Chicago Cubs: Difference between revisions
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=====''"White flag time at Wrigley!"''===== |
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The term ''"White flag time at Wrigley!"'' basically means the Cubs have won. In the days before the internet, and before most homes had televisions, fans had little access to finding out if the Cubs had won or lost, since the games were played during the day and most people were either at work or school at this time. PK Wrigley had a white flag with a blue "W" on it, which represented the word 'Win' flown over the park to let fans know that there was a positive outcome to that day's game, instead of having to wait until the next morning to read the newspapers. That tradition continues to this day, and has evolved to fans carrying the flags to both home and away games, and displaying them after a Cub win. The flags have become more and more popular each season since 1998, and are now even sold at the ballpark. On April 24th, 2008 the Cubs flew a white flag displaying "10,000" in addition to the customary "W" flag normally displayed after wins. Notably, the Cubs were not only at Colorado on the date, but also lost. It was possibly the first time the "W" flag was flown even though the Cubs lost that day's only game. The Cubs customarily fly two flags to display the outcomes of a day's doubleheader. |
The term ''"White flag time at Wrigley!"'' basically means the Cubs have won. In the days before the internet, and before most homes had televisions, fans had little access to finding out if the Cubs had won or lost, since the games were played during the day and most people were either at work or school at this time. PK Wrigley had a white flag with a blue "W" on it, which represented the word 'Win' flown over the park to let fans know that there was a positive outcome to that day's game, instead of having to wait until the next morning to read the newspapers. That tradition continues to this day, and has evolved to fans carrying the flags to both home and away games, and displaying them after a Cub win. The flags have become more and more popular each season since 1998, and are now even sold at the ballpark. On April 24th, 2008 the Cubs flew a white flag displaying "10,000" in addition to the customary "W" flag normally displayed after wins. Notably, the Cubs were not only at Colorado on the date, but also lost. It was possibly the first time the "W" flag was flown even though the Cubs lost that day's only game. The Cubs customarily fly two flags to display the outcomes of a day's doubleheader. {{Fact|date=April 2008}} |
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=====Mascots===== |
=====Mascots===== |
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Revision as of 00:45, 25 April 2008
 | This article needs additional citations for verification. (March 2008) |
 | For current information on this topic, see 2008 Chicago Cubs season. |
| Chicago Cubs | |||||
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 2024 Chicago Cubs season | |||||
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| Major league affiliations | |||||
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| Retired numbers | 10, 14, 23, 26, 42 | ||||
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Chicago Orphans (1898-1901)
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| Major league titles | |||||
| World Series titles (2) | 1908 • 1907 | ||||
| NL Pennants (16) | 1945 • 1938 • 1935 • 1932 1929 • 1918 • 1910 • 1908 1907 • 1906 • 1886 • 1885 1882 • 1881 • 1880 • 1876 | ||||
| Central Division titles (2) | 2007 • 2003 | ||||
| East Division titles (2) | 1989 • 1984 | ||||
| Wild card berths (1) | 1998 | ||||
| Front office | |||||
| Principal owner(s) | Sam Zell | ||||
| General manager | Jim Hendry | ||||
| Manager | Lou Piniella | ||||
The Chicago Cubs are a professional baseball team based in Chicago, Illinois. The Cubs are members and defending champions of the Central Division of Major League Baseball’s National League. The club has played their home games at historic Wrigley Field since 1916. The Cubs are one of two Major League clubs in Chicago, the other being the Chicago White Sox, and are one of the only two remaining charter members left in the NL, the other being the Atlanta Braves. The franchise won its 10,000th game on April 23rd, 2008, an MLB record for a team in a single city.
The Cubs are often referred to by fans and media as The North Siders, since Wrigley is in Chicago's north side Lakeview community, or simply as The Cubbies.
