The1969 Chicago Cubs season was the 98th season of theChicago Cubs franchise, the 94th in theNational League and the 54th atWrigley Field. The season involved the Cubs gaining renown as "the most celebrated second-place team in the history of baseball."^[1] In the first season after theNational League was split into two divisions, the Cubs finished with a record of 92–70, 8 games behind theNew York Mets in the newly establishedNational League East. Caustic 64-year-oldLeo Durocher was the Cubs manager. The ill-fated season saw the Cubs in first place for 155 days, until mid-September when they lost 17 out of 25 games.

With further expansion to the league, the 1969 season marked the first year of divisional play inMajor League Baseball. TheAtlanta Braves (along with theCincinnati Reds) were placed in the NL West division, despite being located further east than the 2 westernmost teams in theNL East Division, the Cubs andSt. Louis Cardinals. This was because theNew York Mets wanted to be in the same division as the reigning power in the NL, which was the Cardinals at the time (to compensate for playing against theDodgers andGiants fewer times each season). The Cubs consequently demanded to be in the NL East as well in order to continue playing in the same division as the Cardinals, one of the Cubs'biggest rivals. A side effect of this alignment is that it set the stage for what is considered one of the greatest pennant races – and comebacks in such a race – in MLB history.

• November 11, 1968:Dave Rosello was signed as an amateur free agent by the Cubs.^[2]
• January 15, 1969:Joe Campbell andChuck Hartenstein were traded by the Cubs to thePittsburgh Pirates forManny Jiménez.^[3]
• March 28, 1969:Charley Smith was purchased by the Cubs from theSan Francisco Giants.^[4]

Hoping to improve on theprevious year's 84–78 record, the Cubs began the 1969 season by winning 11 of their first 12 games, and on August 16, they were 75–44, up by a season high nine games over second placeNew York. By September 2, they had a record of 84–52, well on pace to exceed the previous season's mark, but their lead over the Mets had fallen to five games. From there the Mets went on a tear. The Cubs ultimately lost 17 of the last 25 games of the season, while the Mets went 23–7 to overtake the Cubs and finish eight games ahead of them. It was one of the most astounding late season collapses in history, with the seventeen-game turnaround being one of the biggest ever. The Cubs finished 92–70, while the Mets won the National League East and would go on to win theWorld Series.

Throughout the summer of 1969, led by future Hall of FamersErnie Banks,Ferguson Jenkins,Ron Santo,Billy Williams, and the game calling skills ofRandy Hundley behind the plate, the Chicago Cubs had built a substantial lead in the newly createdNational League East. At the conclusion of each victory 3rd baseman Santo would jump and click his heels in celebration. After starting pitcherKen Holtzman's no-hitter on August 19, the Cubs led the division by8+1⁄2 games over theSt. Louis Cardinals and9+1⁄2 games over the New York Mets.

The 1969 season was bookended by a pair of homers that was memorable on one side and infamous on the other. On opening day at Wrigley Field on April 8, the Cubs trailed the Phillies 6–5 in the bottom of the 11th inning. With a runner on base,Willie Smith hit a game-winning home run into the right field bleachers.^[5] This event essentially "lit the fuse" to the Cubs' successful first five months of the season. They would win the next three games, and 11 out of their first 12, and create a cushion that would extend to8+1⁄2 games in mid-August.

After the game of September 2, the Cubs' record was 84–52 with the Mets in second place at 77–55. But then a losing streak began just as a Mets winning streak was beginning. The Cubs lost the final game of a series at Cincinnati, then came home to play the resurgent Pittsburgh Pirates (who would finish in third place). After losing the first two games by scores of 9–2 and 13–4, the Cubs led going into the ninth inning in the series finale. A win would be a positive springboard since the Cubs were to play a crucial series with the Mets the very next day. ButWillie Stargell drilled a 2-out, 2-strike pitch from the Cubs' ace reliever, Phil Regan, onto Sheffield Avenue to tie the score in the top of the ninth. The Cubs would lose 7–5 in extra innings.^[6] Meanwhile, the Mets had taken two of three against Philadelphia over the same weekend.

Burdened by a four-game losing streak, the Cubs traveled to Shea Stadium on September 8 for a short two-game set. The Mets won both games, and the Cubs left New York with a record of 84–58 just1⁄2 game in front. Disaster followed in Philadelphia, as a 99-loss Phillies team nonetheless defeated the Cubs twice, to extend Chicago's losing streak to eight games. In a key play in the second game, on September 11, Cubs starterDick Selma threw a surprise pickoff attempt to third basemanRon Santo, who was nowhere near the bag or the ball. Selma's throwing error opened the gates to a Phillies rally.

