How truly futile were the Chicago Cubs during those 108 years?

Still plenty of Chicago Cubs pride for several decades after 1907 and 1908

The period from 1910-1945 marks a span of 35 years during which the Cubs won all of their post-1908 and pre-2016 pennants. After missing out on the World Series in 1909, despite winning 104 games, they won their fourth pennant in five years. They would win a total of seven pennants through 1945. That was third-most in the National League behind the Giants and Cardinals during that time.

In addition to those pennants, the Cubs won 90+ games 10 times, had 25 winning seasons (above .500) and only finished dead last once (1925) over that stretch. The 1930s were particularly special as they won three pennants and never finished below .500 in a season.

Even after the championship core of Joe Tinker, Johnny Evers and Frank Chance moved on, the Cubs still boasted some excellent players of these decades. Among these players included future Hall of Famers Hack Wilson, Rogers Hornsby, Pete Alexander, Gabby Hartnett and Billy Herman. Future legendary Yankees manager Joe McCarthy began his MLB managerial tenure with the Cubs and won the 1929 pennant in Chicago.

Despite losing seven World Series over this span, the team saw so much success. Wilson’s 1930 season where he hit 56 home runs and drove in a record 191 runs was one for the ages. The clutch “Homer in the Gloamin'” by Hartnett in 1938 was one of the decade’s great regular season home runs. Charlie Grimm was the manager of three of the seven pennants, and he would finish with the second-most wins by a manager in Cubs history.

It was the next 50-some years when the Cubs showed the world what sports futility was all about.

Chicago Cubs: Infamous futility took hold in the second half of the 20th century

After winning a total of 10 pennants from 1900-1945, the Cubs failed to bring home even one in the rest of the 20th century. After 1945 it would be another 39 years before the Cubs even made it back to the postseason. They went three different decades: 1950s, 1960s and 1970s without making a single postseason appearance. They came so close in 1969 with Banks, Santo, Williams, Jenkins and company, but the “Miracle Mets” overcame the massive lead the Cubs had in September and spoiled their hopes.

All told, from 1946-2002, the Cubs made the postseason only three times (1984, 1989, 1998) and won none of those series. Keep in mind divisions came into play in 1969. The ’84 team was the only time the Cubs got within grasp of the Fall Classic over that 56-year span, being just one win away in the NLCS before bowing out to the Padres. They were beaten 4-1 in the 1989 NLCS while Sammy Sosa’s Chicago Cubs in 1998 were swept in the NLDS by the Braves.  In total, the Cubs won a grand total of three postseason games over that era.

It is not like they had a ton of near-misses in terms of making the playoffs or not. Only 14 of the 57 seasons played over this span saw finishes above .500. Playing roughly half a century’s worth of baseball and only 25 percent of that time seeing winning ball is…not great. Their best run in terms of competitive seasons was from 1967-1972 when they posted six straight winning seasons.

Among the rest of those seasons during that span, 19 times they finished with 90 or more losses and 13 times they finished last. They did not break the century mark in wins, but they lost 100+ games twice. The 1950s were particularly poor as they did not have a single winning season that decade. Their 90th win in Game 163 in 1998, clinching a Wild Card berth, was only the fourth time they won 90+ games since 1946.

It really was amazing Banks won back-to-back MVP awards during two losing seasons in 1958 and 1959. Andre Dawson also won the NL MVP in 1987 when the Cubs finished last. That just goes to show how good those guys really were.

Chicago Cubs: Early in the 21st century, respectability finally returned

The 2003 Cubs behind Mark Prior and Kerry Wood did something the team had not done in 95 years, winning a postseason series. Despite the heartbreaking ending of that season in the NLCS, it was the first of four postseason appearances for the Cubs over the next 12 years. In less than 15 years the Cubs made the postseason more times than they did in the previous 56. By the end of 2015, they won two playoff series and a wild card round, to boot.

2007 and 2008 marked the first time since 1907 and 1908 that the Cubs made the postseason in back-to-back years. They also won 97 games twice – in 2008 and 2015. They had not won at least 97 games in a season since 1945. During those those 13 years, they had six winning seasons.

That is not to say there were not some rough seasons in this era. The 2006 Cubs lost 96 games and the Jim Hendry era fell apart in 2010-2011. When Theo Epstein came in to rebuild the franchise into a contender, the Cubs lost 101 games in 2012, followed by 96 losses in 2013. At least the rebuild years were part of a plan, while most of the losing done from 1946-2002 was just the teams not being good.

To sum this all up:

From 1909-2015, the Chicago Cubs have amassed seven pennants, 14 total postseason appearances and 46 winning seasons. Only 21 percent of those postseason appearances and 30 percent of those winning seasons took place during the span of 1946-2002. That span of a little over half a century was what truly defined the franchise’s futility.

Everything ended in 2016. The 1945 World Series was when the supposed “curse” started, and it lasted 71 years. It is easy to forget, it was really long ago to be fair, that the Cubs of the 1910s, 20s and 30s saw a lot of success and were still a highly regarded franchise despite that being the start of the drought.