The Cubs are currently managed by Lou Piniella, and their general manager is Jim Hendry. In December, 2007, Sam Zell completed his purchase of the club's parent company, Tribune Company, and intends to sell the team.[1]
Early franchise history
White Stockings/Colts
The success and fame of the Cincinnati Red Stockings of 1869, baseball's first openly all-professional team, led to an increase of other professional teams. Chicago adopted the name White Stockings, a variant of Cincinnati's team. On April 29, 1870, the team played their first game against the St. Louis Unions, winning 47-1.[2]
The White Stockings joined the National Association, the first professional baseball league in 1871. They played at Union Base-Ball Grounds, however the stadium was destroyed later in the year by the Great Chicago Fire. They finished 2nd in the N.A. The club was considering dropping out of the league until 1874 when they started playing at the 23rd Street Grounds. After the 1875 season, Chicago acquired their first future Hall of Famers, pitcher Albert Spalding and first baseman / manager Adrian "Cap" Anson. Anson was the first player ever to reach 3,000 hits. [citation needed]
The club's president, William Hulbert contributed to the formation of the National League. In 1880, they finished 67-17, for an all-time record .798 winning percentage. Early teams played only 84 contests with long travel times between series, thus only needing two starting pitchers. Larry Corcoran, Fred Goldsmith and later John Clarkson were some of the starting pitchers during this time.
In 1882, the American Association, the second major league, was founded. They faced the St. Louis Browns twice in championship games. The first series between the two ended in a dispute, causing a rivalry between the two.[citation needed] The St. Louis Browns were later be renamed the Cardinals, and continue the rivalry with the present Cubs.
The print media used the nickname Colts and then the Orphans for brief periods before ultimately being dubbed the Cubs in the early 1900s.[citation needed] The name Chicago White Stockings was adopted in 1900 by another Chicago team, which was to be part of the newly formed American League.
Golden years - a Cub dynasty
Joe Tinker (shortstop), Johnny Evers (second baseman), and Frank Chance (first baseman) were three Cubs infielders who played together at Chicago's West Side Park from 1903 to 1912. They were well known for their numerous double plays.[citation needed] Mordecai "Three-Finger" Brown, Jack Taylor, Ed Reulbach, Jack Pfiester and Orval Overall were several key pitchers for the cubs during this time period. With Chance as player-manager, the Cubs won four pennants and two World Series titles over a five-year span. Although they fell to the White Sox in the 1906 World Series, The Cubs recorded a record 116 victories and the best winning percentage (.763) of the modern era. With this roster, Chicago won back to back World Series championships in 1907 and 1908. Veteran catcher Johnny Kling sat out the 1909 season to become a pocket billiards player. He was replaced by Jimmy Archer. Some historians think Kling's absence was significant enough to prevent the Cubs from also winning the pennant in 1909. They finished 6 games out of first place. [3] When Kling returned the next year, the Cubs won the pennant again, but lost to the Philadelphia Athletics in the 1910 World Series.
Every three years
With owner William Wrigley's money and William Veeck's front-office savvy, the Cubs were soon back in business in the National League, having built a team that would be strong contenders for the next decade. Hack Wilson, Gabby Hartnett, Rogers Hornsby, and many other stars donned Cub uniforms during this period, and they achieved the unusual accomplishment of winning a pennant every three years - 1929, 1932, 1935 and 1938. Unfortunately, their success did not extend to the post-season, as they fell to their AL rivals each time. The '32 series featured Babe Ruth's "called shot." There were some historic moments for the Cubs as well - they won the '35 pennant in thrilling fashion, winning a record 21 games in a row in September. The '38 club saw Dizzy Dean lead the team's pitching staff and provided a historic moment when they won a late-season game with a "walk-off" homer by Gabby Hartnett, which became known in baseball lore as "The Homer in the Gloamin'." By 1939, the 'double-Bills' (Wrigley and Veeck) had both passed away, and the front office, now under P.K. Wrigley found itself unable to rekindle the kind of success that P.K.'s father had created, and so the team slipped into a few years of mediocrity.
