Durham responded with another stellar year by hitting. 279 with 23 homers and 96 RBI's as the Cubs won the National League East.

The club was originally called the Chicago White Stockings, after the nickname abandoned by the Cubs, and the name was soon shortened to Chicago White Sox, believed to have been because the paper would shorten it to Sox in the headlines.

Comiskey moved his St. Paul club to the Near South Side and renamed it the White Stockings, grabbing a nickname that had once been used by the Chicago Cubs.

Da Super Fan sketch has not been brought back by SNL, with the exception of a single appearance by Horatio Sanz as a Super Fan for the Cubs on Weekend Update in 2003.

After a disappointing record of 59-73 and a 9th-place finish in 1897, Anson was released by the Cubs as both a player and manager.

They then won back to back World Series titles in 1907 – 08 In 1902, Spalding, who by this time had revamped the roster to boast what would soon be one of the best teams of the early century, sold the club to Jim Hart, and the franchise became known as the Chicago Cubs.

Due to the wartime travel restrictions, the first three games of the 1945 World Series were played in Detroit, where the Cubs won two games, including a one-hitter by Claude Passeau, and the final four were played at Wrigley.

It has also been said by many that Sianis put a " curse " on the Cubs, apparently preventing the team from playing in the World Series.

In the Cubs, managed by Leo Durocher, built a substantial lead in the newly created National League Eastern Division by mid-August.

The Cubs hit a high-water mark on June 28 at 47 – 22, boasting an game NL East lead, as they were led by Bobby Murcer ( 27 Hr / 89 RBI ), and Rick Reuschel ( 20 – 10 ).

However, the Philadelphia Phillies cut the lead to two by the All-star break, as the Cubs sat 19 games over. 500, but they swooned late in the season, going 20 – 40 after July 31.

The 1983 Cubs had finished 71 – 91 under Lee Elia, who was fired before the season ended by Green.

It was the second game of a double header and the Cubs had won the first game in part due to a three run home run by Moreland.

This was approved by Major League Baseball and would have enabled the Cubs to host games 1 and 2, along with games 6 and 7 if necessary.

In 1989, the first full season with night baseball at Wrigley Field, Don Zimmer's Cubs were led by a core group of veterans in Ryne Sandberg, Rick Sutcliffe and Andre Dawson, who were boosted by a crop of youngsters such as Mark Grace, Shawon Dunston, Greg Maddux, Rookie of the Year Jerome Walton, and Rookie of the Year Runner-Up Dwight Smith.

The Cubs were swamped by media attention in 1998, and the team's two biggest headliners were Sosa and rookie flamethrower Kerry Wood.

" One of the biggest stories of the season transpired as the club made a midseason deal for Fred McGriff, which was drawn out for nearly a month as McGriff debated waiving his no-trade clause, as the Cubs led the wild card race by 2. 5 games in early September.

Most notably, they traded with the Pittsburgh Pirates for outfielder Kenny Lofton and third baseman Aramis Ramirez, and rode dominant pitching, led by Kerry Wood and Mark Prior, as the Cubs led the division down the stretch.

Chicago halted St. Louis ' run to the playoffs by taking 4 of 5 games from the Cardinals at Wrigley Field in early September, after which the hapless Cubs finally won their first division title in 14 years.

A Chicago Cubs fan by the name of Steve Bartman, of Northbrook, IL, reached for the ball and deflected it away from the glove of Moisés Alou for the second out of the 8th inning.

They led the Wild Card by 1. 5 games over San Francisco and Houston on September 25, and both of those teams lost that day, giving the Cubs a chance at increasing the lead to a commanding 2. 5 games with only eight games remaining in the season, but reliever LaTroy Hawkins blew a save to the Mets, and the Cubs lost the game in extra innings, a defeat that seemingly deflated the team, as they proceeded to drop 6 of their last 8 games as the Astros won the Wild Card.

Although they fell to the " Hitless Wonders " White Sox in the 1906 World Series, the Cubs recorded a record 116 victories and the best winning percentage (. 763 ) in Major League history.

Some historians think Kling's absence was significant enough to prevent the Cubs from also winning a third straight title in 1909, as they finished 6 games out of first place.

Near the end of the first decade of the double-Bills ' guidance, the Cubs won the NL pennant in 1929 and then achieved the unusual feat of winning a pennant every three years, following up the 1929 flag with league titles in 1932, 1935, and 1938.

There were some historic moments for the Cubs as well ; they claimed the ' 35 pennant in thrilling fashion, winning a record 21 games in a row in September.

After losing the 1945 World Series to the Detroit Tigers, the Cubs finished with winning seasons the next two years, but those teams did not enter post-season play.

After losing a dismal 103 games in 1966, the Cubs brought home consecutive winning records in ' 67 and ' 68, marking the first time a Cub team had accomplished that feat in over two decades.

The Cubs won the NL East once again that season winning 93 games.

After a rough start, which included a brawl between Michael Barrett and Carlos Zambrano, the Cubs overcame the Milwaukee Brewers, who had led the division for most of the season, with winning streaks in June and July, coupled with a pair of dramatic, late-inning wins against the Reds, and ultimately clinched the NL Central with a record of 85 – 77.

The Cubs posted a winning record ( 83 – 78 ) for the third consecutive season, the first time the club had done so since 1972, and a new era of ownership under the Ricketts ' family was approved by MLB owners in early October.

In that same span the Cardinals have had 45 seasons in which their winning percentage was over. 500, while the Cubs have finished over that mark 19 times ( they finished at an even. 500 twice ).

The Brewers came off the sweep from the Cubs with an amazing August, winning 20 of 28 games in the month.

In the " double no-hitter " between Fred Toney of the Reds and Hippo Vaughn of the Chicago Cubs, Thorpe drove in the winning run in the 10th inning.

* Rick Sutcliffe-1979 National League Rookie of the Year and 1984 Cy Young Award winning pitcher for the Chicago Cubs

On June 4, he had two triples and two RBIs as the Cardinals defeated the Chicago Cubs 5 – 1, a game that ended future Hall of Famer Grover Cleveland Alexander's 11-game winning streak.

The timing worked in Caray's favor, as the Cubs ended up winning the National League East division title in 1984 and radio station WGN's nationwide audience.

The Cubs had been playing well throughout the season's first few months, but as a team unaccustomed to winning, they had not yet become a serious contender in the eyes of most baseball fans.

The winning run for the Cubs was driven in by a single off the bat of Dave Owen.

Griffey's best season came in 1976, when he came just short of winning the batting title behind Bill Madlock of the Chicago Cubs.

If Alou had caught the ball, it would have been the second out in the inning, and the Cubs would have been just four outs away from winning the National League pennant.

The Padres, who rallied from a 2 – 0 deficit in the best-of-five series against the Cubs won the decisive Game 5 the next day ( thus, winning their first ever National League pennant ).

Until the final game of the pennant race, some baseball fans had been hoping for a rematch of the 1918 World Series: a showdown between the Red Sox and the Chicago Cubs, one of only two major league teams to have played for a longer period of time since winning the World Series ( the other was the Chicago White Sox, who went on to win the Series in ).

This began an 11-game winning streak that brought them into second place, seven games behind the Chicago Cubs.

The game was completed on September 16, with the Cubs winning 5-2.

He is the all-time leader in managerial winning percentage in Cubs history.