Cubs: Discovering the fountain of youth in the summer of 1989

The 1989 Chicago Cubs saw leadership from two unlikely sources.

Success leading up to the 1989 regular season was not something the Cubs were privy to experience consistently. After four long seasons which saw a team who won, at most, 77 games in a year, the summer of 1989 turned into a breath of fresh air.

Cubs baseball was abysmal between 1985 and 1988. Averaging 75 wins per season, it was a tantamount success that had to be earned, not given, and the lackluster on-field production certainly did its best to ruffle fans’ feathers year in and year out.

Something happened in 1989, however. Jerome Walton and Dwight Smith, two young fellas, surprised the masses, putting up their rookie-like video game numbers, helping lead the Cubs to a 93-win season.