1951 Chicago Cubs season
Major League Baseball team season
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The 1951 Chicago Cubs season was the 80th season of the Chicago Cubs franchise, the 76th in the National League and the 36th at Wrigley Field. The Cubs finished eighth and last in the National League with a record of 62–92.
| 1951 Chicago Cubs | |
|---|---|
| League | National League |
| Ballpark | Wrigley Field |
| City | Chicago |
| Record | 62–92 (.403) |
| League place | 8th |
| Owners | Philip K. Wrigley |
| General managers | Wid Matthews |
| Managers | Frankie Frisch, Phil Cavarretta |
| Television | WGN-TV (Jack Brickhouse, Harry Creighton, Marty Hogan) WBKB (Joe Wilson) |
| Radio | WIND (Bert Wilson, Bud Campbell) |
Offseason
- October 10, 1950: Hank Edwards and cash were traded by the Cubs to the Brooklyn Dodgers for Dee Fondy and Chuck Connors.[1]
Regular season
Season standings
| Team | W | L | Pct. | GB | Home | Road |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| New York Giants | 98 | 59 | .624 | — | 50–28 | 48–31 |
| Brooklyn Dodgers | 97 | 60 | .618 | 1 | 49–29 | 48–31 |
| St. Louis Cardinals | 81 | 73 | .526 | 15½ | 44–34 | 37–39 |
| Boston Braves | 76 | 78 | .494 | 20½ | 42–35 | 34–43 |
| Philadelphia Phillies | 73 | 81 | .474 | 23½ | 38–39 | 35–42 |
| Cincinnati Reds | 68 | 86 | .442 | 28½ | 35–42 | 33–44 |
| Pittsburgh Pirates | 64 | 90 | .416 | 32½ | 32–45 | 32–45 |
| Chicago Cubs | 62 | 92 | .403 | 34½ | 32–45 | 30–47 |
Record vs. opponents
Sources: | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Team | BSN | BRO | CHC | CIN | NYG | PHI | PIT | STL | |||||
| Boston | — | 10–12–1 | 10–12 | 10–12 | 8–14 | 12–10 | 13–9 | 13–9 | |||||
| Brooklyn | 12–10–1 | — | 14–8 | 14–8 | 14–11 | 15–7 | 10–12 | 18–4 | |||||
| Chicago | 12–10 | 8–14 | — | 10–12 | 7–15 | 7–15 | 9–13 | 9–13–1 | |||||
| Cincinnati | 12–10 | 8–14 | 12–10 | — | 5–17 | 11–11 | 12–10–1 | 8–14 | |||||
| New York | 14–8 | 11–14 | 15–7 | 17–5 | — | 16–6 | 14–8 | 11–11 | |||||
| Philadelphia | 10–12 | 7–15 | 15–7 | 11–11 | 6–16 | — | 15–7 | 9–13 | |||||
| Pittsburgh | 9–13 | 12–10 | 13–9 | 10–12–1 | 8–14 | 7–15 | — | 5–17 | |||||
| St. Louis | 9–13 | 4–18 | 13–9–1 | 14–8 | 11–11 | 13–9 | 17–5 | — | |||||
Notable transactions
- June 15, 1951: Johnny Schmitz, Rube Walker, Andy Pafko, and Wayne Terwilliger were traded by the Cubs to the Brooklyn Dodgers for Eddie Miksis, Bruce Edwards, Joe Hatten, and Gene Hermanski.[2]
Roster
| 1951 Chicago Cubs | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Roster | |||||||||
Pitchers
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Catchers
Infielders
|
Outfielders
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Manager
Coaches
| ||||||
Player stats
Batting
Starters by position
Note: Pos = Position; G = Games played; AB = At bats; H = Hits; Avg. = Batting average; HR = Home runs; RBI = Runs batted in
| Pos | Player | G | AB | H | Avg. | HR | RBI |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| C | Smoky Burgess | 94 | 219 | 55 | .251 | 2 | 20 |
| 1B | Chuck Connors | 66 | 201 | 48 | .239 | 2 | 18 |
| 2B | Eddie Miksis | 102 | 421 | 112 | .266 | 4 | 35 |
| SS | Roy Smalley Jr. | 79 | 238 | 55 | .231 | 8 | 31 |
| 3B | Randy Jackson | 145 | 557 | 153 | .275 | 16 | 76 |
| OF | Hal Jeffcoat | 113 | 278 | 76 | .273 | 4 | 27 |
| OF | Frank Baumholtz | 146 | 560 | 159 | .284 | 2 | 50 |
| OF | Hank Sauer | 141 | 525 | 138 | .263 | 30 | 89 |
