| 1906 Chicago Cubs | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| National League champions | ||||
 | ||||
| League | National League | |||
| Ballpark | West Side Park | |||
| City | Chicago, Illinois | |||
| Record | 116–36 (.763) | |||
| League place | 1st | |||
| Owners | Charles Murphy | |||
| Managers | Frank Chance | |||
| ||||
The1906 Chicago Cubs season was the 35th season of theChicago Cubs franchise, the 31st in theNational League and the 14th atWest Side Park. Skippered byplayer-managerFrank Chance, the Cubs won theNational Leaguepennant with a record of 116–36, a full 20 games ahead of the second-placeNew York Giants. The team's .763 winning percentage, with two ties in their 154-game season,[1][2] is the highest in modern MLB history. The2001 Seattle Mariners also won 116 games, but they did that in 162 games, resulting in a .716 winning percentage.
The 1906 Cubs are often considered the greatest MLB team to not win the World Series.[3] In a major upset, the Cubs were beaten by their crosstown counterpartsChicago White Sox in that year'sWorld Series.
Led by new managerFrank Chance, the Cubs dominated the NL. They led the league in both runs scored and fewest runs allowed by large margins. Their record of 116 wins has never been beaten, although it was tied by the2001 Seattle Mariners (who played a longer 162-game season).
The team included four futureHall of Famers: manager and first baseman Chance, second basemanJohnny Evers, shortstopJoe Tinker, and pitcherMordecai Brown. Brown finished second in the NL in wins toJoe McGinnity, but his 1.04ERA set a major league record. Although the record was broken byDutch Leonard in 1914, Brown's mark still stands as the National League record.
The pitching staff led the majors with a teamearned run average of 1.76. Six members of the pitching staff had double digit victories – Mordecai Brown (26),Jack Pfiester (20),Ed Reulbach (19),Carl Lundgren (17),Orval Overall (12), andJack Taylor (12). In addition, Mordecai Brown set a major league record with the lowest earned run average attained with at least 250 innings pitched (1.04).[4] The offensive star was third basemanHarry Steinfeldt, who led the NL in both hits and RBI.
The team's .763 winning percentage also set a modern-era record, and was the best overall since 1885. However, it set neither a National League record nor even a franchise record, as the 19th-century White Stockings finished with better records on three occasions (1876,1880, and1885). The all-time major league record belongs to the1884 St. Louis Maroons of theUnion Association at .832.
On August 9, Jack Taylor threw the last of a major league record 187 consecutive complete games that he pitched[5] (not counting appearances as arelief pitcher), a streak that began in 1901 when Taylor was pitching for theChicago Orphans. Taylor had been re-acquired from theSt. Louis Cardinals on July 1, having been traded to the Cards after the1903 season.[6]
| Team | W | L | Pct. | GB | Home | Road |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Chicago Cubs | 116 | 36 | .763 | — | 56–21 | 60–15 |
| New York Giants | 96 | 56 | .632 | 20 | 51–24 | 45–32 |
| Pittsburgh Pirates | 93 | 60 | .608 | 23½ | 49–27 | 44–33 |
| Philadelphia Phillies | 71 | 82 | .464 | 45½ | 37–40 | 34–42 |
| Brooklyn Superbas | 66 | 86 | .434 | 50 | 31–44 | 35–42 |
| Cincinnati Reds | 64 | 87 | .424 | 51½ | 36–40 | 28–47 |
| St. Louis Cardinals | 52 | 98 | .347 | 63 | 28–48 | 24–50 |
| Boston Beaneaters | 49 | 102 | .325 | 66½ | 28–47 | 21–55 |
