Chicago Cubs - The Depression Era (1930-1939)

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1930

Decade

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Titles:

Top Cubs Players of the Thirties

1932 - NL Champs (Lost to Yankees)

1935 - NL Champs (Lost to Tigers)

Pitchers:

1938 - NL Champs (Lost to Yankees)

Bill Lee (27.33) - 80

Lon Warneke (26.39) - 74

Ballpark:

Charlie Root (24.28) - 69

Wrigley Field

Guy Bush (7.11) - 58

Larry French (17.83) - 55

Team Name:

Pat Malone (10.74) - 47

Cubs

Tex Carleton (4.56) - 31

Clay Bryant (6.19) - 18

Owners:

Claude Passeau (5.36) - 10

Bud Tinning (4.48) - 9

William Wrigley (1930-1932)

Bob Smith (4.17) - 9

Phillip K Wrigley (1932-1939)

Dizzy Dean (4.36) - 3

General Managers:

Catchers:

Bill Veeck Sr. (Team President - 1930-1933)

Gabby Hartnett (35.69) - 100

Charles Weber (1934-1939)

Ken O'Dea (4.37) - 8

Managers:

First Basemen:

Joe McCarthy (1930)

Charlie Grimm (7.39) - 22

Rogers Hornsby (1930-1932)

Ripper Collins (4.2) - 13

Charlie Grimm (1932-1938)

Phil Cavarretta (0.7) - 12

Gabby Hartnett (1938-1939)

Dolph Camilli (0.68) - 1

Hall of Famers:

Second Basemen:

Gabby Hartnett

Billy Herman (36.59) - 63

Dizzy Dean

Rogers Hornsby (5.67) - 12

Billy Herman

Rogers Hornsby

ShortStop:

Kiki Cuyler

Billy Jurges (15.81) - 44

Hack Wilson

Woody English (18.86) - 35

Chuck Klein

Third Base:

MVP

Stan Hack (21.03) - 55

Gabby Hartnett (1935)

Outfield:

No Hitters:

Kiki Cuyler (17.55) - 49

None

Augie Galan (15.04) - 48

Frank Demaree (12.09) - 29

Notable Events:

Riggs Stephenson (8.89) - 26

Hack Wilson (8.55) - 19

1930 - the Cubs were the top team in the National League coming into

Chuck Klein (7.05) - 16

the Thirties. They were an offensive juggernaut and had good enough

Babe Herman (5.83) - 15

pitching to make them a legitimate contender. The 1930 roster contained

Hank Leiber (4.12) - 11

the following standouts:

□ Gabby Hartnett, 29, catcher future Hall of Fame

Notable Events:

□ Charlie Grimm, 31, first base

□ Riggs Stephenson, 32, outfield

□ Kiki Cuyler, 31, outfield

1933 - William Veeck Sr dies at the age of fifty seven. Charles

□ Hack Wilson, 30, outfield

Weber takes over as GM. The affect of Veeck's loss is not

□ Rogers Hornsby, 34, second base

immediately noticable, but by the end of the decade it becomes

□ Pat Malone, 27, pitcher

apparent that talent is no longer flowing into the system as it did

□ Guy Bush, 28, pitcher

under Veeck

□ Charlie Root, 31, pitcher

□ Lon Warneke, 21, pitcher

1933 - Another one that got away. Dolph Camilli comes up as a

Warneke was a rookie in 1930 who had been brought up from AA Reading.

twenty six year old first baseman. The Cubs deal him to the Phillies for

He would average close to twenty wins for the Cubs during a five year

first baseman Don Hurst. Dolph blossoms into a star slugger over

stretch from 1932-1936

a twelve year career with the Phillies and then the Dodgers.

1930 - Hack Wilson knocks in a record 191 runs. However, the

1934 - Phil Cavarretta, seventeen years old, comes up after being

Cubs manage to only finish second by two games. Rogers

signed as an amateur free agent. He ends up playing the next

Hornsby broke his ankle early in the season and was a key loss.

twenty years as the Cubbies first baseman.