The Curse
The Cubs enjoyed one more pennant at the close of World War II. Due to the wartime travel restrictions, the first three games were played in Detroit, where the Cubs won two games, including a one-hitter by Claude Passeau, and the final four were played at Wrigley. In game 4 of the 1945 World Series, the Curse of the Billy Goat was allegedly laid upon the Cubs when P.K. Wrigley ejected Billy Sianis, who had come to game 4 with two box seat tickets, one for him and one for his goat. They paraded around for a few innings, but Wrigley demanded the goat leave the park due to its unpleasant odor. Upon his ejection, Mr. Sianis uttered, "the Cubs, they ain't gonna win no more." The Cubs lost game 4, lost the 1945 World Series, and have not been back since. It has also been said by many that Sianis put a "curse" on the Cubs, apparently preventing the team from making it back to (but not actually winning) the World Series. After losing the 1945 World Series, the Cubs finished with winning seasons the next two years, but those teams did not enter post-season play.
Recent history
Fall of 1969
After over twenty years of futility, things were finally looking up in 1969, as skipper Leo Durocher's Cubs had built a substantial lead in the newly created National League East in August. They were led by All Star Ron Santo and eventual Hall Of Famers Ernie Banks, Ferguson Jenkins, and Billy Williams. Ken Holtzman pitched a no-hitter on August 19, and the division lead was 8½ games over the Cardinals and 9½ games over the New York Mets, but the Cubs played erratic baseball and lost key games against the Mets, ultimately losing the lead. Many superstitious fans attribute this collapse to an incident at Shea Stadium when a fan released a black cat onto the field, thereby further cursing the club. Others have stated the sheer number of day games that the Cubs had to play contributed to the disaster. (Lights for night games were not installed in Wrigley Field until 1988.) Chicago's summers are quite humid (85-90 degrees Fahrenheit on average), and playing in this heat day after day might have taken its toll[4]). From August 14 through the end of the season, the Mets had an amazing 39-11 record, finishing with 100 wins and an 8 game lead over the second place Cubs, who slumped in September, going only 8-17 and finishing 92-70.
May 17, 1979
In an afternoon game at Wrigley Field against the Philadelphia Phillies, 45 runs were scored, 22 by the Cubs, but 23 by the Phillies. This fell just a few short of the Major League record, set by the Cubs and Phillies on August 25, 1922, when the Cubs outlasted the Phillies 26-23.
1984 heartbreak
After more than a dozen more subpar seasons, the 1984 Cubs made a midseason deal to acquire ace pitcher Rick Sutcliffe from Cleveland, who joined Scott Sanderson, Ron Cey and NL MVP Ryne Sandberg on a squad that ultimately tallied an NL best 96 victories, winning the NL East. In the NLCS the Cubbies won the first two games at Wrigley Field against the San Diego Padres. The Cubs needed to win only one game of the next three in San Diego to make it back to the World Series. After being beaten in game 3, the Cubs lost when dependable closer Lee Smith allowed a game-winning home run to Steve Garvey in the bottom of the 9th inning of Game 4. In Game 5 the Cubs took a 3-0 lead to the 6th inning, and a 3-2 lead into the 7th with Sutcliffe (who won the Cy Young Award that year) still on the mound, but he tired, and a critical error by Leon Durham, who watched a routine grounder go through his legs helped San Diego win the game and kept Chicago out of the 1984 World Series.
1989 NL East champions
In 1989, the first full season with night baseball at Wrigley Field, the Cubs were led by a core group of veterans in Sandberg, Sutcliffe and Andre Dawson, who were boosted by a crop of youngsters such as Mark Grace, Shawon Dunston, Greg Maddux and Rookie of the Year Jerome Walton. The Cubbies won the NL East once again that season winning 93 games. This time the Northsiders met the San Francisco Giants in the NLCS. After splitting the first two games at home, the Cubs headed to the Bay Area, where despite holding a lead at some point in each of the next three games, bullpen meltdowns and managerial blunders ultimately led to three straight losses. The Giants lost to "The Bash Brothers" and the Oakland A's in the famous "Earthquake Series".
1998 wild card
After the retirement of Sandberg and the trading of Dunston, the team needed to look elsewhere for help. In 1998 the Cubs signed outfielder Henry Rodriguez while Sammy Sosa responded with a 66 home run season. This effort, coupled with a Rookie of the Year season by Kerry Wood, won a down-to-the-wire Wild Card chase over San Francisco, culminating with the Cubs beating the Giants in a one game playoff at Wrigley in which Gary Gaetti hit a game winning homer and propelled the Cubs into the postseason once again. They scored only six runs en route to being swept by Atlanta. The home run chase between Sosa, Mark McGwire, and Ken Griffey, Jr. generated a great deal of media coverage, and helped to bring in a new crop of fans as well as bringing back some fans who had been disillusioned by the 1994 strike.
