Chicago Cubs

Lineup for the 2009 season

Pitchers

• 46 Ryan Dempster

  

• 40 Rich Harden
• 30 Ted Lilly
• 38 Carlos Zambrano
  

• 48 Neal Cott
• Garrett Olsen
• 49   Carlos Marmol
  
• 45 Sean Marshall
  
• 29 Jeff Samardzija

Catchers

• 18 Geovany Soto

Infielders

•  5 Ronny Cedeño
• 17 Mike Fontenot
• 25 Derrek Lee
• 16 Aramis Ramírez
•  2 Ryan Theroit
• 33 Daryle Ward

Outfielders

•  1 Kosuke Fukudome
•  9 Reed Johnson
• 12 Alfonso Soriano

OVERVIEW

The cubs are one of the two MLB teams that is based in Chicago, the other one being the Chicago White Sox. Although, they have not won a World Series in over a century, they are a very popular team thanks in part to WGN which telecasts their games on a national stage. The Cub's stadium, Wrigley Field is considered to be one of the most historic places in all of Sports. In that sense they transcend the boundaries between the various sports. The future looks promising for the Cubs as they have a strong pitching lineup and have very capable bats to go along with it. The 2010 season also saw a change from their long time Tribune ownership to the Rickett family ownership. However, they were swept out of the playoffs in the first round for the past two years.

IMPORTANT EVENTS

KERRY WOOD'S 20K GAME

1998

Kerry wood went from a relatively unknown 20 year old prospect to a household name when he pitched his fifth major league start. He Faced the NL central leading Houston Astro's and their powerful batting lineup which included multiple all stars like Raig Biggio, Derek Bell and Jeff Bagwell , Jack Howell and Moises Aloui. He went on to pitch a full game shut out and only gave up one run, on an error. More importantly he threw for 20 strikeouts which tied the major league record that was set by the future hall of framer Roger Clemens. His pitches included a fastball's that hit the three digit mark on the radar gun and an un-hittable curve ball. In fact, this mark has only been set twice in the history of the MLB's existence and remains the benchmark for any pitcher.

10,000 WINS

2008

The cubs reached a hallowed mark in baseball when they recorded their 10,000th win in April 23, 2008 when they faced the Colorado Rockies. They became only the second team after the San Francisco Giants to reach this mark. However, they do hold the record for most wins in one city, as the cubs have been a Chicago based team from the start. To mark this achievement, the cubs raised a flag which said 10,000 in blue, along with the customary "W" flag.

Also, at that point the cubs had won 10,000 and lost 9,465.
The only team to have 10,000 losses are the Phillies

* Post season victories are not taken into account*

CUBS PLAYOFF

Their pennants are as follows...

World Series Champions in

1907 and 1908

National League Champions

1906, 1907, and 1908, 1910, 1918, 1929, 1932, 1938, 1945

* Also made the playoffs in

1984 Season - Lost in the NLCS(2nd round)
1989 Season - Lost in the NLCS(2nd round)
1998 Season - Lost in the NLDS(1st round)
2003 Season - Lost in the NLCS(2nd round)
2007 Season - Lost in the NLDS(1st round) *
2008 Season - Lost in the NLDS(1st round) *


* SWEPT

BAD NEWS CUBS

9/08/1969:  A black cat runs onto the field at Shea Stadium, goes over to the Cubs dugout and stares Leo Durocher right in the face. The Cubs lose both games of a doubleheader, and the Mets pull to within a ½ game of first.

10/01/1977: Steve Bartman born in Chicago.

4/29/1983 After a 4-3 loss to the Dodgers that dropped the Cubs record to 5-14, Manager Lee Elia responded to fan booing with a profanity-laced tirade. Among other criticisms, Elia noted that, “Eighty-five percent of the fuckin’ world is working. The other fifteen come out here. A fuckin’ playground for the cocksuckers.”

6/03/2003: Sammy Sosa’s corked bat is discovered during the first inning of a game between Cubs and Tampa Bay Devil Rays at Wrigley.

10/14/2003: Cubs lead Marlins 3-2 in NLCS with Mark Prior on the mound at Wrigley. Cubs lead series 3-0 with five outs to go, when Luis Castillo hits foul pop up down third base line. Leftfielder Moises Alou apparently has a clean shot at catching the ball along the guardrail, but fan Steve Bartman interferes and it goes for a foul ball. Castillo walks, shortstop Alex Gonzalez commits an error, and before the inning ends the Marlins lead 8-3. Cubs lose the game and Game 7. The game was played exactly 95 years from the day the Cubs clinched its last World Series championship with a 4-1 victory over the Detroit Tigers in Detroit.

4/11/2004: Mark Prior, once described by a scout as “that rare power pitcher who has exquisite command,” is seen doing towel drills off the mound in Atlanta.

2/12/2007: Kerry Wood is sidelined with a “bruised right side” after falling in a hot tub at his home.

THE CURSE OF BILLY GOAT

This is one of the most talked about and to some people one of the most absurd things in all of sports. It supposedly started when the owner of the Billy Goat tavern, Billy Sianis placed a curse on the Chicago cubs when he along with his pet goat were kicked out of Wrigley Field. Apparently the goat's foul odor was bothering other fans and so he was kicked out. Enraged he said " Them cubs, they aren't gonna win no more". While it was brushed off at first, the cubs promptly lost to the TIgers in the world series and since then it has been immortalized in the papers over the years.  The fact remains that the Chicago Cubs, have not won a World Series since then.