Chicago Cubs
Two broadcasters have made their mark on the team. Jack Brickhouse manned the Cubs radio and especially the TV booth for parts of five decades, covering the games with a level of enthusiasm that often seemed unjustified by the team's poor performance on the field for many of those years. His trademark call "Hey Hey!" usually followed a home run or other spectacular play. That expression is spelled out in large letters vertically on both foul pole screens at Wrigley Field. "Whoo-boy!" and "Wheeee!" and "Oh, brother!" were among his other pet expressions. When he approached retirement age, he personally recommended his successor.
Harry Caray's stamp on the team is perhaps even deeper than that of Brickhouse, though his tenure was half as long. First, Caray had already become a well-known Chicago figure by broadcasting White Sox games for a decade, after having been a Cardinals icon for 25 years. Caray also had the benefit of being in the booth during the NL East title run in 1984, which was widely seen due to WGN's status as a cable-TV superstation. His trademark call of "Holy Cow!" and his enthusiastic singing of "Take me out to the ballgame" during the 7th inning stretch (as he had done with the White Sox) made Caray a fan favorite both locally and nationally. Harry occasionally had problems pronouncing names, to comic effect, such as his attempt at saying "Hector Villanueva" which was captured on WGN's memorial CD to Harry. He also continued his long-standing bit (dating back to the Cardinals years) of pronouncing names backwards. Caray had lively discussions with commentator Steve Stone, who was hand-picked by Harry himself, and producer Arne Harris. Caray often playfully quarreled with Stone over Stone's cigar and why Stone was single, while Stone would counter with poking fun at Harry being "under the influence." Stone disclosed in his book "Where's Harry" that most of this "arguing" was staged, and usually a ploy developed by Harry himself to add flavor to the broadcast. Additionally, Harry once did a commercial for Budweiser, dressed as a "Blues Brother" and parodying "Soul Man", singing "I'm a Cub fan, I'm a Bud man," while dancing with models dressed as ballgirls.
The Cubs still have a live singer, usually a celebrity, during the 7th inning stretch to honor Caray's memory. The quality of their renditions varies widely. Chicago icons often return annually, such as former Chicago Bears coach Mike Ditka, who tends to sing the song very fast and possibly on key. Caray is also honored with a statue located at the corner of Sheffield and Addison streets, and during the 1998 season, a patch with Caray's caricature and Brickhouse's trademark "Hey Hey" were worn on the players sleeves to honor the passing of both commentators within a span of a few months. Harry's popularity also led to his grandson Chip Caray joining the broadcast team in winter of 1997, shortly before Harry's death. Chip Caray worked the Cubs games alongside Stone until events that unfolded in 2004, when Stone became increasingly critical of management and players toward season's end. At one point, reliever Kent Mercker phoned the booth during a game and told Stone to "keep out of team business." Stone left the team, taking a position with Chicago-based WSCR. Chip Caray also left, joining his father Skip Caray on TBS, providing play-by-play for the Atlanta Braves.
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Miscellaneous
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Championship drought
The Chicago Cubs have not won a World Series championship since 1908 and have not appeared in a Series since 1945, although they have a number of post-season appearances since the multi-tiered playoff system was developed. It is the longest title drought in all four of the major American professional sports leagues, which includes the NFL, the NBA, and the NHL, as well as, of course, Major League Baseball. In fact, the last Cubs World Series win occurred before those other three leagues even existed.
Playful theories try to blame the team's futility on alleged supernatural intervention, such as the Curse of the Billy Goat from 1945, citing the Leon Durham error of 1984 and the Bartman incident in 2003 as "evidence" of a curse. More practical theories include the too-cozy dimensions of Wrigley Field; the physical toll from the summer heat discussed in the 1977 book Stuck on the Cubs; and evidenced by the plentiful late season collapses, most notably '69 and 2004, as well as 1977, 1979, 1985, and 1999, among others. Finally, the most obvious candidate for this happenstance is the club's poor front office decisions.
Since the other two "cursed" teams, the Red Sox and the crosstown White Sox, broke their lengthy World Series droughts in 2004 and 2005 respectively, and with the Cubs now at the 100th anniversary of their last Series win, special attention has been drawn to the 2008 season.
