As summer nears, baseball season begins to hit its prime. I am going to tell you about my favorite baseball team, the Chicago Cubs. If you have ever heard about the Cubs before 2016, they may have gotten a bad rap. Not winning a World Series since 1908, they maintained the longest scoring drought of baseball history. They didn't win for 108 years, after finally winning in 2016, but that is a story for later on. Let's go back to when the Cubs were first created.
The Chicago Cubs were first established in 1870, but they weren't called the Cubs for a while. The Chicago Cubs were first called the Chicago White Stockings. The White Stockings joined the National League in 1876, under the ownership of William Hubert. The White Stockings played their games at West Side Grounds. This team won the pennant in 1870, and at the time it was baseball's highest reward. The Chicago White Stockings won the pennant for three consecutive years, starting in 1880. In 1890, this baseball team became known as the Chicago Colts. After a ninth place finish in 1897, the Colts released player and manager Adrian Anson, otherwise known as Cap. After his absence for 22 years, local reporters started to call the franchise the Chicago Orphans. In 1902, the Colts were sold to Jim Hart and were managed by Frank Chance. While under this magnificent duo, the Chicago Colts won four pennants and two World Series over a total of five years. The Chicago Colts won back-to-back World Series in 1907 and 1908. In the 1906 season, even though they lost to the new White Stockings, they won a record of 116 games. The new called Chicago Cubs were the first team to win two consecutive World Series. In 1910, the Cubs won the pennant, but lost to the Philadelphia Athletics. The new Chicago Cubs had no more name changes, but many logo changes. These were the powerhouse years of the Cubs start.
After playing for 146 seasons, the Chicago Cubs have gone through many names and logos, also acquiring many championships. They have won 3 World Series, 3 championships before the World Series was made, 17 N.L. pennants, and 5 N.L. Central Division titles. They also won 2 N.L. East Division titles, but they were only in the East Division for 24 years. During those 24 years, the MLB was split into two divisions. They were divided into the East and West, and the Cubs were put into the east. They won their N.L. Central Division titles in the years 2003, 2007, 2008, 2016, 2017. The Cubs won their 17 N.L. Pennants in the years 1876, 1880, 1881, 1882, 1885, 1886, 1906, 1907, 1908, 1910, 1918, 1929, 1932, 1935, 1938, 1945, 2016. The Cubs won their three World Series titles in the years 1907, 1908, and 2016. The Cubs had a winning drought after 1945, and many fans blame one thing: The Curse of the Billy Goat. William Sianis, the owner of Billy Goat Tavern, was asked to leave Wrigley Field after his goat was irritating nearby spectators. He claimed that the Cubs would no longer win, and they went on a winning drought for 71 years. He cursed the Cubs during the 1945 World Series against the Detroit Tigers, and the Cubs wouldn't win until 2016 against the Cleveland Indians. The Cubs had another chance in 2003, but once again; a fan ruined that opportunity. The Cubs were playing in a postseason game against the Florida Marlins, and there was a pop-up hit to the left side on the infield. The ball looked like it was going out of play, and Moises Alou jumped up to catch it. Unfortunately, Steve Bartman was also right there. Bartman came down with the ball, and cost the Cubs the pennant. The Marlins scored eight runs after, and they won the pennant the next night.
The Cubs had two powerhouse teams, in 1907 and 2016. The rosters for the 1906 and the 2016 teams had many strong players, and a tough pitching staff. The pitchers for the 2016 World Series team were Jake Arrieta, Aroldis Chapman, Carl Edwards Jr, Justin Grimm, Kyle Hendricks, John Lackey, Jon Lester, Mike Montgomery, Hector Rondon, Pedro Strop, and Travis Wood. There were three catchers and 5 infielders for the World Series Champions. The catchers were Wilson Contreras, Miguel Montero, and David Ross. The five infielders were Javier Baez, who played shortstop; Kris Bryant, who played third base; Anthony Rizzo, who played first base; Ben Zobrist, who played second base; and Addison Russell, who was a reserve. There were six outfielders, who all interchanged with each other. The starting three were Albert Almora Jr, Dexter Fowler, and Kyle Schwarber. The three reserves were Chris Coghlan, Jason Heyward, and Jorge Soler.
Wikipedia, Wikipedia. "Chicago Cubs." Wikipedia. 2016. 22 May 2019 <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chicago_Cubs>.
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