Chicago Cubs

Lore & Background

Throughout the club's history, the Cubs have played in a total of 11 World Series. The 1906 Cubs won 116 games, finishing 116–36 and posting a modern-era record winning percentage of .763, before losing the World Series to the Chicago White Sox by four games to two. The Cubs won back-to-back World Series championships in 1907 and 1908, becoming the first major league team to play in three consecutive World Series, and the first to win it twice. Most recently, the Cubs won the 2016 National League Championship Series and 2016 World Series, which ended a 71-year National League pennant drought and a 108-year World Series championship drought. The 108-year drought was also the longest such occurrence in all major professional sports leagues in the United States and Canada. Since the start of divisional play in 1969, the Cubs have appeared in the postseason 11 times through the 2024 season. The Cubs are known as 'the North Siders', a reference to the location of Wrigley Field within the city of Chicago, and in contrast to the White Sox, whose home field (Rate Field) is located on the South Side. Through 2024, the franchise has played the most games in MLB history, with an all-time regular season record of 11,419–10,837–161 (.513).

In Their Own Story

The Dodgers advanced to play the Central Division champion Chicago Cubs in the 2008 NLDS. The atmosphere was charged as the team looked to replicate the success of their 1988 squad, which had won the World Series. The series opened at Wrigley Field, where the Dodgers managed to win the first two games on Cuban soil. With a 2–0 lead in the best-of-five series, the teams moved back to Dodger Stadium for Game 3. The crowd witnessed the conclusion of the series as Los Angeles secured the final victory needed to sweep Chicago. This progression through the bracket was not just about winning games; it was about breaking a long streak of playoff heartbreak. By defeating the Cubs in three straight, the Dodgers moved on to face the Philadelphia Phillies in the National League Championship Series, where they would eventually fall in five games.

Reader's Guide

The Cubs began in 1870 as the Chicago White Stockings, playing their home games at West Side Grounds. Six years later, they joined the National League as a charter member. In the runup to their NL debut, owner William Hulbert signed various star players, such as pitcher Albert Spalding and infielders Ross Barnes, Deacon White, and Adrian 'Cap' Anson. The White Stockings quickly established themselves as one of the new league's top teams. Spalding won forty-seven games and Barnes led the league in hitting at .429 as Chicago won the first National League pennant. After back-to-back pennants in 1880 and 1881, Hulbert died, and Spalding assumed ownership of the club. The White Stockings, with Anson acting as player-manager, captured their third consecutive pennant in 1882. In 1885 and 1886, after winning NL pennants, the White Stockings met the champions of the American Association in that era's version of a World Series. Both seasons resulted in matchups with the St. Louis Brown Stockings; the clubs tied in 1885 and St. Louis won in 1886. By 1890, the team had become known as the Chicago Colts, or sometimes 'Anson's Colts'. Anson was the first player in history credited with 3,000 career hits. In 1897, after a disappointing record of 59–73 and a ninth-place finish, Anson was released by the club. His departure led local newspaper reporters to refer to the Colts as the 'Orphans'. After the 1900 season, the American Base-Ball League formed as a rival professional league. The club's old White Stockings nickname was adopted by a new American League neighbor to the south. In 1902, Spalding sold the club to Jim Hart. Referencing the youth of the team's roster, the Chicago Daily News called the franchise the Cubs in 1902; it officially took the name five years later. During the dead-ball era, Cub infielders Joe Tinker, Johnny Evers, and Frank Chance were made famous as a double-play combination by Franklin P. Adams' poem 'Baseball's Sad Lexicon'. 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 acting as player-manager from 1905 to 1912, 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)

Did You Know?

• The Cubs were first known as the White Stockings, founded in 1870.
• The 1906 Cubs won 116 games, a modern-era record winning percentage of .763.
• The Cubs won back-to-back World Series in 1907 and 1908.
• The 108-year World Series championship drought ended in 2016.
• The Cubs have played the most games in MLB history through 2024.