1988 Chicago Cubs season

1988 Chicago Cubs
Division	Eastern Division
Ballpark	Wrigley Field
City	Chicago
Owners	Tribune Company
Managers	Don Zimmer
Television	WGN-TV/Superstation WGN (Harry Caray, Steve Stone, Dewayne Staats)
Radio	WGN (Dewayne Staats, Dave Nelson, Harry Caray)
Stats	ESPN.com Baseball Reference
Seasons

The 1988 Chicago Cubs season was the 117th season of the Chicago Cubs franchise, the 113th in the National League and the 73rd at Wrigley Field. The Cubs finished fourth in the National League East with a record of 77–85, 24 games behind the New York Mets.

The first game under lights at Wrigley Field was on August 8 (8/8/88), against the Philadelphia Phillies. With the Cubs leading 3–1, in the middle of the 4th inning, a powerful thunderstorm rolled in. The game was suspended, and finally called at 10:25PM. Since the rules of Major League Baseball state that a game is not official unless 5 innings are completed, the first official night game in the history of Wrigley Field was played on August 9, when the Cubs defeated the New York Mets 6 to 4.

Offseason

A ticket from the game where Cubs' reliever Goose Gossage earned his 300th career save on August 6, 1988.

• October 23, 1987: Dickie Noles was returned to the Chicago Cubs by the Detroit Tigers as part of earlier loan.
• December 8, 1987: Lee Smith was traded by the Chicago Cubs to the Boston Red Sox for Al Nipper and Calvin Schiraldi.
• December 14, 1987: Vance Law was signed as a Free Agent with the Chicago Cubs.
• February 12, 1988: Goose Gossage was traded by the San Diego Padres with Ray Hayward to the Chicago Cubs for Keith Moreland and Mike Brumley.
• March 31, 1988: Mike Bielecki was traded by the Pittsburgh Pirates to the Chicago Cubs for Mike Curtis (minors).

Regular season

President Ronald Reagan throwing out the first pitch for the first 1988 Chicago Cubs game

President of the United States Ronald Reagan threw out the ceremonial first pitch on Opening Day at Wrigley Field.

After 5,687 consecutive day games played by the Cubs at Wrigley, the lights were finally lit on August 8, 1988, when 91-year-old fan Harry Grossman gave a countdown and pressed a button, for a game with the Philadelphia Phillies. The game began before an announced crowd of 39,008. The Cubs were leading 3 to 1 and coming to bat in the bottom of the fourth when the rain delay began. The umpires called the game after waiting two hours, ten minutes. The Cubs played the first official night game the following night against the Mets and won, 6–4.

Season standings

NL East

Team	W	L	Pct.	GB	Home	Road
New York Mets	100	60	.625	—	56‍–‍24	44‍–‍36
Pittsburgh Pirates	85	75	.531	15	43‍–‍38	42‍–‍37
Montreal Expos	81	81	.500	20	43‍–‍38	38‍–‍43
Chicago Cubs	77	85	.475	24	39‍–‍42	38‍–‍43
St. Louis Cardinals	76	86	.469	25	41‍–‍40	35‍–‍46
Philadelphia Phillies	65	96	.404	35½	38‍–‍42	27‍–‍54