2001 playoff push
Sosa had 64 homers and Jon Lieber won 20 games, while the club made a midseason deal for Fred McGriff (which was drawn out for nearly a month as McGriff debated waiving his no-trade clause) as the Northsiders led the wild card race by 2.5 games in early September, but the run died when Preston Wilson hit a three run walk off homer off of closer Tom "Flash" Gordon, which killed the team's momentum, and they failed to make another serious charge. The Cubs finished only 5 games behind both St. Louis and Houston.
2003 comeback
The Cubs had high expectations in 2002, but the squad played poorly, and the club responded hiring Dusty Baker and by making some major moves in '03. Most notably, they traded with the Pittsburgh Pirates for Aramis Ramirez, finally filling a gaping hole at third base, and rode dominant pitching as the Northsiders won their first division title in 14 years, and their NLDS victory over the Atlanta Braves was the team's first postseason series win since 1908. The Cubs then took a 3 games to 1 lead over the Florida Marlins. After being shut out in Game 5, Mark Prior and the Cubs took a 3-0 lead to the 8th inning of Game 6, when a now-infamous incident took place in which a fan, Steve Bartman, attempted to catch a foul ball off the bat of Luis Castillo, interfering with the potential catch for the second out by Moises Alou. Interference was not called on the play. Two batters later, Cubs shortstop Alex Gonzalez misplayed a potential inning ending double play, loading the bases, leading to a game-tying double by Derrek Lee. Florida scored 5 more runs, leading to a 8-3 Marlin victory. The Cubs were unable to win Game 7, despite sending Kerry Wood to the mound, and once again were left on the outside of the World Series looking in.
2004 letdown
In 2004, despite the return of Greg Maddux and a midseason deal for Nomar Garciaparra, misfortune struck the Cubs again. They led the Wild Card by 1.5 games on September 25, but LaTroy Hawkins blew a save to the Mets, and the Cubs proceeded to drop 7 of their last 9 games and relinquished their lead to the Astros. Despite winning 89 games, this fallout was decidedly unlovable, as the Cubs traded superstar Sammy Sosa after he had left the season's final game early and then lied about it publicly. Sosa, already a controversial figure in the clubhouse after his corked-bat incident, alienated much of his fan base, the manager, (and the few teammates still on good terms with him) with this incident, possibly tarnished his place in Cubs' lore for years to come. The disappointing season saw fans become frustrated] with the constant injuries to ace pitchers Mark Prior and Kerry Wood, and also led to the departure of popular commentator Steve Stone, who became increasingly critical of management and was verbally attacked by reliever Kent Mercker.
2007: Worst to first
After finishing with only 66 wins and 17.5 games out of first in 2006, the Northsiders re-tooled for 2007, signing Alfonso Soriano to the richest contract in Cub history and replacing skipper Dusty Baker with Lou Piniella. After a rough start, which included a brawl between Michael Barrett and Carlos Zambrano, the Cubs overcame the Milwaukee Brewers, who had led the division for most of the season, with an inspired stretch of baseball in June and July.
The Cubs seemed to respond well to Lou Piniella's first ejection, which came from an argument with the third base umpire in which he kicked dirt, screamed and threw his hat [1] .This came on the heels of the Barrett-Zambrano fight and is seen by many[who?] as the turning point in the season.
Chicago ultimately clinched the NL Central despite having only 85 wins, but were again unable to come through in the NLDS, stranding over 30 baserunners in a three game sweep by the Arizona Diamondbacks. Controversy followed the team as Piniella was criticized for pulling Zambrano after the sixth inning of a pitchers duel with Brandon Webb, saying he was saving Zambrano for a potential Game 4.
