Chicago Cubs: 11,000 wins, A franchise standard

The Chicago Cubs 11,000th franchise victory is the second most of any team.

The Chicago Cubs did something this week that’s only been done once before in baseball history.  The Los Angeles Dodgers are poised to do the same thing…perhaps as quickly as this weekend.

Chicago’s 9-3 victory Monday night over the Detroit Tigers was also the 11,000th in franchise history. Only one other major league franchise has won 11,000 major league games.

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In earning that distinction, the Cubs beat the Los Angeles Dodgers to the punch, probably by less than a week. The Dodgers entered play Wednesday night with 10,996 franchise victories, meaning they could hit 11,000 as quickly as this coming Saturday when they meet the Texas Rangers at Arlington.

The Cubs entered the 2020 season needing just 18 victories to reach 11,000, and for a time looked as if they would accomplish the historical feat in the first 25 games or so. They were 13-3 after just 16 games.

Since then, however, the team has slumped, taking 18 more games to get the final five victories.

The Dodgers entered the season 26 victories short of 11,000, and they’ve already bagged 22. They play the Giants in San Francisco Wednesday and Thursday before opening a three-game series against the Rangers on Friday.

Winning 11,000 games indicates two things. First, the franchise has been at least moderately successful. Second and perhaps most importantly, it’s been around for a very long time. The Cubs were an original member of the National League, which was founded in 1876. That means they’ve been winning games for 144 seasons, something only one other franchise – the Atlanta Braves – can say.

Which are the winningest franchises in history? And which franchise leads the list? Here’s a hint: The leader has never played its home games in The Bronx. If that surprises all you Yankee fans and Yankee haters, keep in mind that National League teams had been winning games for as many as 27 seasons when the New York American League franchise was created in 1903.

Here’s the list of the 10 winningest franchise in MLB history.