Record vs. opponents

1988 National League record Sources: [1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] [7] [8] [9] [10] [11] [12]
Team	ATL	CHC	CIN	HOU	LAD	MON	NYM	PHI	PIT	SD	SF	STL
Atlanta	—	5–7	5–13	5–13	4–14	4–8	4–8	6–6	5–5	8–10	5–13	3–9
Chicago	7–5	—	6–6	7–5	4–8–1	9–9	9–9	8–10	7–11	8–4	5–7	7–11
Cincinnati	13–5	6–6	—	9–9	7–11	5–7	4–7	9–3	7–5	10–8	11–7	6–6
Houston	13–5	5–7	9–9	—	9–9	6–6	5–7	8–4	8–4	6–12	7–11	6–6
Los Angeles	14–4	8–4–1	11–7	9–9	—	8–4	1–10	11–1	6–6	7–11	12–6	7–5
Montreal	8–4	9–9	7–5	6–6	4–8	—	6–12	9–9–1	8–10	4–8	7–5	13–5
New York	8–4	9–9	7–4	7–5	10–1	12–6	—	10–8	12–6	7–5	4–8	14–4
Philadelphia	6-6	10–8	3–9	4–8	1–11	9–9–1	8–10	—	7–11	4–7	7–5	6–12
Pittsburgh	5–5	11–7	5–7	4–8	6–6	10–8	6–12	11–7	—	8–4	8–4	11–7
San Diego	10–8	4–8	8–10	12–6	11–7	8–4	5–7	7–4	4–8	—	8–10	6–6
San Francisco	13–5	7–5	7–11	11–7	6–12	5–7	8–4	5–7	4–8	10–8	—	7–5
St. Louis	9–3	11–7	6–6	6–6	5–7	5–13	4–14	12–6	7–11	6–6	5–7	—

Notable transactions

• July 15, 1988: Jim Sundberg was released by the Chicago Cubs.

Roster

Reds vs. Cubs at Wrigley Field, September 2, 1988

1988 Chicago Cubs
Roster
Pitchers 36 Mike Bielecki 51 Kevin Blankenship 38 Mike Capel 33 Frank DiPino 54 Goose Gossage 44 Drew Hall 48 Mike Harkey 50 Les Lancaster 47 Bill Landrum 31 Greg Maddux 49 Jamie Moyer 45 Al Nipper 37 Pat Perry 39 Jeff Pico 21 Scott Sanderson 32 Calvin Schiraldi 40 Rick Sutcliffe 42 Bob Tewksbury		Catchers  9 Damon Berryhill  7 Jody Davis 11 Jim Sundberg  1 Rick Wrona Infielders 12 Shawon Dunston 10 Leon Durham 17,28 Mark Grace  2 Vance Law 20 Dave Meier 18 Argenis Salazar 23 Ryne Sandberg 19 Manny Trillo		Outfielders 29 Doug Dascenzo  8 Andre Dawson 30 Darrin Jackson  1 Dave Martinez 22 Jerry Mumphrey 25 Rafael Palmeiro 27 Rolando Roomes 24 Gary Varsho 28 Mitch Webster		Manager  4 Don Zimmer Coaches  6 Joe Altobelli  5 Chuck Cottier 35 Larry Cox  3 José Martínez 34 Dick Pole

Player stats

Batting

Starters by position

Note: Pos = Position; G = Games played; AB = At bats; H = Hits; Avg. = Batting average; HR = Home runs; RBI = Runs batted in

Pos	Player	G	AB	H	Avg.	HR	RBI

Other batters

Note: G = Games played; AB = At bats; H = Hits; Avg. = Batting average; HR = Home runs; RBI = Runs batted in

Player	G	AB	H	Avg.	HR	RBI
Ángel Salazar	34	60	15	.250	0	1

Pitching

Starting pitchers

Note: G = Games pitched; IP = Innings pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts

Player	G	IP	W	L	ERA	SO

Other pitchers

Note: G = Games pitched; IP = Innings pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts

Player	G	IP	W	L	ERA	SO

Relief pitchers

Note: G = Games pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; SV = Saves; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts

Player	G	W	L	SV	ERA	SO

Farm system

See also: Minor League Baseball

Level	Team	League	Manager
AAA	Iowa Cubs	American Association	Pete Mackanin
AA	Pittsfield Cubs	Eastern League	Jim Essian
A	Winston-Salem Spirits	Carolina League	Jay Loviglio
A	Peoria Chiefs	Midwest League	Jim Tracy
A	Charleston Wheelers	South Atlantic League	Brad Mills
A-Short Season	Geneva Cubs	New York–Penn League	Bill Hayes
Rookie	Wytheville Cubs	Appalachian League	Steve Roadcap

References

• 1988 Chicago Cubs season at Baseball Reference