1909 Chicago Cubs season
The 1909 Chicago Cubs season was the 38th season of the Chicago Cubs franchise, the 34th in the National League and the 17th at West Side Park. The Cubs won 104 games but finished second in the National League, 6½ games behind the Pittsburgh Pirates. The Cubs had won the pennant the previous three years and would win it again in 1910. Of their 104 victories, 97 were wins for a Cubs starting pitcher; this was the most wins in a season by the starting staff of any major league team from 1908 to the present day.[1]
| 1909 Chicago Cubs | |
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| Major League affiliations | |
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| Location | |
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| Other information | |
| Owner(s) | Charles Murphy |
| Manager(s) | Frank Chance |
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The legendary infield of Joe Tinker, Johnny Evers, Frank Chance, and Harry Steinfeldt was still intact, but it was the pitching staff that excelled. The Cubs pitchers had a collective earned run average of 1.75, a microscopic figure even for the dead-ball era. Three Finger Brown was one of the top two pitchers in the league (with Christy Mathewson) again, going 27–9 with a 1.31 ERA.
Offseason
- February 18, 1909: Doc Marshall was purchased from the Cubs by the Brooklyn Superbas.[2]
Regular season
Season standings
| National League | W | L | Pct. | GB | Home | Road |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pittsburgh Pirates | 110 | 42 | 0.724 | — | 56–21 | 54–21 |
| Chicago Cubs | 104 | 49 | 0.680 | 6½ | 47–29 | 57–20 |
| New York Giants | 92 | 61 | 0.601 | 18½ | 44–33 | 48–28 |
| Cincinnati Reds | 77 | 76 | 0.503 | 33½ | 39–38 | 38–38 |
| Philadelphia Phillies | 74 | 79 | 0.484 | 36½ | 40–37 | 34–42 |
| Brooklyn Superbas | 55 | 98 | 0.359 | 55½ | 34–45 | 21–53 |
| St. Louis Cardinals | 54 | 98 | 0.355 | 56 | 26–48 | 28–50 |
| Boston Doves | 45 | 108 | 0.294 | 65½ | 27–47 | 18–61 |
Record vs. opponents
1909 National League Records Sources: | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Team | BOS | BR | CHC | CIN | NYG | PHI | PIT | STL | |||||
| Boston | — | 11–11 | 1–21 | 5–17 | 8–14–2 | 10–12 | 1–20 | 9–13 | |||||
| Brooklyn | 11–11 | — | 5–16 | 5–17–1 | 7–15 | 11–11 | 4–18 | 12–10–1 | |||||
| Chicago | 21–1 | 16–5 | — | 16–6 | 11–11–1 | 16–6 | 9–13 | 15–7–1 | |||||
| Cincinnati | 17–5 | 17–5–1 | 6–16 | — | 9–13–1 | 9–12–1 | 7–15–1 | 12–10 | |||||
| New York | 14–8–2 | 15–7 | 11–11–1 | 13–9–1 | — | 12–10 | 11–11–1 | 16–5 | |||||
| Philadelphia | 12–10 | 11–11 | 6–16 | 12–9–1 | 10–12 | — | 7–15 | 16–6 | |||||
| Pittsburgh | 20–1 | 18–4 | 13–9 | 15–7–1 | 11–11–1 | 15–7 | — | 18–3 | |||||
| St. Louis | 13–9 | 10–12–1 | 7–15–1 | 10–12 | 5–16 | 6–16 | 3–18 | — | |||||
Roster
| 1909 Chicago Cubs | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Roster | |||||||||
| Pitchers | Catchers
Infielders |
Outfielders
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Manager | ||||||
Player stats
Batting
Starters by position
Note: Pos = Position; G = Games played; AB = At bats; H = Hits; Avg. = Batting average; HR = Home runs; RBI = Runs batted in
| Pos | Player | G | AB | H | Avg. | HR | RBI |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| C | Jimmy Archer | 80 | 261 | 60 | .230 | 1 | 30 |
| 1B | Frank Chance | 93 | 324 | 88 | .272 | 0 | 46 |
| 2B | Johnny Evers | 127 | 463 | 122 | .263 | 1 | 24 |
| SS | Joe Tinker | 143 | 516 | 132 | .256 | 4 | 57 |
| 3B | Harry Steinfeldt | 151 | 528 | 133 | .252 | 2 | 59 |
| OF | Jimmy Sheckard | 148 | 525 | 134 | .255 | 1 | 43 |
| OF | Solly Hofman | 153 | 527 | 150 | .285 | 2 | 58 |
| OF | Frank Schulte | 140 | 538 | 142 | .264 | 4 | 60 |
Other batters
Note: G = Games played; AB = At bats; H = Hits; Avg. = Batting average; HR = Home runs; RBI = Runs batted in
| Player | G | AB | H | Avg. | HR | RBI |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pat Moran | 77 | 246 | 54 | .220 | 1 | 23 |
| Del Howard | 69 | 203 | 40 | .197 | 1 | 24 |
| Heinie Zimmerman | 65 | 183 | 50 | .273 | 0 | 21 |
| Joe Stanley | 22 | 52 | 7 | .135 | 0 | 2 |
| John Kane | 20 | 45 | 4 | .089 | 0 | 5 |
| George Browne | 12 | 39 | 8 | .205 | 0 | 1 |
| Fred Luderus | 11 | 37 | 11 | .297 | 1 | 9 |
| Tom Needham | 13 | 28 | 4 | .143 | 0 | 0 |
| Bill Davidson | 2 | 7 | 1 | .143 | 0 | 0 |
Pitching
Starting pitchers
Note: G = Games pitched; IP = Innings pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts
| Player | G | IP | W | L | ERA | SO |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mordecai Brown | 50 | 342.2 | 27 | 9 | 1.31 | 172 |
| Orval Overall | 38 | 285 | 20 | 11 | 1.42 | 205 |
| Ed Reulbach | 35 | 262.2 | 19 | 10 | 1.78 | 105 |
| Jack Pfiester | 29 | 196.2 | 17 | 6 | 2.43 | 73 |
| Rube Kroh | 17 | 120.1 | 9 | 4 | 1.65 | 51 |
| Ray Brown | 1 | 9 | 1 | 0 | 2.00 | 2 |
| King Cole | 1 | 9 | 1 | 0 | 0.00 | 1 |
| Andy Coakley | 1 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 18.00 | 1 |
Other pitchers
Note: G = Games pitched; IP = Innings pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts
| Player | G | IP | W | L | ERA | SO |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Rip Hagerman | 13 | 79 | 4 | 4 | 1.82 | 32 |
| Irv Higginbotham | 19 | 78 | 5 | 2 | 2.19 | 32 |
| Rudy Schwenck | 3 | 14 | 1 | 1 | 3.86 | 3 |
| Carl Lundgren | 2 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 4.15 | 0 |
Relief pitchers
Note: G = Games pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; SV = Saves; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts
| Player | G | W | L | SV | ERA | SO |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pat Ragan | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2.45 | 2 |
| Chick Fraser | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.00 | 1 |
Awards and honors
League top five finishers
- NL leader in wins (27)
- #2 in NL in ERA (1.31)
- #4 in NL in strikeouts (172)
- MLB leader in strikeouts (205)
- #3 in NL in ERA (1.42)
Notes
- "Pitching Game Finder: From 1908 to 2018, Pitcher Won, as Starter, sorted by greatest Performances matching selected criteria by a Team". Baseball Reference. Retrieved August 29, 2018.
- Doc Marshall page at Baseball Reference