Cap Anson — First Baseman
Born: 4/17/1852
Died: 4/14/1922
Played for Team: 1876 to 1897
Cap Anson was baseball’s first superstar. In the game’s early years, he filled ballparks around the league and helped the National League succeed. Anson was at his best with runners on base. He led the league in RBIs eight times from 1880 to 1891. At the age of 44, he was still a .300 hitter.

Ned Williamson — Third Baseman
Born: 10/24/1857
Died: 3/3/1894
Played for Team: 1879 to 1889
Ned Williamson was a complete player. He was a sure-handed infielder and a powerful hitter. In 1883 he set a new record for doubles, and in 1884 he set a new record for home runs. Both were a result of the team’s tiny ballpark.

Larry Corcoran — Pitcher
Born: 8/10/1859
Died: 10/14/1891
Played for Team: 1880 to 1885
When Cap Anson had Larry Corcoran and Fred Goldsmith take turns pitching for the White Stockings, he created one of baseball’s first “pitching rotations.” Corcoran was the first pitcher to throw three no-hitters. He won 177 games in only six seasons with Chicago.

John Clarkson — Pitcher
Born: 7/1/1861
Died: 2/4/1909
Played for Team: 1884 to 1887
John Clarkson had a season for the ages in 1885. He won 53 games and struck out 308 batters in an amazing 623 innings. Clarkson had great control and could make the ball dip and curve. He knew the strengths and weaknesses of every batter.

Jimmy Ryan — Outfielder
Born: 2/11/1863
Died: 10/29/1923
Played for Team: 1885 to 1889 & 1891 to 1900
Jimmy Ryan was nicknamed “Pony” for the way he galloped around the bases and chased after balls in center field. He had a powerful batting stroke that produced more than 600 extra-base hits during his years in Chicago.

Bill Lange — Outfielder
Born: 6/6/1871
Died: 7/23/1950
Played for Team: 1893 to 1899
There is almost no doubt that Bill Lange would have been a Hall of Famer—if he hadn’t quit baseball. Lange was one of the NL’s most accomplished players when, at the age of 28, he decided to get married. His wife’s family did not think baseball was a suitable profession. Lange agreed and left the game with a .330 career average and 400 stolen bases in seven seasons.

Frank Chance — First Baseman
Born: 9/9/1876
Died: 9/15/1924
Played for Team: 1898 to 1912
Frank Chance was known as baseball’s “Peerless Leader” when he was player-manager of the Cubs. He guided the team to four pennants and was the NL stolen base leader twice.

Joe Tinker — Shortstop
Born: 7/27/1880
Died: 7/27/1948
Played for Team: 1902 to 1913 & 1916
Joe Tinker was one of the best defensive players in baseball in an era when every run was precious. He could also handle the bat. Tinker often finished among the league leaders in doubles, triple, and home runs.

Johnny Evers — Second Baseman
Born: 7/21/1881
Died: 3/28/1947
Played for Team: 1902 to 1913
Johnny Evers was the most intense competitor in the National League when he played. He was also one of baseball’s smallest players. For most of his career he weighed around 120 pounds.

Mordecai Brown — Pitcher
Born: 10/19/1876
Died: 2/14/1948
Played for Team: 1904 to 1912 & 1916
Mordecai Brown lost the index finger on his right hand in a farm accident as a young man. While recovering, he fell and broke the same hand. Fans would later call him “Three-Finger Brown,” but the truth is that only his thumb and fourth finger escaped injury. Brown discovered that his unusual grip could make a baseball do fantastic things. He won 20 or more games six years in a row for Chicago and was the hero of the 1908 World Series against the Detroit Tigers.

Gabby Hartnett — Catcher
Born: 12/20/1900
Died: 12/20/1972
Played for Team: 1922 to 1940
Gabby Hartnett was one of baseball’s first power-hitting catchers. He had nearly 700 extra-base hits for the Cubs during his career. Hartnett was a great team leader, too.

Hack Wilson — Outfielder
Born: 4/26/1900
Died: 11/23/1948
Played for Team: 1926 to 1931
Hack Wilson led the NL in home runs in four of his six seasons with the Cubs, including 56 in 1930—a league record that lasted until 1998. He also drove in 191 runs that year. That is still a record after more than 80 years.