2008 so far
The Cubs started the 2008 season on March 31 losing 4-3 in 10 innings against the Milwaukee Brewers. The Cubs newest addition Kosuke Fukudome began his major league career with a 3for3 performance, a triple away from a cycle, including a game tying 3 run homer in the bottom of the ninth inning. The Cubs first win came 4 days later on April 3rd with a 6-3 win over the Brewers. Ryan Dempster won his first game as a starter since 2005 and former ace Kerry Wood picked up his first career save as the clubs new closer The Cubs through 21 games have gotten off to their best, which has been achieved only 4 other times in Cubs history, by going 15-6. They are 1st in the central division and tied for the best record in the National League and MLB
10,000th win
On April 23, 2008, against the Colorado Rockies, the Cubs recorded the 10,000th regular-season win in their history [2] dating back to the beginning of the National League in 1876. The Cubs had come into the 2008 season with an overall National League record of 9,985-9,459. Through games of April 23, they were 15-6 for the season, and 10,000-9,465 overall.
They are only the second club in Major League Baseball history to attain this milestone, the first having been the San Francisco Giants in mid-season 2005.
The Chicago club's 77 wins (against also 77 losses) overall in the predecessor National Association (1871, 1874-1875) are not included in MLB record keeping. Post-season series including World Series are also not included in the totals.
Though often called "the lovable losers", the Cubs are several seasons ahead of the ultimate losingest team, the Philadelphia Phillies, who surpassed the 10,000 loss mark in 2007.
Radio and television
As of 2007, the Cubs' flagship radio station was WGN, 720AM. With the recent end of the Pittsburgh Pirates' run on KDKA, this may now be the longest team-to-station relationship in MLB. Pat Hughes is the play-by-play announcer, along with color commentator Ron Santo and pre- and post-game host Cory Provus. Santo, a former Cubs star and a fan of the team, and who is introduced as "Cub legend" on a daily basis by Pat Hughes, is known for his emotional highs and lows during games. One example of a "low" was his "Nooo! Nooo!" when Brant Brown dropped a fly ball in a key game in 1998. A "high" for Santo was upon the retirement of his number on the last day of the 2003 season, in which he declared his #10 flag to be "my Hall of Fame".
The Chicago Cubs Radio Network consists of 45 stations in eleven states.
Cubs telecasts are split three ways: WGN (both the local station and the superstation), WCIU (a local independent station), and Comcast SportsNet. Len Kasper is the play-by-play announcer, and Bob Brenly, a former major league catcher and Arizona Diamondbacks manager, is the color commentator for the games. WGN also produces the games shown on WCIU; for those games, the score bug changes to "CubsNet." WGN and Comcast Sports Net each show an even number of Cubs and Sox games, while WCIU averages about 8 games per season per team. Occasionally, the Cubs are shown on the cable channel Comcast Sports Net+, when the usual CSN channel has a scheduling conflict. CSN+ is just the CSN game broadcast on a different cable channel from regular CSN, with the channel depending on the region (commonly CLTV). In addition, the club also produces its own print media, in the form of the Cubs' official magazine Vineline, which has eight annual issues and is in its third decade.
Jack and Harry
Two broadcasters have made their mark on the team. Jack Brickhouse manned the Cubs radio and especially the TV booth for parts of five decades, covering the games with a level of enthusiasm that often seemed unjustified by the team's poor performance on the field for many of those years. His trademark call "Hey Hey!" usually followed a home run or other spectacular play. That expression is spelled out in large letters vertically on both foul pole screens at Wrigley Field. "Whoo-boy!" and "Wheeee!" and "Oh, brother!" were among his other pet expressions. When he approached retirement age, he personally recommended his successor.
