Chicago Cubs: The all-time tournament
By Bill Felber
Chicago Cubs: The All-Time Tournament
1929 Cubs vs. 1885 Cubs
During the first decade of baseball’s existence, the Chicago White Stockings – direct linear ancestors of the Chicago Cubs –were baseball’s dominant team. Between 1876 and 1885, the White Stockings won six pennants. Of those six, the 1885 group was probably the best.
The legendary figures who populated that team include Cap Anson, among the 19th Century’s greatest stars. The first player to amass 3,000 hits, Anson batted .310 in 1885 and drove in 108 runs – not bad considering the season only consisted of 112 games.
Anson’s equal in popularity was catcher-outfielder Michael ‘King’ Kelly, who hit .288 with 75 RBIs.
Again, though, the heart of the team was its pitching. The White Stockings had two aces. John Clarkson started 70 games, winning 53 of them against just 16 losses. Clarkson delivered 623 innings of work, being removed from the mound only twice all season.
Jim McCormick added a 20-4 record in 24 starts. No wonder the 1885 unit outlasted New York by two games in a thrilling pennant race, finishing at 87-25, a .777 winning percentage.
The No. 5 seed is the 1929 team, one of the most powerful lineups ever to grace the North Side. Under Joe McCarthy, that team went 98-54 and won the pennant by 10 and one-half games before losing the World Series to Philadelphia’s Athletics in five games.
League-wide, 1929 was an offensive-oriented season, and the Cubs more than held their own. How’s this for an outfield? Left fielder Riggs Stephenson batted .362 with 110 RBIs. Right fielder Kiki Cuyler hit .360 with 102 RBIs. Center fielder Hack Wilson batted .345 yet trailed both of the men on his flanks. Wilson made up for it with 39 home runs and 159 RBIs.
By the way, at second base Chicago had Rogers Hornsby, who hit .380 with 39 homers and 149 RBIs.
Against the great 1885 team, however, none of that mattered.
Winner: 1885 Cubs in four.