Will the Chicago Cubs ever win a World Series again? (Part 2 of 3)

In Part 1 of this series, we looked at the history of the Cubs early in the past century. Next, I will talk about a time in baseball, when the Chicago Cubs were basically the doormat of major league baseball.

The year is 1964. Why 1964 you may ask? This is when I really started to take a real interest in baseball. I was eight years old. I have memories of watching my first World Series between the St. Louis Cardinals and the New York Yankees. The Cardinals won that exciting series four games to three.

So what were the Chicago Cubs doing in 1964? They finished eighth in the National League with a record of 76-86. Bob Kennedy was their manager. Finishing last or near last would be a regular routine for the Chicago Cubs for years to come. The Chicago Cubs had two future Hall of Famers on this 1964 squad. First baseman Ernie Banks and outfielder Billy Williams. Ernie Banks was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 1977 and Billy Williams who was from my hometown of Mobile, Alabama was inducted in 1987. Way to go Billy!

Now the Cubs in 1964 had a very good thirty-three year old pitcher by the name of Larry Jackson. His record for that 1964 season was 24-11 with an ERA of 3.14. He led the National League with those twenty-four wins. In 1965 the Cubs finished eighth again in the National League. Their record was 72-90. Manager Bob Kennedy was replaced by Lou Klein after 56 games into the season. Kennedy's record was 24-32. Lou Klein's record was 48-58 for the year.

I really liked the lineup the Cubs put on the field and at the plate. Ernie Banks led the team along with outfielder Billy Williams, third baseman Ron Santo (a fine defensive third baseman), second baseman Glenn Beckert, and shortstop Don Kessinger. Not that they were all great players, but their personalities seemed to blend perfectly together. It's hard to describe. It just seems that with those names they were meant to be the Cubs of Chicago.

Billy Williams led the team in batting average with a .315 mark. Three players knocked in over a hundred runs - that being Ernie Banks, Billy Williams and Ron Santo. Billy Williams also led the team in homeruns with 34. The Cubs were pretty good offensively, but they had no starting pitching to brag about. Their best pitcher was lefty Dick Ellsworth who posted a losing record of 14-15 with an ERA of 3.81. 1966 got no better.

The Chicago Cubs had a new manager by the name of Leo Durocher. In his first year the team finished dead last in the National League with a record of 59-103. Pitching was a problem again. Manager Leo Durocher is in the Hall of Fame. He was a great coach and a colorful character. Hall of Fame and legendary manager Connie Mack couldn't have helped this team. You must have some good starting pitching to move up the ladder. Lefty Ken Holtzman was the ace for the Cubs that year. He finished the season 11-16 with an ERA of 3.79. Pitcher Dick Ellsworth was much worse with a record of 8-22 with an ERA of 3.98.

In 1967, those amazing Cubs actually had a winning record of 87-74. They finished third in the National League, fourteen games behind the St. Louis Cardinals. One reason for this was they finally had a good pitcher. His name was Ferguson Jenkins. He was 20-13 for that year with an ERA of 2.80. Mr. Jenkins is a Hall of Famer. He was selected in 1991. I told you if you had some good pitching you could go up the ladder. The Cubs actually played competitive baseball for the next few years under manager Leo Durocher. Mainly, because of good starting pitching and timely hitting.

In 1969 the "Bleacher Bums" make their debut. If the opposing team hit a homerun in the left field bleachers, it was customary to throw it back onto the field. That is a cool idea. Anyway, they rooted their Cubs to their highest finish since 1945 with a record of 92-70. Just good enough for second place in their division.

In 1970 the Cubs had an outfielder by the name of Jim Hickman. He had a great year batting .315. He also hit 32 homeruns and drove in 115 runs. Outfielder Billy Williams had a better year than Hickman hitting 42 homeruns and driving in 129 runs. His batting average for the regular season was .322. 1970 was the second year of divisions that had been instituted in 1969 by major league baseball. The Cubs were in the East division. They finished second in that division behind the Pittsburgh Pirates in 1970.

In 1972, manager Leo Durocher was replaced by Whitey Lockman after the team posted a 46-44 record for him.