Sources:[1][2][3][4][5][6][7][8] | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Team | BSN | BRO | CHC | CIN | NYG | PHI | PIT | STL | |||||
| Boston | — | 9–13 | 5–17 | 11–10–1 | 6–15 | 6–16 | 3–19 | 9–12 | |||||
| Brooklyn | 13–9 | — | 6–16 | 8–14 | 9–13 | 8–13 | 9–13 | 13–8–1 | |||||
| Chicago | 17–5 | 16–6 | — | 18–4 | 15–7–1 | 19–3–1 | 16–5 | 15–6–1 | |||||
| Cincinnati | 10–11–1 | 14–8 | 4–18 | — | 5–16 | 11–11 | 8–14–1 | 12–9–2 | |||||
| New York | 15–6 | 13–9 | 7–15–1 | 16–5 | — | 15–7 | 11–11 | 19–3 | |||||
| Philadelphia | 16–6 | 13–8 | 3–19–1 | 11–11 | 7–15 | — | 8–14 | 13–9 | |||||
| Pittsburgh | 19–3 | 13–9 | 5–16 | 14–8–1 | 11–11 | 14–8 | — | 17–5 | |||||
| St. Louis | 12–9 | 8–13–1 | 6–15–1 | 9–12–2 | 3–19 | 9–13 | 5–17 | — | |||||
| 1906 Chicago Cubs | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Roster | |||||||||
| Pitchers | Catchers Infielders | Outfielders Other batters | Manager | ||||||
| = Indicates team leader |
Note: Pos = Position; G = Games played; AB = At bats; H = Hits; Avg. = Batting average; HR = Home runs; RBI = Runs batted in
| Pos | Player | G | AB | H | Avg. | HR | RBI |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| C | Johnny Kling | 107 | 343 | 107 | .312 | 2 | 46 |
| 1B | Frank Chance | 136 | 474 | 151 | .319 | 3 | 71 |
| 2B | Johnny Evers | 154 | 533 | 136 | .255 | 1 | 51 |
| SS | Joe Tinker | 148 | 523 | 122 | .233 | 1 | 64 |
| 3B | Harry Steinfeldt | 151 | 539 | 176 | .327 | 3 | 83 |
| OF | Jimmy Sheckard | 149 | 549 | 144 | .262 | 1 | 45 |
| OF | Frank Schulte | 146 | 563 | 158 | .281 | 7 | 60 |
| OF | Jimmy Slagle | 127 | 498 | 119 | .239 | 0 | 33 |
Note: G = Games played; AB = At bats; H = Hits; Avg. = Batting average; HR = Home runs; RBI = Runs batted in
| Player | G | AB | H | Avg. | HR | RBI |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pat Moran | 70 | 226 | 57 | .252 | 0 | 35 |
| Solly Hofman | 64 | 195 | 50 | .256 | 2 | 20 |
| Doc Gessler | 34 | 83 | 21 | .253 | 0 | 10 |
| Pete Noonan | 5 | 3 | 1 | .333 | 0 | 0 |
| Tom Walsh | 2 | 1 | 0 | .000 | 0 | 0 |
| Bull Smith | 1 | 1 | 0 | .000 | 0 | 0 |
Note: G = Games pitched; IP = Innings pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts
| Player | G | IP | W | L | ERA | SO |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mordecai Brown | 36 | 277.1 | 26 | 6 | 1.04 | 144 |
| Jack Pfiester | 31 | 250.2 | 20 | 8 | 1.51 | 153 |
| Ed Reulbach | 33 | 218.0 | 19 | 4 | 1.65 | 94 |
| Carl Lundgren | 27 | 207.2 | 17 | 6 | 2.21 | 103 |
| Jack Taylor | 17 | 147.1 | 12 | 3 | 1.83 | 34 |
| Orval Overall | 18 | 144.0 | 12 | 3 | 1.88 | 94 |
| Bob Wicker | 10 | 72.1 | 3 | 5 | 2.99 | 25 |
| Jack Harper | 1 | 1.0 | 0 | 0 | 0.00 | 0 |
Note: G = Games pitched; IP = Innings pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts
| Player | G | IP | W | L | ERA | SO |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Fred Beebe | 14 | 70.0 | 6 | 1 | 2.70 | 55 |
ALChicago White Sox (4) vs NL Chicago Cubs (2)
| Game | Score | Date | Location | Attendance |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | White Sox – 2, Cubs – 1 | October 9 | West Side Park | 12,693 |
| 2 | Cubs – 7, White Sox – 1 | October 10 | South Side Park | 12,595 |
| 3 | White Sox – 3, Cubs – 0 | October 11 | West Side Park | 13,667 |
| 4 | Cubs – 1, White Sox – 0 | October 12 | South Side Park | 18,385 |
| 5 | White Sox – 8, Cubs – 6 | October 13 | West Side Park | 23,257 |
| 6 | Cubs – 3,White Sox – 8 | October 14 | South Side Park | 19,249 |