Harry Caray's stamp on the team is perhaps even deeper than that of Brickhouse, though his tenure was half as long. First, Caray had already become a well-known Chicago figure by broadcasting White Sox games for a decade, after having been a Cardinals icon for 25 years. Caray also had the benefit of being in the booth during the NL East title run in 1984, which was widely seen due to WGN's status as a cable-TV superstation. His trademark call of "Holy Cow!" and his enthusiastic singing of "Take me out to the ballgame" during the 7th inning stretch (as he had done with the White Sox) made Caray a fan favorite both locally and nationally. Harry occasionally had problems pronouncing names, to comic effect, such as his attempt at saying "Hector Villanueva" which was capture on WGN's memorial CD to Harry. He also continued his long-standing bit (dating back to the Cardinals years) of pronouncing names backwards. Caray had lively discussions with commentator Steve Stone, who was hand-picked by Harry himself, and producer Arne Harris. Caray often playfully quarreled with Stone over Stone's cigar and why Stone was single, while Stone would counter with poking fun at Harry being "under the influence." Stone disclosed in his book "Where's Harry" that most of this "arguing" was staged, and usually a ploy developed by Harry himself to add flavor to the broadcast. Additionally, Harry once did a commercial for Budweiser, dressed as a "Blues Brother" and parodying "Soul Man", singing "I'm a Cub fan, I'm a Bud man," while dancing with models dressed as ballgirls.
The Cubs still have a live singer, usually a celebrity, during the 7th inning stretch to honor Caray's memory. The most popular of these "guest conductors" is former Chicago Bears coach Mike Ditka[citation needed], who returns annually and is popular for singing terribly.[citation needed] Caray is also honored with a statue located at the corner of Sheffield and Addison streets, and during the 1998 season, a patch with Caray's caricature and Brickhouse's trademark "Hey Hey" were worn on the players sleeves to honor the passing of both commentators within a span of a few months. Harry's popularity also led to his grandson Chip Caray joining the broadcast team in winter of 1997, shortly before Harry's death. Chip Caray worked the Cubs games alongside Stone until events that unfolded in 2004, when Stone became increasingly critical of management and players toward season's end. At one point, reliever Kent Mercker phoned the booth during a game and told Stone to "keep out of team business." Stone left the team, taking a position with Chicago-based WSCR. Chip Caray also left, joining his father Skip Caray on TBS, providing play-by-play for the Braves.
Miscellaneous
Championship drought
The Chicago Cubs have not won a World Series championship since 1908 and have not appeared in a Series since 1945, although they have a number of post-season appearances since the multi-tiered playoff system was developed. It is the longest title drought in all five of the major American professional sports leagues, which includes the NFL, the NBA, the Major League Soccer/MISL and the NHL, as well as, of course, Major League Baseball. Playful theories try to blame the team's futility on alleged supernatural intervention, such as the Curse of the Billy Goat from 1945, citing the Leon Durham error of 1984 and the Bartman incident in 2003 as "evidence" of a curse. More practical theories include the too-cozy dimensions of Wrigley Field; the physical toll from the summer heat discussed in the 1977 book Stuck on the Cubs; and evidenced by the plentiful late season collapses most notably 1977, 1979, 1985, and 1999, among others. Finally, the most obvious candidate for this happenstance is the club's poor front office decisions.
Since the other two "cursed" teams, the Red Sox and the crosstown White Sox, broke their lengthy World Series droughts in 2004 and 2005 respectively, and with the Cubs now at the 100th anniversary of their last Series win, special attention has been drawn to the 2008 season.
Wrigley Field and Wrigleyville
The Cubs have played their home games at Wrigley Field, also known as "The Friendly Confines" since 1916. It was built in 1914 as Weeghman Park for the Chicago Federal League baseball team, the Chicago Whales. The Cubs also shared the park with the Chicago Bears of the NFL for many years. The ballpark includes a manual scoreboard, ivy-covered brick walls, and relatively small dimensions.
Located in the residential neighborhood of Lakeview, Wrigley Field sits on an irregular block bounded by Clark and Addison Streets and Waveland and Sheffield Avenues. The area surrounding the ballpark is typically referred to as Wrigleyville, though it is a sub-section of Chicago's Lakeview neighborhood. There is a dense collection of bars and nightclubs in the area, most with baseball inspired themes, including Harry Caray's, Murphy's Bleachers, and Sluggers. On gamedays, many residents rent out their yards and driveways during games to people looking for a parking spot. Though many Wrigleyville homeowners have seen their property values skyrocket, most, along with Mayor Richard M. Daley (a die-hard White Sox fan), still oppose the teams quest to play more night games and stadium expansion. Average attendance at games has also skyrocketed, as annual ticket sales have more than doubled, with attendance rising from 1.4 million in 1983 to nearly 3.2 million in 2004.