Charlie Root — Pitcher
Born: 3/17/1899
Died: 11/5/1970
Played for Team: 1926 to 1941
Charlie Root was the team’s best pitcher during the late 1920s and early 1930s, when the Cubs were one of the top teams in baseball. He holds the club record with 201 wins and pitched in four different World Series for Chicago.

Hank Sauer — Outfielder
Born: 3/17/1917
Died: 8/24/2001
Played for Team: 1949 to 1955
Hank Sauer was one of baseball’s best power hitters in the years after World War II. In 1952, he had a magical year. He led the NL in homers and RBIs, and seemed to drive in a run almost every time he had a chance. Sauer was named NL MVP that season despite the fact the Cubs finished with a .500 record.

Rick Reuschel — Pitcher
Born: 5/16/1949
Played for Team: 1972 to 1981 & 1983 to 1984
Rick Reuschel had amazing control and was fearless on the mound. Although the Cubs struggled when he pitched for them in the 1970s, Reuschel was always a big winner. His best season was 1977, when he won 20 games.

Bruce Sutter — Pitcher
Born: 1/8/1953
Played for Team: 1976 to 1980
During his years with the Cubs, Bruce Sutter perfected a sinking pitch that made him almost unhittable. He was an All-Star four times with Chicago and won the NL Cy Young Award in 1979, when he led the league with 37 saves.

Lee Smith — Pitcher
Born: 12/4/1957
Played for Team: 1980 to 1987
Lee Smith was a scary sight. He stood 6–6 and threw his fastball close to 100 miles per hour. He helped the team reach the NLCS for the first time in 1984 when he saved 33 games. Smith had a total of 180 saves for Chicago.

Andre Dawson — Outfielder
Born: 7/10/1954
Played for Team: 1987 to 1992
Andre Dawson was runner-up in the MVP race twice when he played for the Montreal Expos. He smashed 49 homers for Chicago in 1987 and led the NL with137 RBIs, which was good enough to finally win the award. Dawson was an All-Star five years in a row with the Cubs and was one of the city’s most popular players.

Kerry Wood — Pitcher
Born: 6/16/1977
First Year with Team: 1998 to 2012
Kerry Wood was a strikeout machine for the Cubs as a starting pitcher. After injuries sent him to the bullpen, he became an All-Star closer. Wood left the Cubs for two years but returned in 2011.

Javier Baez — Shortstop
Born: 12/1/1992
First Season with Team: 2014
Javier Baez brought his powerful bat and lightning-fast glove to Wrigley Field and was named an All-Star in 2018 and 2019. He led the NL with 111 RBIs in 2019 and was runner-up in the MVP voting that year.

ARMS OF STEEL
Hack Wilson developed his powerful batting stroke by swinging a sledgehammer at a locomotive factory as a teenager.

SLOWPOKES
The Cubs’ outfield in the mid-1950s featured Hank Sauer, Frank Baumholtz, and Ralph Kiner. They were good hitters but very slow runners. The newspapers nicknamed them the “Quicksand Kids.”

QUICK, DON’T RUN
During the 1930s, many teams frowned upon basestealing. They preferred to wait for sluggers to hit home runs. In 1938, Stan Hack led the NL with only 16 stolen bases, even though he was one of the fastest runners in baseball. That is still the lowest total ever by an NL stolen base leader.

FATHER FIGURE
Young Lee Smith became a great reliever with the Cubs with the help of a 40-year-old starter. Fergie Jenkins taught Smith how to throw a slider and split-fingered fastball, and also how to mix up his pitches to fool hitters.

Home Runs
1884 — Ned Williamson — 27
1885 — Abner Dalrymple — 11
1888 — Jimmy Ryan — 16
1890 — Walt Wilmot — 10
1910 — Wildfire Schulte — 10
1911 — Wildfire Schulte — 21
1912 — Heinie Zimmerman — 14
1916 — Cy Williams — 12
1926 — Hack Wilson — 21
1927 — Hack Wilson — 30
1928 — Hack Wilson — 31
1930 — Hack Wilson — 56
1943 — Bill Nicholson — 29
1944 — Bill Nicholson — 33
1952 — Hank Sauer — 37
1958 — Ernie Banks — 47
1960 — Ernie Banks — 41
1979 — Dave Kingman — 48
1987 — Andre Dawson — 49
1990 — Ryne Sandberg — 40
2000 — Sammy Sosa — 50
2002 — Sammy Sosa — 49

