Chicago Cubs - The World War I Era (1910-1919)

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1910

104

Decade

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Titles:

Top Cubs Players of the Teens

1910 - NL Champs (lost to A's)

1918 - NL Champs (lost to Red Sox)

Pitchers:

Hippo Vaughn (36.31) - 97

Ballpark:

Larry Cheney (10.9) - 50

West Side Grounds (1910-1915)

Claude Hendrix (8.42) - 35

Weeghman Park (renamed eventually to Wrigley Field 1916-1919)

Three Finger Brown (9.84) - 34

Jimmy Lavender (7.27) - 32

Team Name:

King Cole (6.84) - 25

Cubs

Phil Douglas (8) - 24

Ed Reulbach (1.92) - 22

Owners:

Lew Richie (8.11) - 22

Charles W Murphy (1910-1913)

Bert Humphries (5.04) - 18

Charles Taft (1914-1915)

George Pierce (0.66) - 17

Charles Weehgman (1916-1919)

Grover Cleveland Alexander (8) - 14

Lefty Tyler (7.49) - 14

General Managers:

None

Catchers:

Jimmy Archer (5.77) - 36

Managers:

Bill Killefer (2.24) - 13

Frank Chance (1910-1912)

Roger Bresnahan (4.46) - 10

Johnny Evers (1913)

Hank O'Day (1914)

First Basemen:

Roger Bresnahan (1915)

Vic Saier (15.18) - 44

Joe Tinker (1916)

Fred Merkle (5.13) - 30

Fred Mitchell (1917-1919)

Second Basemen:

Hall of Famers:

Johnny Evers (13.72) - 33

Grover Cleveland Alexander

Three Fingers Brown

ShortStop:

Roger Bresnahan

Joe Tinker (11.62) - 34

Frank Chance

Charlie Hollocher (9.24) - 26

Johnny Evers

Joe Tinker

Third Base:

Heinie Zimmerman (24.29) - 66

MVP

Wildfire Schulte (1911)

Outfield:

Wildfire Schulte (14.46) - 46

No Hitters:

Cy Williams (6.85) - 38

Jimmy Lavender (1915)

Jimmy Sheckard (10.8) - 36

Tommy Leach (9.02) - 34

Notable Events:

Max Flack (5.28) - 32

Les Mann (2.48) - 27

1910 - The Cubs are a juggernaut coming into the new decade. However,

Solly Hofman (6.34) - 22

a lot of key players are starting to age. Their three mainstays on the mound

Dode Paskert (1.61) - 16

during the Oughts will soon be running out of steam: Thirty three year old

Wilbur Good (1.72) - 12

Three Fingers Brown; twenty nine year old Orval Overall; and twenty seven

year old Ed Reulbach. They will all be toast within a couple of years. Also,

Notable Events:

four key position players are on the wrong side of thirty: catcher Johnny

Kling; first baseman Frank Chance; third baseman Harry Steinfeldt; and

1914 - Murphy sells the Cubs to Charles Taft for $500K. The original

outfielder Jimmy Sheckard.

purchase price of the club in 1908 had been $100K. Ironically,

Murphy had borrowed that original $100K from Taft, himself. That gave

1910 - The youngster cupboard is not completely bare. There are a number of

Murphy, who had been a sportswriter, a tidy $400K profit in only six

under thirty players on the roster who will be contributors moving forward:

years of owning the team, a king's ransom in those days.

□ Lew Ritchie, 26, pitcher

Rumor had it that Murphy was forced out of baseball for all of his

□ Fred Luderus, 24, first base - dealt to Phillies in a bad trade in 1910

feuds with League Management and his recent unpopular managerial

□ Jimmy Archer, 27, catcher

moves. However, if he was forced out of his ownership, it was with

□ Johnny Evers, 28, second base

a golden parachute.

□ Joe Tinker, 29, shortstop

□ Heinie Zimmerman, 23, infielder

1916 - The rival Federal League folds and, as part of the reconcilliation

□ Wildfire Schulte, 27, outfield

deal, Chicago Whales owner Charles Weeghman buys the

Also, there is righthander King Cole, who will win thirty eight games over the

Cubs for $503K from Taft, who was the former U.S. President's

next two seasons before hurting his arm, thus ending his effectiveness.

older brother, by the way.

Cole would battle back from arm problems two years later with the Yankees

having a decent season in 1914 only to tragically contract tuberculosis in

1916 - The Cubs move to Weeghman Park from West Side

1915 resulting in his death.

Grounds. As nice as it was, the West Side Grounds were not

as good a venue as was Weeghman Park, which later became

1910 - Chicago wins their fourth pennant in five years, but get beaten

known as Wrigley Field. In 1916, it wasn't nearly the ballpark

in five games in the World Series

it would develop into in later years, however.

1911- Twenty year old first baseman Vic Saier is purchased from Lansing

1917 - Cubs pitcher Hippo Vaughn and Reds pitcher Fred

Toney pitch a double no-hitter. The Reds win it in the tenth inning.

1911 - Larry Cheney, twenty five year old righty, is purchased from Louisville.

1918 - Future Hall of Fame righthander Grover Cleveland

1913 - Twenty five year old lefty Hippo Vaughn is purchased from Kansas

Alexander is obtained in a mostly cash deal from the Phillies. Catcher

City. He had pitched for the Yankees earlier in his career. Vaughn turns

Bill Killefer is also obtained. Pete doesn't duplicate his earlier

out to be the Cubs top pitcher of the decade.

phenomenal success with the Phillies, but he does have eight

productive seasons with the Cubs.

1913 - Owner Charles Murphy doesn't make any friends when he fires

popular Frank Chance as manager, installing Johnny Evers in his place.

1918 - The Cubs win the pennant in a Federally ordered short season

(due to the war) that ends Labor Day. The Red Sox beat the Cubbies

1914 - Owner Charles Murphy makes even less friends when

in the World Series. It was a decade of surprise, underdog teams

he then fires manager Johnny Evers and dumps him to the lowly Braves.

winning NL pennants, starting with the Braves in 1914, the Phillies in

Evers gets the last laugh as the Braves improbably go on to win the World title.

1915, the Dodgers in 1916, the Cubs in 1918 and the Reds in 1919.

Of these teams, only the Cubs had had any previous success.