"White flag time at Wrigley!"
The term "White flag time at Wrigley!" basically means the Cubs have won. In the days before the internet, and before most homes had televisions, fans had little access to finding out if the Cubs had won or lost, since the games were played during the day and most people were either at work or school at this time. PK Wrigley had a white flag with a blue "W" on it, which represented the word 'Win' flown over the park to let fans know that there was a positive outcome to that day's game, instead of having to wait until the next morning to read the newspapers. That tradition continues to this day, and has evolved to fans carrying the flags to both home and away games, and displaying them after a Cub win. The flags have become more and more popular each season since 1998, and are now even sold at the ballpark. On April 24th, 2008 the Cubs flew a white flag displaying "10,000" in addition to the customary "W" flag normally displayed after wins. Notably, the Cubs were not only at Colorado on the date, but also lost. It was possibly the first time the "W" flag was flown even though the Cubs lost that day's only game. The Cubs customarily fly two flags to display the outcomes of a day's doubleheader. [citation needed]
Mascots
The official Cub mascot is a young bear cub, which has gone through various transformations thru the years. The Cubs have no official physical mascot, though a man in a 'polar bear' looking outfit, called "The Beeman" (or Bearman, B-man), which was not very popular with the fans, was employed by the club briefly in the early 1990s. However, the Cubs' un-official mascot is a formerly homeless man named Ronnie Wickers, who goes by the nickname of "Ronnie Woo Woo."[5] Wickers is not employed by the team, but is seen daily at games and outside the park, dressed in full uniform, usually with a hula hoop or jump rope. Wickers is the second fan to reach this status, the first being "Gary The Drunk" in the 1980s through mid 90s, and was featured in Steve Stone's book "Where's Harry?" Wickers, however, is much more popular. He is known for his trademark yelling, for example "Mark.... Wooo! Grace.... Wooo!," and has been adopted by fans as a part of the culture at Wrigley Field. Wickers has gained national fame, and has appeared on the Howard Stern and Mancow radio programs.
Bleacher Bums
The "Bleacher Bums" is a name given to fans, many of whom spend much of the day heckling, who sit in the bleacher section at Wrigley Field. Initially, the group was called "bums" because it referred to a group of fans who were at most games, and since those games were all day games, it was assumed they did not work. Many of those fans were, and are still, students at Chicago colleges, such as DePaul University, Loyola, and Illinois-Chicago. A Broadway play, starring Joe Mantegna, Dennis Farina, Dennis Franz, and Jim Belushi ran for years and was based on a group of Cub fans who frequented the club's games. The group was started in the 1970s by Mike Murphy, who is currently a radio host on Chicago-based WSCR.[citation needed] The current group is headed by Derek Schaul.
Spring training
The Cubs spring training facuility is located in Mesa, Arizona, where they play in the Cactus League. The club plays its games at HoHoKam Park, the name of which, ironically, is literally translated from Native American as "those who vanished". The park seats just under 13,000, and The Cubs annually sell out most of their games both at home and on the road. The Northsiders have called Mesa their spring home for most seasons since 1952. In addition to Mesa, the club has held spring training in a variety of places, including Scottsdale, Arizona, The University of Illinois, Indiana State University, The University of South Florida in Tampa, Las Vegas, and Catalina Island, which is a small island off the coast of Los Angeles which was purchased by the Wrigley family in 1919 as a "paradise resort."
