MEET THE CUBS n baseball's early days it took fans only a few minutes to get to the ballpark Teams played on fields that were built near houses and businesses and close to bus and train lines When the home team won neighbors could hear the crowd roar from their homes The Chicago Cubs have been a neighborhood team for more than a century That is why their fans think of the players as family The Cubs play at Wrigley Field Going there is like entering a time machine Very little has changed over the years Ivy still grows on the brick walls in the outfield The players chat with the fans before games sometimes during them The crowd hangs on every pitch This book tells the story of the Cubs The players the teams ballpark and the fans are part of baseball history Every time the Cubs take the field and their fans settle into their seats they are adding another chapter to the longest running story in American sports The Cubs are a neighborhood team So the entire neighborhood of Chicago celebrates when they win a
GLORY DAYS ports teams come and go It is not unusual for a team to change cities or even go out of business Baseball fans in Chicago are lucky They have been rooting for the Cubs since the 1870s The Chicago club was called the White Stockings in those days They were one of the best teams in the National League NL The White Stockings won the pennant in 1876 and five times from 1880 to 1886 The star of those teams was Cap Anson He was one of the league s best hitters and the team's ICAe HA r A manager for many years He led the NL in runs batted CAC in RBIs eight times HICAC IC HICAC MICAC After Anson retired the Cubs rebuilt their team and won the pennant each season from 1906 to 1908 and again in 1910 They were World Series champs in 1907 and 1908 The heart of those clubs was the great infield of Frank Chance CHI
Johnny Evers Joe Tinker and Harry Steinfeldt The Cubs also had an excellent pitching staff which was MAGAZINE led by Ed Reulbach and DOOLE Mordecai Three Finger Brown Two of Brown s fingers had been mangled in a childhood accident His unusual grip made his pitches dart suddenly as they neared home plate Over the next 35 years the Cubs had some very Feb 20c good teams and some wonderful players They were among the NL s best teams during the 1930s and won four pennants from 1929 to 1938 These clubs starred Hack Wilson Gabby Hartnett Charlie Grimm Charlie Root Kiki Cuyler Riggs Stephenson Lon Warneke Billy Herman and Stan Hack all of whom were among the top stars of the time B1Glo LEFT The 1886 Cubs lost only 34 games ABOVE Home run champion Hack Wilson stares out from the cover of Baseball
