Will the Chicago Cubs ever win a World Series again? (Part 1 of 3)

The Chicago Cubs have not won a World Series since 1908. That my baseball fans is a dry spell.

In the first of this three part series, we will take a look at the history of the early Chicago Cubs.

The last time the Cubs even appeared in the World Series was 1945. That was the year World War II ended. What does that tell you?

In 1945, the Chicago Cubs faced the Detroit Tigers in the World Series. The Cubs won the National League pennant that year with a record of 96-56. Charlie Grimm was the manager.

I bet even the best of baseball fans wouldn't know two players that played on that 1945 squad. The one most familiar to me was outfielder Peanuts Lowrey. That's just because of his unusual name. That year he batted .283 and he hit seven homeruns with 89 runs batted in. Those stats were really nothing to brag about. Their best hitter on the team was 28-year-old first baseman, Phil Cavarretta who batted .355. He had six homeruns and batted in 97. Third baseman Stan Hack led the club with 193 hits. His batting average was .323.

Their best pitcher was Hank Wyse who posted a record of 22-10 with an ERA of 2.69. Behind him was 36-year-old Claude Passeau who was 17-9 with an ERA of 2.46.

The Chicago Cubs lost that World Series four games to three. Phil Cavarretta led the team with a .423 average in the series. He had eleven hits for the series. Stan Hack also had eleven hits in the series. Cub pitcher Hank Borowy posted a 2-2 record. His ERA was 4.00. Claude Passeau won one game. He pitched a complete game shutout against Detroit 3-0, in the third game of the series. He was the starter for the sixth game, but did not get the decision. Chicago won that game 8-7 in twelve innings. Pitcher Hank Borowy received that win. Outfielder Bill Nicholson drove in the most runs for the Cubs with eight. His average for the series was a cool .214 though.

Detroit had some pretty good players on their team. They had outfielder Hank Greenberg, first baseman Rudy York, and pitchers Hal Newhouser and Dizzy Trout. What was amazing was that the Detroit Tigers didn't have a single regular starter on offense that hit .300 or better. Hank Greenberg batted .311, but he only played in 78 games that year. He was 34 at the time. He had a great career. Hank Greenberg was elected to the Hall of Fame in 1956. Detroit pitcher Hal Newhouser posted a record of 25-9 in the regular season. His ERA was 1.81. He led the American League with that ERA. Newhouser was 2-1 in the 1945 World Series. His ERA was a high 6.10. He allowed 25 hits in the 20.2 innings he pitched. No matter, the Detroit Tigers were the undisputed 1945 World Series champions.

I hope you realize what the Cubs and their fans have been through for the past ninety-three years. Let me put this in the right perspective for you.

Theodore Roosevelt, our 26th president was the President of the United States the last time the Cubs won the World Series. You talk about some diehard fans. The Cub fans are one of the most devoted fans in all of baseball. What fan in his right mind could love a team that hasn't won a World Series in ninety-three years. Even the fathers and the mothers of these fans today -- who are living -- have never seen the Cubs win a World Series. That is simply heartbreaking.

The Chicago Cubs won the 1908 World Series over the Detroit Tigers four games to one. The Cubs were tough back then. The 1908 Chicago Cubs were led by player/manager and future Hall of Famer Frank Chance. He was elected to the Hall of Fame in 1946 by the Veteran's committee. He was the club's first baseman. The Chicago Cubs won the National League crown with the best record in baseball. Their record was 99-55.

The top hitter for the Cubs was second baseman Johnny Evers. He led the team with a .300 batting average. Johnny Evers also was elected to the Hall of Fame in 1946 by the Veteran's committee. Shortstop Joe Tinker led the club in homeruns and RBI's. He hit six homeruns and drove in 68. His batting average was .266 for the year. Joe Tinker was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 1946 by the Veteran's committee. I'll tell you one thing, that Veteran's committee sure did like those old Cubbies in 1946.

Cubs pitcher Mordecai "three finger" Brown led the Cubs with a record of 29-9. He led the National League with an ERA of 1.47. In my opinion, that is a Hall of Fame name if I ever heard one. He was elected to the Hall of Fame in 1949. He had the league's best ERA of 1.04 in 1906 with the Cubs. He had 20+ wins in six consecutive seasons. Amazingly, he threw 20+ complete games for eight years straight. Chicago Cub pitcher Ed Reulbach was the second best pitcher for the Cubs with a 24-7 record. His ERA was 2.02. The Chicago Cubs had some great starting pitching, something they've been missing for a very long time.

As for the 1908 World Series player/manager Frank Chance, he led his team with eight hits. He had the highest batting average in the series at .421. Johnny Evers batted .350. Infielder/outfielder Solly Hofman and shortstop Joe Tinker led the team with four RBI's apiece. Cubs pitchers Mordecai "three finger" Brown and Orvie Overall both won two games apiece. Brown had an incredible ERA of 0.00 and, overall, had an ERA of 0.98. I think it is fair to say that pitching won that series for the Cubs.

By the way, Hall of Fame outfielder Ty Cobb played for the Detroit Tigers then. He led the American League in hits, doubles, triples, homeruns, RBI's, batting average and slugging. His batting average was .324. Another Hall of Famer by the name of Sam Crawford played for that Detroit team too. He batted .311 in the regular season. Detroit pitcher Ed Summers led the team with 24 wins against 12 losses. His ERA was 1.64. Ty Cobb led the Detroit Tigers with eight hits in the 1908 World Series. His average for the series was .368.

Chicago fans, this would be the last time your beloved Chicago Cubs won a World Series. Even the Boston Red Sox, who are plagued by the "curse of the bambino" have won a World Series since 1908. The Boston Red Sox won their last World Series in 1918. Well, if it is any consolation, that's not a whole lot better than the Chicago Cubs.

The next time the Chicago Cubs would appear in a World Series was 1910. Unfortunately, they lost that series to the Philadelphia Athletics four games to one. The Cubs won the National League pennant with a record of 104-50. That was the best record in all of baseball that year. Cubs pitcher Mordecai "three finger" Brown had another amazing year posting a 25-13 record with an ERA of 1.80. Twenty-four year old pitcher King Cole went 20-4 for the Cubs. He had the same ERA as Brown of 1.80. The reason I mentioned the 1910 series is because I wanted to show you that the Chicago Cubs were a highly competitive team back in those days.

I would like to share with you one more detail about the Chicago Cubs of the early 1900's.

I mentioned earlier that the last time the Boston Red Sox won a World Series championship was back in 1918. Guess who they played in that World Series? None other than the Chicago Cubs.

The Cubs won the National League pennant again that year with a record of 84-45. The manager was Fred Mitchell. The Cubs were a totally different team than the 1910 Cubs. Player personnel had changed completely. Their leading pitcher in 1918 was a lefty by the name of Hippo Vaughn. He finished the regular season 22-10 with an ERA of 1.74. Their best offensive player was shortstop Charlie Hollocher. He finished the season batting .316. He led the National League with 161 hits that year. He also led the league with at bats with 509. The Chicago Cubs lost that World Series to Boston four games to two.

The Cubs won the second game 3-1 and the fifth game 3-0. Hippo Vaughn was the winning pitcher in that fifth game for the Cubs. Utility infielder Charlie Pick led the Cubs with seven hits in the series. He also had the best batting average for both team by hitting .389 in the series. This was an era of baseball when the Chicago Cubs were highly respected and played very competitively.

Be sure to keep a look out for Part 2 of this series.