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
In 1945 the Cubs beat the St Louis Cardinals for the NL pennant It was their 10th league title in less than 50 years The Cubs then lost a thrilling World Series to the Detroit Tigers Though Chicago fans were disappointed they could hardly wait for the team's next trip to the World Series It turned out to be a long wait Year after year decade after decade the Cubs failed to win another pennant They came close many times but some bit of bad luck always seemed to strike Great players such as Hank Sauer Ernie Banks Ron Santo Billy Williams Fergie Jenkins Bill Madlock Bruce Sutter Andre Dawson Ryne Sandberg Mark Grace Greg Maddux and Sammy Sosa wore the Chicago uniform during this time Sauer Banks Dawson Sandberg and Sosa were voted the Most Valuable Player MVP but none were able to lead the Cubs back to the World Series In many cities baseball fans would have given up on a team with a history of coming so close so many times Not Chicago It is a hard working city that takes pride in a job well done As long as the Cubs give their best effort the players are showered with love LEFT Ernie Banks was the team s greatest player ABOVE Andre Dawson also won the NL MVP with the Cubs His award came in