"Horry Kow" T-shirts
On December 11, 2007, the Chicago Cubs signed Fukudome to a four-year contract. Fukudome made his Major League debut on March 31, 2008 and was commemorated in controversy to an offensive and unofficial t-shirt. The front of the shirt is a caricature of the Cubs' cartoon bear with over-sized Harry Caray-style glasses with the Engrish words "Horry Kow" in cartoonish Asian script below. Fukudome's name and number are on the back. The shirt offended Fukudome as a racist epithet as well as many fans resulting in the stopped production by the franchise. Shirts were bought also as negative souvenirs as well as positive. [6][7]
See also
- History of the Chicago Cubs
- Chicago Cubs futility theories
- Chicago Cubs team records
- Chicago Tribune
- WGN TV Channel 9 / Superstation WGN
- WGN Radio 720 AM
- Sam Zell
- Curse of the Billy Goat
- Steve Bartman
- Major League Baseball franchise post-season droughts
- Grant DePorter
- Lee Elia
- Major North American professional sports teams
Current roster
| 40-man roster | Non-roster invitees | Coaches/Other | ||||
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Pitchers
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Catchers Infielders
Outfielders
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Manager Coaches
40 active, 0 inactive, 0 non-roster invitees
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Retired numbers
The Chicago Cubs retired numbers are commemorated on pinstriped flags flying from the foul poles at Wrigley Field:
 Ron Santo 3B: 1960-1973 CHC
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 Ernie Banks SS/1B: 1953-1971 CHC
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 Ryne Sandberg 2B: 1982-1997 CHC
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 Billy Williams OF: 1959-1974 CHC
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 Number Reserved N/A: 2007 CHC
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 Jackie Robinson Retired by MLB
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- Upon signing with the Cubs prior to the 2007 season, Ted Lilly agreed to wear uniform number 30 rather than his usual 31 due to its imminent retirement. It is unannounced if 31 would be retired in the name of Ferguson Jenkins, Greg Maddux, or both.
Minor league affiliations
- AAA: Iowa Cubs, Pacific Coast League
- AA: Tennessee Smokies, Southern League
- Advanced A: Daytona Cubs, Florida State League
- A: Peoria Chiefs, Midwest League
- Short A: Boise Hawks, Northwest League
- Rookie: AZL Cubs, Arizona League
- Rookie: VSL Cubbies, Venezuelan Summer League
Season-by-season results
This is a partial list of the last five seasons completed by the Cubs. For the full season-by-season history, see Chicago Cubs seasons.
For updates on current season, see 2008 Chicago Cubs season.
| Season | Team | League | Division | Regular season | Post-Season | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Finish | Wins | Losses | Win% | GB | |||||
| 2003 | 2003 | NL | Central | 1st | 88 | 74 | .543 | - | Won NLDS vs Atlanta Braves, 3–2 Lost NLCS to Florida Marlins, 3–4 |
| 2004 | 2004 | NL | Central | 3rd | 89 | 73 | .549 | 16 | |
| 2005 | 2005 | NL | Central | 4th | 79 | 83 | .488 | 21 | |
| 2006 | 2006 | NL | Central | 6th | 66 | 96 | .407 | 17.5 | |
| 2007 | 2007 | NL | Central | 1st | 85 | 77 | .525 | - | Lost NLDS to Arizona Diamondbacks, 0–3 |
Championships
Notes
- ^ ESPN.com, Prominent names mentioned as possible Cubs' buyers Retrieved on April 2, 2007
- ^ "Opening of the Base Ball Campaign at St. Louis". Chicago Tribune. 1870-04-30.
{{cite news}}:|access-date=requires|url=(help) - ^ Three Finger, Cindy Thomson & Scott Brown, University of Nebraska Press, ISBN 0-8032-4448-7, p.88-89
- ^ "Chicago Summer Temperature Rankings", NOAA's National Weather Service Weather Forecast Office, September 7, 2006.
- ^ "Woo Who", Dave Hoekstra, Chicago Sun-Times, April 1, 2005.
- ^ Wittenmyer, Gordon (April 18, 2008). "Fukudome doesn't find racist T-shirts in Wrigleyville funny". Chicago Sun-Times. Retrieved April 19, 2008.
- ^ Wittenmyer, Gordon (April 19, 2008). "Cubs pull Fukudome shirt after Sun-Times report". Chicago Sun-Times. Retrieved April 19, 2008.
External links
Further reading
- Murphy, Cait (2007). "Crazy '08: How a Cast of Cranks, Rogues, Boneheads, and Magnates Created the Greatest Year in Baseball History." New York, NY: Smithsonian Books. ISBN 978-0-06-088937-1
- Wright, Marshall (2000). The National Association of Base Ball Players, 1857-1870. Jefferson, NC: McFarland & Co. ISBN 0-7864-0779-4
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