After that second Philly loss, the Cubs were 84–60 and the Mets had pulled ahead at 85–57. The Mets would not look back. The Cubs' eight-game losing streak finally ended the next day in St. Louis, but the Mets were in the midst of a ten-game winning streak, and the Cubs, wilting from team fatigue, generally deteriorated in all phases of the game.^[1] The Mets (who had lost a record 120 games in their inaugural season 7 years earlier), would go on to win theWorld Series. The Cubs, despite a respectable 92–70 record, would be remembered for having lost a remarkable17+1⁄2 games in the standings to the Mets in the last quarter of the season.

Banks stated, however, that after an error by Young, Santo "went crazy. Young was so upset, he ran out ... I had never seen something so hurtful." According to Banks, "They say one apple can spoil the whole barrel, and I saw that," with the incident dividing the team into factions.^[7] The BookBaseball Hall of Shame 2 places the blame squarely (and perhaps unfairly) at the feet of one man, stating, "In the heat of battle, Leo Durocher, field general of the Cubs, went AWOL once too often. It was because of his lack of leadership that his team lost the fight for the 1969 pennant." Durocher did not believe in using theplatoon system. He believed in putting his best eight players on the field every day.^[8] Five of the Cubs' regular players finished the season with over 150games played.^[9] Two more had more than 130 games played.^[9] In his book,The Bill James Historical Baseball Abstract, baseball historianBill James cited manager Durocher's method of using his regular players every day without any rest days as a factor in the Cubs' collapse.^[10]

Overuse of the pitching staff may have played a part. During the first 118 games (74–43 record on August 13), the Cubs averaged about 4.7 runs a game and gave up only 3.5 runs per game, a 1.2 run per game advantage over the opposition. The last 45 games (18–27 record) saw a major reversal, with 3.7 runs per game for the team and 4.5 runs per game for the opposition (average Cub score would be a negative −0.8 runs per game versus opponents, almost a complete reversal from earlier play). Both the hitters and pitchers may have wilted as the season wound down.

Perhaps most ominously, during one of the Cubs' games against the Mets, a black cat ran onto the field near Santo, and after the cat appeared, the Cubs' collapse began. Earlier in the game, Santo wasbeaned by Mets pitcherJerry Koosman. This only fueled the myth of theCurse of the Billy Goat for many years afterwards.

• June 11, 1969:Adolfo Phillips andJack Lamabe were traded by the Cubs to theMontreal Expos forPaul Popovich.^[11]

• June 5, 1969:1969 Major League Baseball draft
  • Jim Todd was drafted by the Cubs in the 10th round.^[12]
  • Pat Bourque was drafted by the Cubs in the 33rd round. Player signed June 9, 1969.^[13]

^[9]

Note: Pos. = Position; G = Games played; AB = At bats; R = Runs; H = Hits; HR = Home runs; RBI = Runs batted in; Avg. = Batting average; SB = Stolen bases

Note: G = Games played; AB = At bats; H = Hits; Avg. = Batting average; HR = Home runs; RBI = Runs batted in

Note: G = Games pitched; IP = Innings pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts

Note: G = Games pitched; IP = Innings pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts

Note: G = Games pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; SV = Saves; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts

• Ferguson Jenkins – National League leader, strikeouts (273)

All-Star Game

• Don Kessinger, starting shortstop
• Ron Santo, starting third baseman
• Ernie Banks, reserve
• Glenn Beckert, reserve
• Randy Hundley, reserve

LEAGUE CHAMPIONS: Tacoma

• Johnson, Lloyd; Wolff, Miles, eds. (1997).The Encyclopedia of Minor League Baseball (2nd ed.). Durham, North Carolina: Baseball America.ISBN 978-0-9637189-8-3.
• 1969 Chicago Cubs at Baseball Reference
• 1969 Chicago Cubs onBaseball Almanac

• Miracle Collapse: The 1969 Chicago Cubs
• "Fans Still Carry the Torch for Also-Ran '69 Cubs",Baseball Digest, June 1993

• Chicago Cubs seasons
• 1969 Major League Baseball season
• 1969 in sports in Illinois

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