The Cubs finished second in their division again. They just weren't good enough to win their division. Cubs pitcher Milt Pappas became the first pitcher in history to post 200 wins without ever winning 20 games in a season. In 1973, the Chicago Cubs returned to their losing ways. They finished the 1973 regular season at 77-84 and in fifth place in their division.

The Cubs would play poorly until they won their division in 1984 with a record of 96-65. John Frey was the skipper of the club. The 1984 Chicago Cubs were filled with good talent and good starting pitching. Cub pitcher Rick Sutcliffe finished the regular season 16-1. His ERA was 2.69. He won the Cy Young award that very same year. Closer and all-time save leader Lee Smith led the club with 33 saves. Future Hall of Famer Dennis Eckersley posted a 10-8 record that year. He started in 24 games. The Cub offense consisted of second baseman Ryne Sandberg. He led the team in hitting with a .314 average. He also had 200 hits that year. He hit 19 homeruns and drove in 84 runs. Ex-Dodger Ron Cey who played third base hit 25 homeruns while knocking in 97 runs. Outfielder Gary Matthews hit 14 homeruns and drove in 82 runs. He batted .297. Jody Davis the catcher hit 19 homeruns with 94 RBI. The offense was well balanced. Larry Bowa, manager of the 2001 Philadelphia Phillies, played shortstop for the Cubs in 1984.

However,Chicago would be denied a National League championship by the San Diego Padres. The Cubs lost that championship series three games to two. Chicago won the first two games of that series 13-0 and 4-2. Rick Sutcliffe was the winner in game one and lefty Steve Trout was the winner of the second game. Chicago appeared to be on their way. Unfortunately, they lost the last three games by a combined score of 20 to 9. The Detroit Tigers went on to defeat the San Diego Padres in the 1984 World Series. The Chicago Cubs dropped back to fourth in their division in 1985.

In 1988, lights for night play were installed at Wrigley Field. They were the last team to install lights. I miss all those day games. Baseball was meant to be played in the day.

In 1989, the Chicago Cubs won their division with a 93-69 record. Don Zimmer was the manager. Presently he is a coach for the New York Yankees. He is credited with playing a large part with the success of those championship teams in the 1990's and the 2000 season. In 1989, second baseman Ryne Sandberg played another large part in the teams offense. He hit 30 homeruns with 76 runs driven in. He batted .290. First baseman Mark Grace hit 13 homeruns with 79 runs batted in. Ex-Montreal Expo Andre Dawson hit 21 homeruns with 77 RBI. A future Hall of Famer for sure, pitcher Greg Maddux (presently with the Atlanta Braves now) led the pitching staff with a record of 19-12 with an ERA of 2.95 in 1989.

In 1992, he won the Cy Young Award as a Chicago Cub. He was 20-11 that year with an ERA of 2.18. In 1993, he went to the Atlanta Braves where he won his second Cy Young Award. He won two more consecutively in 1994 and 1995. Boy, I believe letting him go to the Braves was almost as bad as when the Red Sox traded Babe Ruth to the Yankees. What an awful decision. But that, my fellow baseball fans, is a totally different story all together.

Back to 1989 for a moment, Cub pitcher Mike Bielecki posted an 18-7 record with an ERA of 3.14. Rick Sutcliffe who played on that 1984 team posted a 16-11 record with an ERA of 3.66. So, the pitching staff was better than average. Closer and lefty Mitch Williams led the pitching staff with 36 saves. Unfortunately, again the Cubs were denied the National League Crown by getting beat by the San Francisco Giants in the playoffs four games to one. First baseman Mark Grace had an outstanding series against the San Francisco Giants. He led the Cubs with eleven hits in the series. He batted an unbelievable .647. He also hit one homerun and drove in eight with his hot bat.

In 1990, the Cubs finished fourth in their division. They were back to their losing ways again. Jim Lefebvre took over as manager in 1993. His club at least, had a winning season, but they still finished fourth in their division with a record of 84-78.

Tom Trebelhorn was manager in 1994, but the team finished a disappointing 49-64 in the new central division they were in. Purists fretted about the realignment of each league into three divisions, but to no avail.

This was also a strike year, with no World Series being played. The last games were played on August 11th. Man what a blackeye for baseball. But in 1998, something spectacular would bring the fans back to America's favorite pastime . I will tell you what happened in Part 3. Stay tuned...