The 1906-10 Chicago Cubs
Once upon a time, the Entire World was dominated by the Chicago Cubs.
They were the best team in baseball not just for the one amazing year of 1906, but for five decades, winning almost 70 percent of their matches, four National League pennants, and two World Series. Let’s go to the bullet points:
Back in 1906, the Cubs won 116 games and–not counting Union Association or National Association teams–posted the maximum season winning percentage in history (116-36, .763), finishing 20 games before the New York Giants–coming off back-to-back pennants of their very own — whose 96 wins in any other year would’ve had them in emptiness at the very least. Chicago moved into first place for good May 9 and has been virtually unbeatable the last two months of this year. From the start of August before the season ended on October 7, the Cubs went 50-8, running winning streaks of 11, 14, and 12 games. Their longest losing streak of the year was three matches in May. Prior to this World Series, the last time that they lost back-to-back matches were around July 23–24.
In 1907, Chicago replicated with 107 wins, finishing a comfy 17 games up on the second-place Pittsburgh Pirates. The Cubs took over first for great on May 28, also on July 4 already held an 111/2-game lead. In 1906 and 1907, the team had a streak in which it won 122 of 154 competitions.
In 1908, Chicago fought a three-way pennant race for the ages–possibly the biggest ever–winning by one game over arch-rivals New York and Pittsburgh. From there, Frank Chance’s men captured what is famously their second (and last) World Series. August had finished with the Cubs and Giants tied and the Pirates down with a mere halfgame. Despite starting September 14–6, the Cubs found themselves in 2nd position, 41/2 games behind the Giants, on the eighteenth. With just 16 matches remaining, the deficit appeared so difficult that firebrand second baseman Johnny Evers doubted their odds of winning a third straight pennant. Undaunted, and helped by Fred Merkle’s newcomer”boner” on September 23 of failing to touch second base on a game-winning hit, the Cubs won 14 of their last 16 (excluding two twists ) to eke out the pennant. At 99 wins, this was the only year of this five the Cubs failed to acquire 100.
In 1909, their victory total enhanced . It so happened, however, that Pittsburgh won 110.
Chicago again won 104 games in 1910, this time was great for a fourth pennant as they ended 13 games before second-place New York. The Cubs went to first for great on May 24 and led the Pirates by 10 games and the Giants by 12 games from the end of August. The 1910 Cubs were also the inspiration for this best of American poems–at least according to me personally –Franklin Pierce Adams’ ode to that”trio of bear cubs,” Tinker, Evers, and Chance, appropriately entitled”Baseball’s Sad Lexicon.” The poem was published in the New York Evening Mail on July 12, when the Giants were in Chicago. John McGraw’s men trailed the Cubs by just 11/2 games, but the writing was perhaps apparent on the wall. The Giants’ loss to the Cubs on July 11 was the first of five straight defeats and nine losses in 12 matches, effectively completing them for the season and enabling Chicago to flee to pennant number four in five decades. (You may have gathered by my own calling this the biggest of American poems that literary criticism isn’t my day job)