National League Pennant (1938)

Lore & Background

The 1938 club saw Dizzy Dean lead the team's pitching staff and provided a historic moment when they won a crucial late-season game at Wrigley Field over the Pittsburgh Pirates with a walk-off home run by Gabby Hartnett, which became known in baseball lore as 'The Homer in the Gloamin'. After the 'Double-Bills' (Wrigley and Veeck) died in 1932 and 1933 respectively, P.K. Wrigley took over as majority owner. He was unable to extend his father's baseball success beyond 1938, and the Cubs slipped into years of mediocrity.

In Their Own Story

The air at Wrigley Field turned crisp as the sun surrendered to the Chicago twilight, casting long, bruised shadows across the bleachers. The crowd sat in a hushed, vibrating silence—a sea of blue and red holding its breath against the gathering gloom. Two outs. Bottom of the ninth. The Pirates clung to a one-run lead, the margin hanging by a thread. Then, Gabby Hartnett stepped into the box, his silhouette sharp against the fading light. The wind whipped off Lake Michigan, carrying the scent of damp earth and roasted peanuts. As the pitch cut through the dimming air, Hartnett swung with a ferocity that seemed to defy the dying day. The crack of the bat shattered the quiet like a thunderclap rolling off the brick walls. The ball didn't just fly; it soared, climbing into the deepening purple sky before vanishing over the left-field wall just as true darkness swallowed the field. A roar erupted from the stands, a physical force that seemed to shake the park's very foundations, cementing a moment where hope outshone the gloom.

Reader's Guide

The 1938 pennant was the Cubs' fourth National League title in a decade. They did not win another pennant until 1945.

Did You Know?

• The Cubs won the National League pennant in 1929, 1932, 1935, and 1938.
• The 1938 pennant was the last under the Wrigley family's early ownership; P.K. Wrigley took over after his father's death in 1932.
• Gabby Hartnett's walk-off home run against the Pittsburgh Pirates in 1938 is known as 'The Homer in the Gloamin'.