Chicago Cubs: Five unique records and milestones set by Cubs

Chicago Cubs: While some baseball history buffs likely know these records, some casual fans might be surprised to see what kind of records former Cubs players hold.

With no baseball being played right now, it is the perfect time to check out the old baseball record books to help fill the void. Since there are so many elements to baseball, the number of different records out there is tough to count. Some records are standard like home runs, RBIs, strikeouts, etc. while others are either more obscure or very specific.

While no Chicago Cub holds the record for all-time home runs, strikeouts, or RBIs in a career, there are Cubs who hold other notable baseball records or significant milestones. Some of these accomplishments more recent, while others were set a long time ago before any of us were born. Regardless of when they happened, some of these records did not get the attention they arguably deserved.

It is hard to go through all of them, but here are five former Chicago Cubs players who have set unique baseball milestones and records.

Chicago Cubs: There were a lot of ups and downs for Starlin Castro in his Cubs tenure, but he was doing big things early on.

The 2011 Cubs season was as forgettable as it gets. A dismal 71 wins in the final days of the Jim Hendry era with little to no hope for the future outside 21-year old Starlin Castro. Castro was the one twinkle of hope going forward as he was beginning to make a name for himself in his first full season as an MLB player.

Castro batted a career-high .307 in 2011 with a league-leading 207 hits. At the age of 21, he became the youngest player in National League history to lead the league in hits. He recorded his 207th hit in the season finale in San Diego with his 36th double on the year.

There have been some great hitters in the 143 years of history of the NL, so it was a pretty big accomplishment for Castro to be the youngest player ever to lead the league in hits. This record still holds today.

It is worth noting that Castro is also the youngest Cub to reach 200+ hits in franchise history. He was on pace to reach 1,000 in a timely manner, which eventually he did as a New York Yankee in 2016, but many at the time thought it would be in a Cubs uniform. Castro’s hit total was just short of 1,000 at 991 in Chicago. Still, it is a cool record for a former Cub to hold.

Chicago Cubs: While most remembered today for his time with Ron Santo and Billy Williams, “Mr. Cub” Ernie Banks had his most significant years in the 1950s.

There were several records and milestones set by Ernie Banks throughout the 1950s. Most notably was him becoming the first player in National League history to win back-to-back MVP awards in 1958 and 1959.

Those two seasons, he hit a combined 92 homers with a .308/.370/.605 slash, .975 OPS, 272 RBI, and 16.7 fWAR (cumulative) in 309 games. In 1958 he was number one in home runs, RBI, and total bases in all of baseball. Both 1958 and 1959, he led baseball in RBI.

What made him winning MVP both these seasons even more impressive was the fact he did this on bad, irrelevant Cubs teams. While RBI is not necessarily a great stat to measure individual success, driving in 272 runs on bad teams is nothing to squawk at.

Might as well also shout out the fact that Banks set the National League record for Grand Slams in one season (5) in 1955. Albert Pujols had since tied that in 2009 but yet to be broken before Banks struggled with leg problems (resulting in him moving from shortstop to first), he had such tremendous power.

He hit 40+ homers five times 1955-1960. Fans got to watch his raw power on display in the Home Run Derby series, which started in 1959 as he took on the likes of Mickey Mantle in home run hitting contests.

It is a shame Banks saw his prime years wasted on non-competitive teams that played in front of a lot of sparse crowds in the 50s. Yet, Ernie could not be happier to be a Cub. We miss his presence at Wrigley Field every day and will miss it forever.

Chicago Cubs: He might not have been a big name, but Darwin Barney’s fielding set some notable records and produced some shiny hardware.

One of the few bright spots during the 100-loss 2012 Cubs season was Darwin Barney winning the Gold Glove at second base. Barney’s award-winning season saw him commit a grand total of two errors with 28 Defensive Runs Saved and a UZR/150 of 12.5 in 1,270 innings.

Those are some dang great numbers. Barney had some tough competition for the Gold Glove at second base with Reds All-Star Brandon Phillips, having won three of the last four of them.

What stood out during that season for Barney was him setting the National League record for consecutive games played without an error in a season at second base at 141. Barney was just three outs away from breaking the MLB record Placido Polanco set in 2007 when he was charged with a throwing error against the Arizona Diamondbacks on September 27, 2012.

It is worth noting Barney this same season broke former Cubs tremendous and Hall of Famer Ryne Sandberg‘s NL record of 123 games without an error in a season. Going an extra 18 games without an error than a Hall of Famer is pretty impressive. Of course, he did not hit quite like Ryno did or had nearly as long of a career, but Barney deserves credit for being one of the better fielding second basemen the Cubs have seen over the years.

It might be a while before this record is matched or broken.

Chicago Cubs: There are a few seasons more underrated than Hack Wilson’s 1930 season.

One record that nobody has come close to breaking is the single-season RBI record (191) set by former Cubs outfielder and Hall of Famer Hack Wilson in 1930. The next closest person to match that number was Lou Gehrig in 1931, who drove in 184 that year.

To put this record in perspective, Manny Ramirez’s 165 RBI in 1999 was is the highest single-season RBI total by anyone since 1938 when Jimmie Foxx drove in 169. So the most recent player to come “close” to Wilson was still 26 off.

Wilson’s RBI total was not the only record he shattered that year. His 56 home runs broke the National League record, which had been previously set by Hall of Famer Chuck Klein in 1929 when he hit 43.

Hitting 50+ home runs during that time was something people only saw from Babe Ruth. Wilson honestly had himself a Ruth-like season with a .356/.454/.723 slash along with those 56 homers and 191 RBIs. Cannot leave out the 171 wRC+, 8.0 fWAR and 1.177 OPS.

While the RBI record still stands, his NL home run record in a single season was broken in 1998 by Mark McGwire and Sammy Sosa. While broken, that record still stood for a solid 68 years.

Who knows if anyone will match that RBI record Wilson set, it’s going to be quite a feat if someone does. It might be hard or even impossible today to find someone still alive who witnessed and remembered Wilson’s 1930 season, but we should look back and appreciate the year the Cubs had their version of The Babe.