1906 Chicago Cubs

From SABR Encyclopedia

1906 Chicago Cubs
League:	National League

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The Deadball Era had the team with the most wins (154 Game Schedule) and the highest winning Percentage of any single season in baseball history. The 1906 Chicago Cubs won 116 Games and Lost 36 (3 ties) for a .763 winning pct. and won the National League Pennant by 20 games over the 2nd place NY Giants, World Champions the previous season and National League Pennant winner in 1904 when there was no world series played. The 1906 Cubs also had the best road record of any team (60 Wins 15 Losses and 1 tie game, .800 winning pct.).

       At the beginning of the season, though, there was no reason to suspect that the Cubs would be so successful at the end of the season, and through 1910. 

      Even though the Cubs won their season opener on the road against the Cincinnati Reds (7-2) on April 12, they were tied for 2nd place with the Pittsburgh Pirates and were 2.5 games behind the NY Giants by April 30. The Cubs did take the lead for good that season by May 28, but were only 1.5 games ahead of the Giants and even as late as June 30 the lead was 2.5 games ahead of the Pirates and 3.5 games ahead of the Giants. By winning 20, and losing 8 with 2 tie games in July, the Cubs extended their lead over the Pirates and Giants to 6 games by July 31.  August is when the Cubs really took off . Winning 26 and losing only 3 , with an 11 game winning streak and a 14 game winning streak through September 1. There was only 1 loss in the period August 6 through September 1 (on August 19 against the Giants a 7-0 shutout at home).  By that time the lead was extended to 13 games ahead of the Pirates and 15 ahead of the Giants. Then after losing  5-2 to the St Louis Cardinals on September 2 (also at home),  another 12 game winning streak followed. In September, the Cubs won 21 and lost 5. In October, 3 wins, 0 Losses and 1 tie game on the final day of the season, October 7 against  the Cardinals.  2 days later, the world series began. The Cubs 

then reversed their winning ways and lost 4 out of the next 6 games to the cross town White Sox.

      The Cubs were masters of the Inside Game. 1.75 Pitching Staff ERA , 30 Shutouts , .206 

Opponents BA and 6.6 Hits Allowed / 9 IP, 381 Runs Allowed (2.46 Runs Allowed per game) 89 fewer runs allowed than any other National League team and 79 fewer than any other Major League team in 1906.

      On Offense, 235 Sacrifice Bunts (2 years before the Sacrifice Fly was not counted as 

an At Bat), 283 stolen bases and 704 runs scored (4.54 runs per game), 79 more than any other National League team and 41 more than any other Major League team in 1906 (Baseball-Reference.com has 705 Runs Scored, Allowed 381 runs. Pythagorean W-L: 115-37).

      On Defense, a league leading FA (.962). Frank Chance (1B), Johnny Evers(2B), Joe Tinker(SS) and Harry Steinfeldt(3B) rounded out the infield. Jimmy Sheckard(LF), Jimmy Slagle(CF) and Frank (Wildfire) Schulte(RF) covered the outfield. 

      Artie "Circus Solly"  Hofman was a utility player, with games at many postions  
      (1B-21, 2B-4, 3B-4, SS-9, LF-1, CF-17, RF-6). 

      Doc Gessler also played 21 games in the outfield (LF - 0, CF-19, RF-2), and 1B-1.

      Johnny Kling was the number 1 catcher (C- 96 RF- 3).

      Pat Moran was the number 2 catcher (C-61).

      Pete Noonan played 5 games (1B-1) before being traded in mid season 
      (see list of player transactions),

      Tom Walsh caught in 2 games, and Lewis "Bull" Smith pinch hit in 1 game 
      (April 16 against Cincinnati).

      The pitchers were:

      Mordecai "Three Finger" Brown,  Ed Reulbach,  Jack "The Giant Killer" Pfiester, 
      Carl Lundgren, Orval Overall, Jack Taylor  
      (both acquired in mid-season, see list of player transactions),  
      Jack Harper, Fred Beebe and Bob Wicker (both traded in mid-season). 

Manager: Frank Chance (replaced Frank Selee on August 1, 1905 as Manager). Note: Selee put together the main part of this team and was the one responsible for Tinker, Evers and Chance moving to SS, 2B, and 1B respectively.

Home Field: West Side Park / Grounds (West Side Park II - ballparks.com)

Player Transactions

Player Date Traded To With By In Exchange For Jimmy Sheckard 12/30/1905 CHI (N) - BRK (N) Billy Maloney Jack McCarthy Doc Casey Buttons Briggs $2,000

Pat Moran February 1906 CHI (N) - BOS (N) Cash

Harry Steinfeldt March 1906 CHI (N) - CIN (N) Hans Lobert Jake Weimer

Doc Gessler 5/8/1906 CHI (N) - BRK (N) Cash

Bob Wicker 6/2/1906 CIN (N) $2,000 CHI (N) Orval Overall Orval Overall 6/2/1906 CHI (N) - CIN(N) Bob Wicker $2,000

Fred Beebe 7/1/1906 STL (N) Pete Noonan CHI (N) Jack Taylor Cash

Pete Noonan 7/1/1906 STL (N) Fred Beebe CHI (N) Jack Taylor Cash

Jack Taylor 7/1/1906 CHI (N) - STL (N) Fred Beebe Pete Noonan Cash

Jack Harper October 1906 CHI (N) - CIN (N) Chick Fraser

Note: Jack Harper pitched 5 games for CIN (N) and 1 game for CHI (N) in 1906 Chick Fraser pitched all games with CIN (N) in 1906 and all games with CHI (N) in 1907,

1906 Chicago Cubs vs NL Opponents

Team Games Wins Losses Ties Winning Pct. Finished in Overall Standings GB Cubs PHI 23 19 3 1 .864 4th 45.5 CIN 22 18 4 0 .818 6th 51.5 BOS 22 17 5 0 .773 8th 66.5 PIT 21 16 5 0 .762 3rd 23.5 BRK 22 16 6 0 .727 5th 50.0 STL 21 15 6 1 .714 7th 63.0 NY 22 15 7 1 .682 2nd 20.0 Total 155 116 36 3 .763 1st -

References:

1. http://www.baseball-reference.com/teams/CHC/1906.shtml 2. The Baseball Encyclopedia (Macmillan) 8th Edition (Trade Register) 3. http://www.retrosheet.org (games data / season data) 4. http://www.retrosheet.org/boxesetc/UPCHN1906.htm (Player and Total Team Statistics) 5. http://www.retrosheet.org/boxesetc/TCHN1906.htm (Home / Road and By Month Info 6. http://www.retrosheet.org/boxesetc/VCHN1906.htm (Game Log) 7. Bill James Electronic Baseball Encyclopedia, (c) 1995 Miller Associates, Inc. (Team Statistics) 8. http://www.ballparks.com/baseball/ 9. http://www.baseball-almanac.com/teamstats/roster.php?y=1906&t=CHN