Puneet Varma (Editor)

1989 Chicago Cubs season

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Owner(s)
  
Tribune Company

Manager(s)
  
Don Zimmer

General manager(s)
  
Jim Frey

Stats
  
ESPN.com BB-reference

Local television
  
WGN-TV/Superstation WGN (Harry Caray, Steve Stone, Dewayne Staats)

Local radio
  
WGN (Dewayne Staats, Dave Nelson, Harry Caray)

The 1989 Chicago Cubs season was the team's 118th season, the 114th in the National League and the 74th at Wrigley Field. Highlighting the season was the Cubs' second National League Eastern Division championship with a record of 93–69. The Cubs had All-Star seasons from Ryne Sandberg, Andre Dawson, Rick Sutcliffe and Mitch Williams; Jerome Walton was the NL Rookie of the Year. Ultimately, the team was defeated four games to one by the San Francisco Giants in the 1989 National League Championship Series.

Contents

Offseason

  • December 5, 1988: Rafael Palmeiro, Jamie Moyer, and Drew Hall were traded by the Cubs to the Texas Rangers in exchange for Paul Kilgus, Mitch Williams, Curtis Wilkerson, Steve Wilson, Luis Benitez (minors), and Pablo Delgado (minors).
  • December 7, 1988: Scott Sanderson was signed as a free agent by the Cubs.
  • December 8, 1988: Rolando Roomes was traded by the Chicago Cubs to the Cincinnati Reds for Lloyd McClendon.
  • March 28, 1989: Rich Gossage was released by the Cubs.

    • Notable transactions

  • August 24, 1989: The Cubs traded players to be named later to the Atlanta Braves for Paul Assenmacher. The Cubs completed the deal by sending Kelly Mann and Pat Gomez to the Braves on September 1.
  • August 30, 1989: Calvin Schiraldi, Darrin Jackson and a player to be named later were traded by the Cubs to the San Diego Padres for Marvell Wynne and Luis Salazar. The Cubs completed the deal by sending Phil Stephenson to the Padres on September 5.

    • Starters by position

    Note: Pos = Position; G = Games played; AB = At bats; H = Hits; Avg. = Batting average; HR = Home runs; RBI = Runs batted in

    Other batters

    Note: G = Games played; AB = At bats; H = Hits; Avg. = Batting average; HR = Home runs; RBI = Runs batted in

    Game 1

    October 4 at Wrigley Field in Chicago

    Game 2

    October 5 at Wrigley Field in Chicago

    Game 3

    October 7 at Candlestick Park in San Francisco

    Game 4

    October 8 at Candlestick Park in San Francisco

    Game 5

    October 9 at Candlestick Park in San Francisco

    The Giants made it to their first World Series since 1962 with a 3-2 win over the Cubs to win the 1989 National League pennant, four games to one. The final game pitted Mike Bielecki against a well-rested (due to his quick exit from Game 2) Rick Reuschel. Reuschel made amends for his poor start in Game 2 by giving up only one run over eight innings. The one run Reuschel gave up was an unearned run the Cubs scored when Walton reached on an error by Mitchell and then scored on Sandberg's double. The Cubs held the 1-0 lead until the seventh inning when Will Clark tripled and scored on Mitchell's sacrifice fly.

    The Cubs did rally, however, in the ninth with three straight singles that made it 3-2. But Sandberg grounded out sending the Giants to their first World Series since 1962.

    Awards and honors

  • Ryne Sandberg, National League Leader, Runs (104)

    • All-Star Game

  • Ryne Sandberg, Second Base, Starter
  • Andre Dawson, Outfield, Reserve
  • Rick Sutcliffe, Pitcher, Reserve
  • Mitch Williams, Relief Pitcher, Reserve

    • References

    1989 Chicago Cubs season Wikipedia
    (Text) CC BY-SA