Originally founded in 1869, the Chicago Cubs became a charter member of the National League in 1876. Over the next 150 seasons, the Cubs have played more than 22,000 games, scored over 103,000 runs and recorded more than 200,000 hits, more than any other team in baseball history. Nearly 2,300 players have worn a Cubs uniform, earning eight division titles, 17 NL pennants, and three World Series championships.
Fans have witnessed generations of unforgettable players, from historical heroes like Joe Tinker, Gabby Hartnett, Ernie Banks, and Billy Williams to more recent stars like Ryne Sandberg, Derrek Lee, Kerry Wood, and Anthony Rizzo. The team has called Wrigley Field home for 110 of those 150 seasons.
To celebrate this milestone, the Cubs are holding a fan vote to select the franchise’s anniversary team. Each week, we will go through the provided options for each position and declare who should, and, if different, who will, win the fan vote. We start today with the eight selections for manager.
Cap Anson was one of the first superstars of professional baseball. He joined the Cubs franchise, then known as the White Stockings, in 1876, the first year of the new National League. In 1879, he became the player-manager, leading the team to five pennants between 1880 and 1886. He introduced new tactics that are commonplace today, including having a third base coach, having fielders back up one another, using signs to the batter, and having a set pitching rotation. He was fired as manager following the 1897 season, his last as a player. Off the field, Anson was an outspoken proponent of segregation in baseball and was known to gamble on games.
Frank Chance debuted with the Cubs in 1898, becoming their full-time first baseman in 1903, where he became immortalized as part of the “Tinker-to-Evers-to-Chance” trio thanks to the poem Baseball’s Sad Lexicon. He became the player-manager in 1905, becoming the first of only eight managers to lead their team to four 100-win seasons. The Cubs would win four NL pennants and two World Series championships under Chance. He was let go by the team as both a player and a manager following the 1912 season. He remains the winningest manager in Cubs history, by winning percentage.
Leo Durocher returned to major league baseball after an eleven-year break to become the manager of the Cubs in 1966. He inherited a team that had finished in eighth place the year before and, within two years, he led them to only their second winning season since 1946. 1969 appeared to be their year, as the Cubs led the new NL East for 105 days, but a late season fade left them eight games behind the so-called Miracle Mets. During his tenure, Durocher faced trouble in the locker room, nearly coming to blows with Ron Santo and dealing with the decline phase of franchise legend Ernie Banks. With a 46-44 record midway through the 1972 season, Durocher was fired. He would later state that his biggest regret in baseball was not winning a pennant for Cubs owner Phillip Wrigley.
Charlie Grimm first joined the Cubs as a player in 1925. In 1932, he was named player-manager, replacing Rogers Horsby in August, and immediately led the club to 37 wins down the stretch to claim the NL pennant. They would win another pennant in 1935, capped by a 21-game winning streak in September. The Cubs were 45-36 in 1938 when owner Phillip Wrigley moved Grimm to the broadcast booth. When the club got off to a slow start in 1944, Grimm was once again hired to manage the team. The following year, they won the NL pennant once again, their last until 2016. Grimm led the team to losing records in his final three seasons, resigning his position in 1949. Grimm returned briefly for a third go-around as manager in 1960, but, following a slow start, he swapped positions with broadcaster Lou Boudreau. Over the next five years, Grimm was part of the infamous College of Coaches but never held the title of manager again. His 946 wins as a Cubs manager rank second behind Cap Anson.
Joe Maddon took over the Cubs managerial position for the 2015 season. Coming off the heels of three consecutive last place finishes, he led the team to the NL Wild Card in 2015, advancing to the NLCS before losing to the Mets. Maddon made his mark in 2016, as the Cubs won their first NL pennant since 1945 and their first World Series championship since 1908. Despite leading the team to the postseason in four straight years, the first time that had happened in franchise history, Maddon’s contract wasn’t renewed following the 2019 season. His .581 winning percentage is the highest among Cubs managers since Frank Chance, and his 19 playoff victories remains a team record.
Joe McCarthy spent five seasons as Cubs manager, from 1926-1930. Finishing above .500 every season, McCarthy led the team to the 1929 NL pennant, losing the World Series in five games to the A’s. He was fired after the 1930 season.
Frank Selee was hired to manage the Cubs, then known as the Orphans, in 1902. The Cubs, a nickname they would earn the following year, improved their record in each of his seasons at the helm, going from fifth place up to second. Selee developed the famous Tinker-to-Evers-to-Chance infield combination, converting Frank Chance from catcher to first base, Joe Tinker from third base to shortstop, and Johnny Evers from shortstop to second base. He also acquired rookie pitcher Mordecai “Three Finger” Brown, who would go on to a Hall of Fame career with the club. Selee resigned as manager in June of 1905 due to illness.
Albert Spalding, one of the star players of the 19th century, joined the White Stockings in 1876 as player-manager as the club moved to the newly formed National League. He managed the team for just two seasons before becoming an executive with the franchise. While manager, he founded, with his brother, the sporting goods store that eventually expanded into a manufacturer and distributor of all kinds of sporting equipment and is still a major player in that market to this day.
It is easy for me to see where Joe Maddon will win the voting in this category, as he is the only one of the choices to lead the Cubs to a World Series title in the lifetime of anyone who will be voting, but an honest look at the overall results should probably land on Frank Chance being the top choice.