Early History of the Chicago Cubs
They Are One of Two Original National League Teams Still Here Today
Aug 26, 2007 James Lincoln Ray
The Chicago Cubs Are as Old as Professional Baseball Itself
Inspired by the success of the 1869 Cincinnati Red Stockings, who were the first fully professional team in baseball history, a number of cities sponsored professional teams of their own. William Hulbert, a successful Chicago businessman, led that city's efforts to form the Chicago White Stockings in 1870. The team began play in 1870, in the loosely-affiliated National Association of Professional Baseball Clubs (NAPBB).
In 1871, however, club owners from nine NAPBB teams formed a new league, called simply the National Association. The White Stockings were one of the teams invited to join the new league.
The team was an instant hit. They were tied for first place with just three games left in the season. But the Great Chicago Fire, which lasted from October 8-10, 1871, destroyed the Stockings home field and all of their uniforms and equipment that had been stored there. Chicago completed its schedule playing on the road with borrowed baseball uniforms and equipment, and lost their last two games to finish in second place.
As a result of the fire, the city needed all able-bodied men it could find for the rebuilding effort. There was simply no time for baseball. Accordingly, the White Stockings dropped out of the National Association for two years. But just as Chicago rose from the ashes, so would the game of baseball in the Windy City.
The White Stockings Start the National League
In early 1876, Chicago owner William Hulbert agreed with five owners of National Association teams to form a new baseball league that would have greater control by owners, higher ticket prices, the best players and a franchise in every major city. They named the new enterprise the "National League," and it consisted of eight teams:
- Chicago White Stockings
- Hartford Dark Blues
- St. Louis Brown Stockings
- Boston Red Caps
- Louisville Grays
- New York Mutuals
- Cincinnati Reds
- Philadelphia Athletics
Of these original teams, only two still remain in baseball, albeit under different trading names. The White Stocking are of course the Cubs, and the Boston Red Caps (after many name changes and two major geographic moves) are now known as the Atlanta Braves.
The Cap Anson Years: Early Dominance of the National League
In addition to creating the new league, Hulbert signed two of the most famous players in baseball history. The first was a pitcher named Albert Goodwill Spalding, who would pitch two seasons for Chicago before retiring to begin building the sporting goods empire that still bears his name today.
The other was first baseman Adrian "Cap" Anson, who was the greatest and most notorious player and manager of the 19th century. Anson was the first player to collect 3,000 hits, and he is the franchise's career leader in hits, doubles, RBI and runs scored. He was also an avowed racist who was directly responsible for keeping baseball a white man's game during the 19th century and beyond.
With Anson at the helm as player, and then as player-manager, the White Stockings won six National League pennants in eleven years. (1876, 1880-1882, 1885-86).
The Early World Series
During the spring of 1884, the president of the National League agreed with the president of the upstart American Association (which began play in 1882) to have the winners of the their respective leagues play a seven-game "World's Series" in October.
In 1885, after winning the NL with an 87-25 record, the White Stockings faced the St. Louis Browns (who would later become the St. Louis Cardinals) in the second World Series in baseball history. Chicago and St. Louis tied in a wild seven-game series that created two of baseball's great rivalries: the 130-year feud between the Cubs and the Cardinals, and the annual October battle between the winners of the rival major leagues in a World Series.
The Name Changes Led to the Chicago Cubs
After 1886, the White Stockings were a consistently good squad but they weren't able to capture another National League pennant. During this time period, the franchise changed its nickname from the White Stockings to Anson's Colts, or simply, the Colts.
By 1897, however, after a decade with no championships, Chicago fired Anson, who then retired from the game a year later. Without Anson, the team's "father" for 22 seasons, fans began referring to the squad as the Orphans. For the next five years, the Orphans finished no higher than fifth in the eight team National League. But things were about to change for the better in the Windy City.
"Tinker to Evers to Chance"
The first thing the team did was change its nickname in 1903, this time to the Chicago Cubs. They also signed a legendary double-play combination that was comprised of three future Hall of Famers: shortstop Joe Tinker, second baseman Johnny Evers, and First Baseman Frank Chance. The three players were immortalized in Franklin Pierce Adams' 1910 poem entitled "Tinker to Evers to Chance."
Although the team lost the 1906 World Series to their cross-town rival White Sox, the Cubs bounced back and won the World Series in both 1907 and 1908, hammering Ty Cobb's Detroit Tigers on both occasions in five games.
The Cubs still haven't won the Fall Classic since that year. Their 100 years of futility have been marked by Babe Ruth's Called Shot, the Curse of the Billy Goat, and the most infamous instance of fan interference in baseball history.
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