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10,000th win
On April 23, 2008, against the Colorado Rockies, the Cubs recorded the 10,000th regular-season win in their franchise's history [16] dating back to the beginning of the National League in 1876. The Cubs reached the milestone with an overall National League record of 10,000 wins and 9,465 losses. Chicago is only the second club in Major League Baseball history to attain this milestone, the first having been the San Francisco Giants in mid-season 2005. The Cubs, however, hold the mark for victories for a team in a single city. The Philadelphia Phillies are the only team with 10,000 losses. The Chicago club's 77-77 record in the National Association (1871, 1874-1875) are not included in MLB record keeping. Post-season series are also not included in the totals. To honor the milestone, the Cubs flew an extra white flag displaying "10,000" in blue, along with the customary "W" flag.
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Record for runs scored
In an afternoon game at Wrigley Field against the Philadelphia Phillies, 45 runs were scored, in a 23-22 Phillies win. This fell just a few short of the Major League record, set by the Cubs and Phillies on August 25, 1922, when the Cubs outlasted the Phillies 26-23 at Wrigley Field.
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Spring training
The Cubs spring training facility is located in Mesa, Arizona, where they play in the Cactus League. The club plays its games at HoHoKam Park, the name of which, ironically, is literally translated from Native American as "those who vanished." The park seats just under 13,567, and the Cubs annually sell out most of their games both at home and on the road. The Northsiders have called Mesa their spring home for most seasons since 1952. In addition to Mesa, the club has held spring training in a variety of places, including Scottsdale, Arizona, The University of Illinois, Indiana State University, The University of South Florida in Tampa, Las Vegas, and Catalina Island, which is a small island off the coast of Los Angeles that was purchased by the Wrigley family in 1919 as a "paradise resort."
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Wrigley Field and Wrigleyville
The Cubs have played their home games at Wrigley Field, also known as "The Friendly Confines" since 1916. It was built in 1914 as Weeghman Park for the Chicago Whales, a Federal League baseball team. The Cubs also shared the park with the Chicago Bears of the NFL for 50 years. The ballpark includes a manual scoreboard, ivy-covered brick walls, and relatively small dimensions.
Located in Chicago's Lakeview neighborhood, Wrigley Field sits on an irregular block bounded by Clark and Addison Streets and Waveland and Sheffield Avenues. The area surrounding the ballpark is typically referred to as Wrigleyville. There is a dense collection of bars and nightclubs in the area, most with baseball inspired themes, including Harry Caray's, Murphy's Bleachers, and Sluggers. On gamedays, many residents rent out their yards and driveways during games to people looking for a parking spot. Though many Wrigleyville homeowners have seen their property values skyrocket, most, along with Mayor Richard M. Daley (a die-hard White Sox fan), still oppose the teams quest to play more night games and stadium expansion. Average attendance at games has also skyrocketed, as annual ticket sales have more than doubled, with attendance rising from 1.4 million in 1983 to nearly 3.2 million in 2004.
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"White flag time at Wrigley!"
The term "White flag time at Wrigley!" means the Cubs have won.
Beginning in the days of P.K. Wrigley and the 1937 bleacher/scoreboard reconstruction, and prior to modern media saturation, a flag with either a "W" or an "L" has flown from atop the scoreboard masthead, indicating the day's result(s) when baseball was played at Wrigley. In case of a doubleheader that results in a split, both the "win" and "loss" flags are flown.
Past Cubs media guides show that originally the flags were blue with a white "W" and white with a blue "L", the latter coincidentally suggesting "surrender". In 1978, consistent with the dominant colors of the flags, blue and white lights were mounted atop the scoreboard, denoting "win" and "loss" respectively for the benefit of nighttime passers-by.
The flags were replaced by 1990, the first year in which the Cubs media guide reports the switch to the now familiar colors of the flags: White with blue "W" and blue with white "L". In addition to needing to replace the worn-out flags, by then the retired numbers of Banks and Williams were flying on the foul poles, as white with blue numbers; so the "good" flag was switched to match that scheme.
This long-established tradition has evolved to fans carrying the white-with-blue-W flags to both home and away games, and displaying them after a Cub win. The flags have become more and more popular each season since 1998, and are now even sold at the ballpark.
