team was just five outs away from victory, an overly ambitious Cubs fan unintentionally blocked an attempted catch by Florida Marlins outfielder Moises Alou in a notorious moment known as the Bartman incident. The disruption caused by this occurrence eventually led the Cubs to lose the game and the series.

After winning divisional titles in 2007 and 2008, the Cubs began yet another extended downturn. Forced into a rebuilding period, the Cubs eventually reemerged with a younger, more talented team that was poised for success. In 2015, the newly reenergized Cubs made an unlikely comeback resulting in an NLCS appearance against the New York Mets. Despite falling to the Mets, the team continued to perform strongly. The next year, the Cubs returned to the NLCS and defeated the Los Angeles Dodgers to finally win a berth in the World Series. In the battle that followed, the Cubs took on the Cleveland Indians in a competitive matchup that went all the way to Game 7. In the final contest, the Cubs narrowly defeated the Indians 41–33 to win their first World Series championship in 108 years. After that, the Cubs returned to the NLCS in 2017 before beginning another slide that would see the team miss the postseason five times in the next six years.

Notable players

A number of former Chicago Cubs players has been inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, New York. Chief among these honorees is third baseman Ron Santo, who played fourteen of his fifteen MLB seasons with the Cubs. Through the 1960s and into the 1970s, Santo was a multiple time All-Star who was one of the few bright spots during one of the Cubs’ darkest periods. During his time with the team, Santo recorded 337 home runs and more than 1,200 runs batted in (RBIs) en route to a .279 batting average. Although he closed out his career with the White Sox, Santo is widely considered to be the greatest Cubs player of all time. First baseman and shortstop Ernie Banks played his entire nineteen-year career with the Cubs. Also known as “Mr. Cub,” Banks was an outstanding defensive player who led the league in fielding percentage on three separate occasions. He was also a prolific batter who earned a .274 career batting average and amassed 2,583 hits, 1,305 runs, and 1,636 RBIs—not to mention 512 home runs—before his retirement. Second and third baseman Ryne Sandberg spent all but one year of his sixteen-season career in Chicago and played in more than 2,100 games during that time. A ten-time All-Star, Sandberg had a record-breaking 123 consecutive errorless games. In his career with the Cubs, he recorded a total of 2,385 hits, 1,316 runs, and 282 homers. Leftfielder and first baseman Billy Williams played with the Cubs for sixteen years from 1959 to 1974. During that time, he distinguished himself as one of the game’s best hitters. Over the course of his career in Chicago, Williams recorded 2,510 hits, 1,306 runs, and 392 homers en route to a .296 batting average. Other notable Cubs Hall of Famers include Cap Anson, Mordecai Brown, Frank Chance, Johnny Evers, and Billy Herman.

There have been many other notable Chicago Cubs as well. Third baseman and outfielder Kris Bryant joined the Cubs in 2015 and quickly became one of the team’s best players. The 2015 NL Rookie of the Year and a multiple-time All-Star, Bryant had 865 hits, 564 runs, and 182 homers with the Cubs before being traded in 2021. First baseman Anthony Rizzo initially came to the Cubs in 2012 after a disappointing rookie season with the San Diego Padres the previous year. In Chicago, he soon became one of the game’s most consistent players. Through ten seasons with the Cubs, Rizzo had 1,311 hits, 721 runs, and 242 homers. Other noteworthy Cubs include Carlos Zambrano, Sammy Sosa, Jake Arrieta, and Aramis Ramirez.

Bibliography

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