Other batters
Note: G = Games played; AB = At bats; H = Hits; Avg. = Batting average; HR = Home runs; RBI = Runs batted in
| Player | G | AB | H | Avg. | HR | RBI |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Gene Hermanski | 75 | 231 | 65 | .281 | 3 | 20 |
| Phil Cavarretta | 89 | 206 | 64 | .311 | 6 | 28 |
| Wayne Terwilliger | 50 | 192 | 41 | .214 | 0 | 10 |
| Andy Pafko | 49 | 178 | 47 | .264 | 12 | 35 |
| Dee Fondy | 49 | 170 | 46 | .271 | 3 | 20 |
| Jack Cusick | 65 | 164 | 29 | .177 | 2 | 16 |
| Bob Ramazzotti | 73 | 158 | 39 | .247 | 1 | 15 |
| Bruce Edwards | 51 | 141 | 33 | .234 | 3 | 17 |
| Mickey Owen | 58 | 125 | 23 | .184 | 0 | 15 |
| Rube Walker | 37 | 107 | 25 | .234 | 2 | 5 |
| Bob Borkowski | 58 | 89 | 14 | .157 | 0 | 10 |
| Bill Serena | 13 | 39 | 13 | .333 | 1 | 4 |
| Harry Chiti | 9 | 31 | 11 | .355 | 0 | 5 |
| Carmen Mauro | 13 | 29 | 5 | .172 | 0 | 3 |
| Fred Richards | 10 | 27 | 8 | .296 | 0 | 4 |
Pitching
Starting pitchers
Note: G = Games pitched; IP = Innings pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts
| Player | G | IP | W | L | ERA | SO |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bob Rush | 37 | 211.1 | 11 | 12 | 3.83 | 129 |
| Paul Minner | 33 | 201.2 | 6 | 17 | 3.79 | 68 |
| Frank Hiller | 24 | 141.1 | 6 | 12 | 4.84 | 50 |
Other pitchers
Note: G = Games pitched; IP = Innings pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts
| Player | G | IP | W | L | ERA | SO |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cal McLish | 30 | 145.2 | 4 | 10 | 4.45 | 46 |
| Turk Lown | 31 | 127.0 | 4 | 9 | 5.46 | 39 |
| Bob Kelly | 35 | 123.2 | 7 | 4 | 4.66 | 48 |
| Johnny Klippstein | 35 | 123.2 | 6 | 6 | 4.29 | 56 |
| Bob Schultz | 17 | 77.1 | 3 | 6 | 5.24 | 27 |
| Joe Hatten | 23 | 75.1 | 2 | 6 | 5.14 | 23 |
| Johnny Schmitz | 8 | 18.0 | 1 | 2 | 8.00 | 6 |
Relief pitchers
Note: G = Games pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; SV = Saves; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts
| Player | G | W | L | SV | ERA | SO |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Dutch Leonard | 41 | 10 | 6 | 3 | 2.64 | 30 |
| Monk Dubiel | 22 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 2.30 | 19 |
| Andy Varga | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3.00 | 1 |
| Warren Hacker | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 13.50 | 2 |
Farm system
| Level | Team | League | Manager |
|---|---|---|---|
| AAA | Springfield Cubs | International League | Bill Kelly |
| AAA | Los Angeles Angels | Pacific Coast League | Stan Hack |
| AA | Nashville Vols | Southern Association | Don Osborn |
| A | Grand Rapids Jets | Central League | Jack Knight and Everett Robinson |
| A | Des Moines Bruins | Western League | Al Todd |
| B | Greensboro Patriots | Carolina League | Bob Peterson |
| B | Rock Hill Chiefs | Tri-State League | Dick Bouknight |
| C | Visalia Cubs | California League | Jim Trew and Cecil Garriott |
| C | Sioux Falls Canaries | Northern League | Lee Eilbracht and Dick Lloyd |
| C | Topeka Owls | Western Association | Butch Nieman |
| C | Clovis Pioneers | West Texas–New Mexico League | Chuck Bushong and Grover Seitz |
| D | Carthage Cubs | Kansas–Oklahoma–Missouri League | Donald Anderson and Al Reitz |
| D | Rutherford County Owls | Western Carolina League | Halley Wilson |
| D | Janesville Cubs | Wisconsin State League | Adolph Matulis |
LEAGUE CHAMPIONS: Topeka, Carthage