The '''Chicago Cubs''' are a Major League Baseball team that plays in the North Side Central Lakeview neighborhood of Chicago, Illinois. The club is in the Central Division of the National League. They are owned by the Tribune Company and managed by Dusty Baker.
The Cubs are one of two major league teams based in Chicago. The other team based in Chicago is the Chicago White Sox of the American League. Both clubs are charter members of their respective leagues.
Franchise history
White Stockings
The success and fame of the Cincinnati Red Stockings of 1869, baseball's first openly professional team, led to a minor explosion of openly professional teams in 1870, each with the singular goal of defeating the Red Stockings. A number of them adopted variants on that name and color, and it happens that Chicago adopted white as their primary color. After a summer of individually arranged contests among the various teams, the time was right for the organization of the first professional league, the National Association, in 1871.
The Chicago White Stockings were close contenders all summer, but disaster struck in October 1871 with the Great Chicago Fire, which destroyed the club's ballpark, uniforms, and other possessions. The club completed its schedule with borrowed uniforms, finishing second in the National Association. just 2 games behind, but was compelled to drop out of the league during the city's recovery period, finally being revived in 1874.
After the 1875 season, Chicago acquired several key players, including pitcher Albert Spalding of the Boston Red Stockings, and first baseman Adrian "Cap" Anson of the Philadelphia Athletics. While this was going on, behind the scenes the club President, William Hulbert, was leading the formation of a new and stronger organization, the National League.
With a beefed-up squad, the White Stockings cruised through the National League's inaugural season of 1876. The Chicagoans went on to have some great seasons in the 1880s, starting with 1880 when they won 67 and lost 17, for an all-time record .798 winning percentage. Extrapolating an 84-game season onto a 162-game season is a dubious proposition, but it does provide some perspective to note that a similar winning percentage nowadays would yield 129 wins.
By then, Spalding had retired to start his sporting goods company. The length of the season was such that a team could get by with two main starters, and the team had a couple of powerhouse pitchers in Larry Corcoran and Fred Goldsmith. Those two were fading by mid-decade, and were replaced by other strong pitchers, notably John Clarkson. Much has been written about Old Hoss Radbourn's 60
