1977 Chicago Cubs
League	National League
Division	East
Ballpark	Wrigley Field
City	Chicago
Record	81–81 (.500)
Divisional place	4th
Owners	Philip K. Wrigley,William Wrigley III
General managers	Bob Kennedy
Managers	Herman Franks
Television	WGN-TV (Jack Brickhouse,Lou Boudreau)
Radio	WGN (Vince Lloyd,Lou Boudreau)
Stats	ESPN.com Baseball Reference
← 1976 Seasons 1978 →

The1977 Chicago Cubs season was the 106th season of theChicago Cubs franchise, the 102nd in theNational League and the 62nd atWrigley Field. The Cubs finished fourth in theNational League East with a record of 81–81, 20 games behind thePhiladelphia Phillies.

On November 24, 1976,Bob Kennedy was named head of baseball operations for the Cubs. His first move was to informJim Marshall that he was fired asmanager.Salty Saltwell‚ after a year asgeneral manager‚ was named secretary and director of park operations. AfterLeo Durocher turned down an offer from Cubs ownerPhilip K. Wrigley to manage the Cubs for the 1977 season,Herman Franks‚ who had briefly been a Cubs coach underLeo Durocher‚ was named the new manager.^[1]

• December 6, 1976:Willie Hernández was drafted by the Cubs from thePhiladelphia Phillies in the 1976rule 5 draft.^[2]
• December 8, 1976:Julio González was traded by the Cubs to theHouston Astros forGreg Gross.^[3]
• January 11, 1977:Rick Monday andMike Garman were traded by Cubs to theLos Angeles Dodgers forBill Buckner,Iván DeJesús and Jeff Albert (minors).^[4]
• January 17, 1977:Geoff Zahn was released by the Cubs.^[5]
• February 5, 1977:Darold Knowles was traded by the Cubs to theTexas Rangers for a player to be named later and cash. The Rangers completed the trade by sendingGene Clines to the Cubs on February 15.^[6]
• February 11, 1977:Bill Madlock andRob Sperring were traded by the Cubs to theSan Francisco Giants forBobby Murcer,Steve Ontiveros, and Andy Muhlstock (minors).^[7]
• February 16, 1977:Champ Summers was traded by the Cubs to theCincinnati Reds forDave Schneck.^[8]
• February 28, 1977:Buddy Schultz was traded by the Cubs to theSt. Louis Cardinals for Mark Covert (minors).^[9]
• March 15, 1977:Joe Coleman was traded by the Cubs to theOakland Athletics forJim Todd.^[10]
• March 15, 1977:Jerry Tabb was purchased from the Cubs by the Oakland Athletics.^[11]
• March 15, 1977:Jim Tyrone was traded by the Cubs to the Oakland Athletics forGaylen Pitts.^[12]

In 1977, the franchise experienced one of its biggest collapses. The Cubs hit a high-water mark on June 28 at 47–22 with an 8½-gameNational League East lead led byBobby Murcer, who had 27 home runs and 89 RBI overall during the season, andRick Reuschel, who had arecord of 20–10. However, the Philadelphia Phillies cut the lead to two by the All-Star break, as the Cubs sat 19 games over .500, and the Cubs swooned late in the season, going 20–40 after July 31, finishing in fourth place at 81–81.

On July 28, with the Cubs down 14–10 in the eighth inning of a game against theCincinnati Reds, the Cubspinch-hit for both of theirmiddle infielders, replacingshortstopIván DeJesús withJosé Cardenal andsecond basemanMick Kelleher withGreg Gross. The Cubs scored three runs, making the score 14–13 going into the ninth inning. Since both replacements were typicallyoutfielders, and the Cubs had just one player left on the bench who normally played middle infield to enter the game in the ninth inning, utilitymanDave Rosello, the Cubs allowed Cardenal to stay in the game and play second base while Rosello entered the game at shortstop. Rosello and Cardenal alternated between the two positions during the ninth inning depending on whether the batter was a left-handed or right-handed hitter. The Reds failed to score in the ninth, and the Cubs tied the game, forcing extra innings. At that point, the Cubs moved Cardenal toright field, and brought Bobby Murcer in to play the infield instead, continuing to flip-flop the positioning of Rosello and Murcer for the remainder of the game, which wound up going thirteen innings. In all, Rosello wound up switching positions twelve times, and Murcer eight times.^[13][14]

• April 20, 1977: The Cubs traded a player to be named later to theSeattle Mariners forPete Broberg. The Cubs completed the deal by sendingJim Todd to the Mariners on October 25.^[10]
• May 28, 1977:Ramón Hernández was traded by the Cubs to theBoston Red Sox forBobby Darwin.^[15]
• June 7, 1977:Terry Francona was drafted by the Cubs in the 2nd round of the1977 Major League Baseball draft, but did not sign.^[16]
• August 23, 1977: Bobby Darwin was released by the Cubs.^[17]
• September 28, 1977:Rudy Meoli was purchased by the Cubs from theCincinnati Reds.^[18]

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

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

• 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.
• 1977 Chicago Cubs season at Baseball Reference

• Chicago Cubs seasons
• 1977 Major League Baseball season
• 1977 in sports in Illinois

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