Chicago Cubs: 1926-1940

By Art Ahrens

The Chicago Cubs of the mid-1920s through 1940 were one of the most talented and exciting ball clubs the city ever produced. The Northsiders enjoyed 14 consecutive winning seasons and claimed the National League pennant four times (1929, 1932, 1935, and 1938), but fell to a dominant American League club in each World Series appearance. Four legendary baseball names led these Cub teams during this amazing stretch. Three eventually landed in Cooperstown (McCarthy, Hornsby, Hartnett), and many believe the fourth (Grimm) should have joined them. This was also the era when Cubs Park was transformed into Wrigley Field, under the guidance of Bill Veeck Jr., with its trademark bricks and ivy, hand-operated scoreboard, and outfield bleachers.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Arcadia Publishing
• Release date: Nov 2, 2005
• ISBN: 9781439616666

Art Ahrens

Art Ahrens�longstanding member of the Society for American Baseball Research and the Old Timers Baseball Association of Chicago�revisits this unforgettable era with all the aplomb of a master storyteller and the passion of a lifelong Cub fan. Ahrens has co-authored (with the late Eddie Gold of the Chicago Sun-Times) five previous titles on Cubs history, and wrote chapter three, �Chicago Cubs,� for the Encyclopedia of National League Team Histories. This is the pictorial history he has been itching to do for years.

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Years

INTRODUCTION

North-side baseball has not been very successful in the past, oh, 60-odd years. Cubs fans still reeling from the heartbreak of 2003, or who may recall the disastrous end to the 1969 campaign, may be surprised to learn that their loveable losers once dominated the National League, and did so with a style and swagger rarely found within the friendly confines of more recent years. Between 1926 and 1940, the newly christened Wrigley Field was home to a ball club that put together 14 consecutive winning seasons, claimed 4 league pennants, and fielded future Hall-of-Famers like Hack Wilson, Gabby Hartnett, Kiki Cuyler, Billy Herman, and Dizzy Dean. Sandwiching this tremendous run were pennant-winning seasons during the wartime years of 1918 and 1945. All six World Series appearances ended in defeat; nevertheless, the Chicago Cubs became contenders, year after year, and were setting attendance records long before the simple allure of the nation’s most beautiful ballpark was enough in itself to bring out the crowds.

This was also the era in which Wrigley Field became the landmark we all know and love today. The bricks. The ivy. The hand-operated scoreboard, giant clock, and irreplaceable outfield bleachers; all born in the mind of Cubs executive Bill Veeck Jr. Veeck got his start by peddling soda-pop as an 11-year-old boy in the stands of what was then called Cubs Park. In 1927, Wrigley Field became the first National League ball park to break the one million attendance mark, and remained above it for several seasons until the worst years of the Great Depression set in. And those who attended baseball games on Chicago’s North Side during this era witnessed some of the great moments in the annals of the game, including Babe Ruth’s called shot during the 1932 World Series, Gabby Hartnett’s homer in the gloamin’ during an intense 1938 pennant race, and Hack Wilson’s 191-RBI season in 1930, still a major-league record.

Four charismatic figures guided the Cubs from 1926 through 1940, all baseball legends in their own right. In 1926, Joe McCarthy, who had never been a player in the majors, took the reigns of a struggling Cubs squad that spent as much time in speakeasies as the practice field, straightened them out, and created a ball club to be reckoned with. He was succeeded by three players-turnedmanagers: Rogers Hornsby (1930–1932), Charlie Grimm (1932–1938), and Gabby Hartnett (1938–1940). At odds, in turn, with either the ownership, the fans, or in the clubhouse, none lasted all too long at the helm. What did remain constant, however, was the often-stellar plays displayed on the field. All but Grimm eventually wound up in Cooperstown, and many feel that he belongs.

This Hall of Fame plaque for Phillies-Cubs-Cardinals great Grover Cleveland Alexander was dedicated at Cooperstown in 1938. His 373 lifetime victories between 1911 and 1930 are tied with Christy Mathewson for the National League record. Alexander had many fine seasons with the Chicago Cubs between 1918 and 1926.

Prologue

The Pre-McCarthy Era

Roaring Twenties

The year was 1919. The last American troops were returning home from the war to end all wars while the entire world was reeling from the effects of the Spanish influenza, which took the lives of 20 million during the previous fall and winter. Due to the number of dead, it was the worst plague since the Black Death of the 14th century.

And the Cubs were the defending champions of the National League, having won the 1918 pennant only to lose the World Series to the Boston Red Sox in six games. Their home ballpark at Clark and Addison Streets, where they had relocated in 1916, was called Weeghman Park and bore only a faint resemblance to the Wrigley Field of today. The grandstand was a single deck, the bleachers and scoreboard were at ground level, and the far corners of the outfield had chicken-wire fences, which would be gone by 1920.

Among the soldiers coming back from the European front was ace Cubs pitcher Grover Cleveland Alexander. Like so many others, he returned from the war a different man, with physical and emotional scars that would never fully heal. In addition to having been gassed in combat, Alexander also suffered a hearing loss from cannon fire. He became a lifelong alcoholic and developed epilepsy as well.

Nevertheless, he was still a fine pitcher, going 16-11 for the 1919 Cubs. Lefty Jim Hippo Vaughn also went 21-14 in 1919, but the duo could not carry the team on their coattails as the Cubs slipped to a disappointing third in the standings. Most of Chicago’s headlines that season went to the White Sox, who won the American League pennant but lost the World Series to an inferior Cincinnati Reds team under mysterious circumstances.

The decline of the Cubs continued in 1920 as they skidded to fifth, despite a banner year by Alexander (27-14 with 173 strikeouts and a 1.91 ERA) and 19 wins by Vaughn, whose star was beginning to set. Little else was noteworthy that season, outside of Weeghman Park being rechristened Cubs Park, a name that would remain until 1926. At the close of the season, Fred Mitchell was dismissed after a four-year stay as field manager.

By 1921 chewing-gum magnate William Wrigley had become sole owner of the team, and the Cubs conducted their spring training on family-owned Catalina Island, California, for the first time. This would be their pre-season headquarters (except for the World War II years) until 1952, when the team moved to Mesa, Arizona.

The new season,