Which Chicago Cubs managers have been ejected the most?

Chicago Cubs skipper David Ross was tossed during last Saturday’s game in Philadelphia, which marked the fifth time he had been ejected in 2022. Ross has been ejected 10 times over his managerial career (2020-present). Fans have certainly been taking notice of his recent run of getting thrown out, wondering how many ejections he will finish with by the end of the season.

Could Ross chase the all-time Cubs manager ejection record? He is exactly halfway to the record. Ross is tied for seventh on the all-time list at 10 ejections with Frank Chance, Herman Franks, Jim Lefebvre, Fred Mitchell, Dale Sveum and Jimmie Wilson. They all trail Johnny Evers by one for the sixth spot, who was tossed 11 times in his Cubs managerial career. Who are the top five? Let’s take a look.

Most managerial ejections in Cubs history: #5 – Jim Riggleman

Jim Riggleman managed the Cubs for five seasons (1995-1999) and was tossed 12 times over that span. The native of Fort Dix, New Jersey was most known for managing the 1998 Cubs team which saw Sammy Sosa face off with Mark McGwire in the home run race, Kerry Wood’s 20 strikeout game and a postseason berth.

One might not remember Riggleman for being a hotheaded type of guy, and he was not the most animated person either, but he did get thrown out more than all but four other Cubs managers. It is worth noting that outside of 1998, the teams he managed outside Sosa or Mark Grace were mostly bad. In 1997 they lost 94 games and in 1999 they lost 95. Riggleman ended his Cubs tenure with a .472 win percentage. So it is easy to imagine he felt some frustration at times.

His ejections were pretty spread out, recording exactly three per season from 1997-1999.

Most managerial ejections in Cubs history: #4 – Frankie Frisch

Frankie Frisch came to manage the Cubs in June 1949, just a few years after being elected to Cooperstown. He had played for 19 seasons, racking up 2,880 hits, and then went on to manage the Cardinals and Pirates from 1933 through 1946. He managed the Cubs from June 1949 through mid-1951 in what would be his last MLB managerial gig.

Frisch was ejected 16 times as a Cub, including seven in 1950. He finished his Cubs tenure with a .418 win percentage in what was part of a pretty awful run for the team from the late-1940s through the mid-1960s. There was much to be happy about in those days, and not even a man who was the player/manager on the 1934 World Series champion St. Louis Cardinals could fix the team.

Frisch, in his 16 years managing, was ejected 88 times between the Cardinals, Pirates and Cubs.

Most managerial ejections in Cubs history: #2 – Charlie Grimm

Managing 14 years and 1,737 games, only Cap Anson has managed more games for the franchise than Charlie Grimm. Serving as both a player/manager and just manager, Grimm won three pennants as the team’s skipper. He was ejected 19 times as a Cubs manager.

Grimm was not making ejections frequent however, the most he ever got tossed in a season was four in 1934. Other than that he was typically ejected roughly twice a year. He accumulated the 19 ejections from managing the team for so long.

It is worth noting he was ejected in Game3 of the 1935 World Series for “bench jockeying”. In fact, four guys (two from each team) were ejected that game, Grimm being one of them.

Most managerial ejections in Cubs history: #1 – Leo Durocher

Leo Durocher was not a guy who was going to be your buddy, he took the game very seriously. He is often associated with the saying, “Nice guys finish last.” So it is no wonder he is the all-time leader in Cubs manager ejections.

Twenty times from 1966 through 1972 Durocher was thrown out of a game. The most in a season ironically coming in 1969, when he got the heave-ho five times. It was certainly frustrating to see their pennant dreams go up in smoke in September with the “Miracle Mets” going on their historic run.

Durocher was ejected 100 times in his managerial career between the Cubs, Dodgers, Giants and Astros. That is third all=time behind John McGraw and Bobby Cox.

One could be surprised to not see Lou Piniella on this list, who was known for his extravagant ejections. He was only ejected five times from 2007-2010, but he made some of them very memorable. That all said, David Ross can easily pass Evers and Riggleman the way he is going. That would put him fifth all-time on the Cubs manager list in ejections.