Chicago Cubs: The all-time tournament
By Bill Felber
Chicago Cubs: The All-Time Tournament
1906 Cubs vs. 1969 Cubs
By record, at least, the best Chicago Cubs team in history was the famous Tinker-to-Evers-to-Chance aggregation of 1906.
That was the club that compiled the remarkable 116-36-2 record, winning the National League pennant by 20 games. And as famous as the double play combination made the team’s regulars, any assessment of the 1906 bunch has to begin with that pitching staff.
Chicago led the National League in all the meaningful categories, and not be close margins. The staff’s ERA was 1.75. Even in a dead-ball era, let that roll around for a while. The team allowed 2.46 runs per game in a league where the average was 3.56.
Collectively they allowed 1,018 hits, nearly 15 percent (200) fewer than the runner-up. In modern parlance, the team’s ERA+ was 151. That’s not the ace; that’s the entire staff.
Between them, Mordecai Brown, Jack Pfeister, Ed Reulbach, Jack Taylor and Orval Overall made 129 starts, and every one of those five arms produced a sub 2.00 ERA. Brown led the team at 1.04, allowing just 32 earned runs in 277 innings.
By the standards of the day, the offense was also excellent. Chicago led the National League in batting average, slugging average and OPS. Player-manager Frank Chance batted .319, third baseman Harry Steinfeldt led the team at .327 and catcher Johnny Kling batted .312.
Against that formidable a team, the 1969 club would have had little chance. Inclusion of the 1969 club is something of a sentimental pick since the team surrendered its season-long lead during a prolonged September fade, eventually finishing eight games behind the New York Mets in the NL East.
Selection of the 1969 group – over division winners such as the 2003, 2007 and 2008 teams – is obviously arguable.
But the team is worth remembering if only for the substantial bouquet of stars who populated it. Erie Banks was on that team, as were Ron Santo, Billy Williams, Ferguson Jenkins, and Ken Holtzman.
Winner: 1906 Cubs in four.