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Bleacher Bums
The "Bleacher Bums" is a name given to fans, many of whom spend much of the day heckling, who sit in the bleacher section at Wrigley Field. Initially, the group was called "bums" because it referred to a group of fans who were at most games, and since those games were all day games, it was assumed they did not work. Many of those fans were, and are still, students at Chicago colleges, such as DePaul University, Loyola, and Illinois-Chicago. A Broadway play, starring Joe Mantegna, Dennis Farina, Dennis Franz, and Jim Belushi ran for years and was based on a group of Cub fans who frequented the club's games. The group was started in 1967 by dedicated fan Ron Grousl and "mad bugler" Mike Murphy, who is currently a radio host on Chicago-based WSCR. Murphy alleges that Grousl started the Wrigley tradition of throwing back opposing teams' home run balls.[17][18] The current group is headed by Derek Schaul. In 2005, Bud Light bought naming rights to the bleacher section, dubbing them the Bud Light Bleachers.
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Mascots
The official Cub mascot is a young bear cub, which has gone through various transformations through the years. The Cubs have no official physical mascot, though a man in a 'polar bear' looking outfit, called "The Beeman" (or Bearman, B-man), which was not very popular with the fans, was employed by the club briefly in the early 1990s. However, the Cubs' un-official mascot is a formerly homeless man named Ronnie Wickers, who goes by the nickname of "Ronnie Woo Woo."[19] Wickers is not employed by the team, but is seen daily at games and outside the park, dressed in full uniform, usually with a hula hoop or jump rope. Wickers is the second fan to reach this status, the first being "Gary The Drunk" in the 1980s through mid 90s, and was featured in Steve Stone's book "Where's Harry?" Wickers, however, is much more popular. He is known for his trademark yelling, for example "Mark.... Wooo! Grace.... Wooo!," and has been adopted by fans as a part of the culture at Wrigley Field. Wickers has gained national fame, and has appeared on the Howard Stern and Mancow radio programs.
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See also
- History of the Chicago Cubs
- Chicago Cubs futility theories
- Chicago Cubs team records
- Chicago Tribune
- WGN TV Channel 9 / Superstation WGN
- WGN Radio 720 AM
- Sam Zell
- Curse of the Billy Goat
- Steve Bartman
- Major League Baseball franchise post-season droughts
- Grant DePorter
- Lee Elia
- Major North American professional sports teams
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Current roster
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Retired numbers
The Chicago Cubs retired numbers are commemorated on pinstriped flags flying from the foul poles at Wrigley Field:
 Ron Santo 3B: 1960-1973 |
 Ernie Banks SS/1B: 1953-1971 |
 Ryne Sandberg 2B: 1982-1997 |
 Billy Williams OF: 1959-1974 |
 Number Reserved N/A: 2007 |
 Jackie Robinson Retired by MLB |
- Upon signing with the Cubs prior to the 2007 season, Ted Lilly agreed to wear uniform number 30 rather than his usual 31 due to its imminent retirement. It is unannounced if 31 would be retired in the name of Ferguson Jenkins, Greg Maddux, or both.
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Minor league affiliations
- AAA: Iowa Cubs, Pacific Coast League
- AA: Tennessee Smokies, Southern League
- Advanced A: Daytona Cubs, Florida State League
- A: Peoria Chiefs, Midwest League
- Short A: Boise Hawks, Northwest League
- Rookie: AZL Cubs, Arizona League
- Rookie: VSL Cubbies, Venezuelan Summer League
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Season-by-season results
This is a partial list of the last five seasons completed by the Cubs. For the full season-by-season history, see Chicago Cubs seasons.
For updates on current season, see 2008 Chicago Cubs season.