1930 - Joe McCarthy resigns as manager two days before the

1934 - Twenty two year old outfielder Augie Galan is obtained from

end of the season claiming lack of support by owner William

San Francisco of the PCL He goes on to play the first eight years of

Wrigley. He signs with the Yankees shortly thereafter and the

his sixteen year big league career with the Cubs.

lack of support he was talking about probably was $$$$

1934 - Bill Lee, twenty four year old righty, is obtained from Columbus

1930 - Rogers Hornsby takes over as manager of the club

He goes on to a fourteen year big league career, the first ten with the

and immediately causes problems. He personally ruins Hack

Cubs. Bill will average close to eighteen wins in his first six years

Wilson who had been so skillfully handled by McCarthy. This

with Chicago

whole sequence of events wasn't one of Bill Veeck Sr's

brighter moments.

1935 - Lefthander Larry French, 27, is obtained from the Pirates

for Guy Bush and Babe Herman. He wins seventeen games teaming

1931 - Centerfielder Mike Kreevich comes up to the Cubs as a

up with Lon Warneke and Bill Lee to give the Cubs an intimidating

twenty three year old. He is one that got away as the Cubs eventually

starting rotation to go with their big hitting lineup. French will go on to

release him. He resurfaces with the White Sox in 1935 and goes on

average sixteen wins for the Cubs over the next five years.

to a productive twelve year career.

1935 - The Cubs ride a twenty one game winning streak to

1931 - Billy Jurges, twenty three year old shortstop, is obtained from

the pennant, but lose to the Tigers in the World Series. They end up

Louisville

the regular season with one hundred wins with a very young and

up and coming ball club

1931 - Twenty one year old second baseman Billy Herman is

purchased from Louisville. He will go on to a Hall of Fame career,

1937 - Bill Veeck Jr is hired and he plants ivy on the wall, builds

mostly with the Cubs

new bleachers and constructs a new scoreboard - all of which

are big parts of the ballpark's charm and remain so to this day.

1932 - Third baseman Stan Hack, twenty two, is obtained from

Sacramento. He goes on to a sixteen year career, all with the Cubs

1938 - The Cubs win the pennant but lose the World Series to

the Yankees. It marks their fourth pennant in ten years, all

1932 -William Wrigley dies at the age of seventy one. His son,

in three year intervals and all ending with a World Series loss.

Phillip K Wrigley takes over ownership. Initially, throughout the

1929, 1932, 1935 and 1938.

decade, the change of hands in ownership does not appear to

If you were a betting man, you would bet the ranch on the Cubs

affect the team's performance on the field. But over the longer

winning the pennant again in three years time (1941) at this point.

timeframe, it becomes apparent that Phillip does not have fielding

And, you would have lost your ranch.

a winning Cubs team among his priorities. And what's worse,

Cubs fans never seem to hold him accountable for his lack

1939 - Thirty year old righthander Claude Passeau is obtained in a

of interest in producing a winning ballclub.

trade with the Phillies. Passeau had been a very good pitcher for a

very bad team in a very tiny ballpark with the Phillies. He would be the

1932 - The Cubs fire the belligerent Hornsby and with his polar

Cubs' ace during the first half ot the next decade

opposite, Charlie Grimm, at the helm, the Cubs rally to

win the pennant. Twenty three year old righty Lon Warneke has a

1939 - Swish Nicholson, a twenty four year old outfielder, is purchased

breakout season winning twenty two games.

from Washington. Nicholson would go on to be one of the premier

sluggers in the National League in the Forties. He was originally

1932 - In a contentious World Series, the Cubs lose to the Yanks

signed by the A's and you can only think that it was old age that had

two great talent evaluators like Connie Mack of the A's and Clark

Griffith of the Senators whiff on a talent like Nicholson.