Batting Average
1876 — Ross Barnes — .429
1880 — George Gore — .360
1881 — Cap Anson — .399
1884 — King Kelly — .354
1886 — King Kelly — .388
1888 — Cap Anson — .344
1912 — Heinie Zimmerman — .372
1940 — Stan Hack — .317
1945 — Phil Cavarretta — .355
1972 — Billy Williams — .333
1975 — Bill Madlock — .354
1976 — Bill Madlock — .339
1980 — Bill Buckner — .324
2005 — Derrek Lee — .335

Runs Batted In
1876 — Deacon White — 60
1880 — Cap Anson — 74
1881 — Cap Anson — 82
1882 — Cap Anson — 83
1884 — Cap Anson — 102
1885 — Cap Anson — 108
1886 — Cap Anson — 147
1888 — Cap Anson — 84
1891 — Cap Anson — 120
1906 — Harry Steinfeldt — 83
1911 — Wildfire Schulte — 107
1916 — Heinie Zimmerman — 83*
1929 — Hack Wilson — 159
1930 — Hack Wilson — 191
1943 — Bill Nicholson — 128
1944 — Bill Nicholson — 122
1952 — Hank Sauer — 121
1958 — Ernie Banks — 129
1959 — Ernie Banks — 143
1987 — Andre Dawson — 137
1998 — Sammy Sosa — 158
2001 — Sammy Sosa — 160
2018— Javier Baez — 111

* Zimmerman also played for the New York Giants in 1916.

Stolen Bases
1897 — Bill Lange — 73
1903 — Frank Chance — 67
1905 — Billy Maloney — 59
1906 — Frank Chance — 57
1928 — Kiki Cuyler — 37
1929 — Kiki Cuyler — 43
1930 — Kiki Cuyler — 37
1935 — Augie Galan — 22
1937 — Augie Galan — 23
1938 — Stan Hack — 16
1939 — Stan Hack — 17

Wins
1876 — Al Spalding — 47
1881 — Larry Corcoran — 31
1885 — John Clarkson — 53
1887 — John Clarkson — 38
1890 — Bill Hutchinson — 41
1891 — Bill Hutchinson — 44
1892 — Bill Hutchinson — 36
1909 — Mordecai Brown — 27
1912 — Larry Cheney — 26
1920 — Grover Cleveland Alexander — 27
1927 — Charlie Root — 26
1929 — Pat Malone — 22
1930 — Pat Malone — 20
1932 — Lon Warneke — 22
1938 — Bill Lee — 22
1964 — Larry Jackson — 24
1971 — Fergie Jenkins — 24
1987 — Rick Sutcliffe — 18
1992 — Greg Maddux — 20
2006 — Carlos Zambrano — 16
2015 — Jake Arrieta — 22
2018 — Jon Lester — 18*
2020 — Yu Darvish — 8

* Tied with other players

Strikeouts
1880 — Larry Corcoran — 268
1885 — John Clarkson — 308
1887 — John Clarkson — 237
1892 — Bill Hutchinson — 314
1906 — Fred Beebe — 171
1909 — Orval Overall — 205
1918 — Jim Vaughn — 148
1919 — Jim Vaughn — 141
1920 — Grover Cleveland Alexander — 173
1929 — Pat Malone — 166
1938 — Clay Bryant — 135
1939 — Claude Passeau — 137*
1946 — Johnny Schmitz — 135
1955 — Sam Jones — 198
1956 — Sam Jones — 176
1969 — Fergie Jenkins — 273
2003 — Kerry Wood — 266

* Claude Passeau also played with the Philadelphia Phillies in 1939.

Earned Run Average
1882 — Larry Corcoran — 1.95
1898 — Clark Griffith — 1.88
1902 — Jack Taylor — 1.33
1906 — Mordecai Brown — 1.04
1907 — Jack Pfiester — 1.15
1918 — Jim Vaughn — 1.74
1919 — Grover Cleveland Alexander — 1.72
1920 — Grover Cleveland Alexander — 1.91
1932 — Lon Warneke — 2.37
1938 — Bill Lee — 2.66
1945 — Ray Prim — 2.40
2016 — Kyle Hendricks — 2.13