| Season | Team | League | Division | Regular season | Post-Season | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Finish | Wins | Losses | Win% | GB | |||||
| 2003 | 2003 | NL | Central | 1st | 88 | 74 | .543 | - | Won NLDS vs Atlanta Braves, 3–2 Lost NLCS to Florida Marlins, 3–4 |
| 2004 | 2004 | NL | Central | 3rd | 89 | 73 | .549 | 16 | |
| 2005 | 2005 | NL | Central | 4th | 79 | 83 | .488 | 21 | |
| 2006 | 2006 | NL | Central | 6th | 66 | 96 | .407 | 17.5 | |
| 2007 | 2007 | NL | Central | 1st | 85 | 77 | .525 | - | Lost NLDS to Arizona Diamondbacks, 0–3 |
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Championships
| Preceded by Chicago White Sox 1906 |
World Series Champions Chicago Cubs 1907 and 1908 |
Succeeded by Pittsburgh Pirates 1909 |
| Preceded by New York Giants 1905 |
National League Champions Chicago Cubs 1906, 1907, and 1908 |
Succeeded by Pittsburgh Pirates 1909 |
| Preceded by Pittsburgh Pirates 1909 |
National League Champions Chicago Cubs 1910 |
Succeeded by New York Giants 1911 and 1912 |
| Preceded by New York Giants 1917 |
National League Champions Chicago Cubs 1918 |
Succeeded by Cincinnati Reds 1919 |
| Preceded by St. Louis Cardinals 1928 |
National League Champions Chicago Cubs 1929 |
Succeeded by St. Louis Cardinals 1930 and 1931 |
| Preceded by St. Louis Cardinals 1930 and 1931 |
National League Champions Chicago Cubs 1932 |
Succeeded by New York Giants 1933 |
| Preceded by St. Louis Cardinals 1934 |
National League Champions Chicago Cubs 1935 |
Succeeded by New York Giants 1936 and 1937 |
| Preceded by New York Giants 1936 and 1937 |
National League Champions Chicago Cubs 1938 |
Succeeded by Cincinnati Reds 1939 and 1940 |
| Preceded by St. Louis Cardinals 1942, 1943, and 1944 |
National League Champions Chicago Cubs 1945 |
Succeeded by St. Louis Cardinals 1946 |
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References and notes
- ^ ESPN.com, Prominent names mentioned as possible Cubs' buyers Retrieved on April 2, 2007
- ^ Three Finger, Cindy Thomson & Scott Brown, University of Nebraska Press, ISBN 0-8032-4448-7, p.88-89
- ^ Zarefsky, Marc. "'Homer in the Gloamin' most memorable", MLB.com, 2007-08-08. Retrieved on 2008-06-11.
- ^ "Sosa discusses future, McGwire's Hall chances", Associated Press, ESPN, 2006-12-04. Retrieved on 2008-06-11.
- ^ "Cubs still waiting for McGriff's OK", Associated Press, ESPN, 2001-07-14. Retrieved on 2008-06-11.
- ^ "2001 Chicago Cubs Statistics and Roster", Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved on June 11, 2008.
- ^ "Report: Alou says he would have caught Bartman ball", Associated Press, ESPN, 2004. Retrieved on 2008-06-11.
- ^ Stark, Jayson. "Sosa's legacy could be broken beyond repair", ESPN, 2004-06-02. Retrieved on 2008-06-11.
- ^ Muskat, Carrie. "Cubs, Sosa at odds", MLB.com, 2004-10-04. Retrieved on 2008-06-11.
- ^ "Cubs shocked by Stone's comments", Associated Press, ESPN, 2004-10-05. Retrieved on 2008-06-11.
- ^ Muscat, Carrie, Cubs complete blockbuster with Soriano, MLB.com, Retrieved on July 18, 2007
- ^ "Lou Pinella Bio", MLB.com, Retrieved on July 18, 2007
- ^ Associated Press, "Zambrano takes blame for fight", (June 2, 2007), Yahoo! Sports, Retrieved on June 2, 2007.
- ^ Sheinin, David. "Cleveland... And Lou Piniella's bold/idiotic move", Washington Post, 2007-10-04. Retrieved on 2008-06-11.
- ^ "Arizona Diamondbacks Sweep Chicago Cubs in 3-Game Series", Associated Press, Fox News, 2007-10-06. Retrieved on 2008-06-11.
- ^ http://www.usatoday.com/sports/scores108/108114/MLB798321.htm
- ^ Excerpt from Miracle Collapse: The 1969 Chicago Cubs, Google Books
- ^ WSCR's Murphy and Cubs ball-throwing
- ^ "Woo Who", Dave Hoekstra, Chicago Sun-Times, April 1, 2005.
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External links
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Further reading
- Murphy, Cait (2007). "Crazy '08: How a Cast of Cranks, Rogues, Boneheads, and Magnates Created the Greatest Year in Baseball History." New York, NY: Smithsonian Books. ISBN 978-0-06-088937-1
- Wright, Marshall (2000). The National Association of Base Ball Players, 1857-1870. Jefferson, NC: McFarland & Co. ISBN 0-7864-0779-4
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