Random Cubs Recap: July 24, 1994
by Al Yellon on Jan 28, 2012 8:00 AM CST
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The 1994 Cubs season was pretty miserable. They lost their first 12 home games, not winning at Wrigley Field until May 4 in an overall 6-18 start; by then manager Tom Trebelhorn had had his famous firehouse chat after a Friday afternoon April loss to the Rockies.
By July things had begun to improve, a little, though the team was still far out of contention. Dark clouds were beginning to hover over the game as the possibility of a strike loomed.
But on one sunny Sunday at Wrigley Field, a young pitcher with hope for the future pitched one of the best games of his life. (And yes, I know the photo is from a road game.)
Maybe this miserable season can be salvaged, up to a point.
That is, if the players don't go out on strike. The Players Association is going to meet on Tuesday and there are strong rumors flying that they're going to set a strike date for sometime in August. Given the ruination of seasons like 1972 and 1981, if the players go out this late in the year, will there be time to get things settled? Maybe that's what they're thinking, that a late strike will give them leverage. It has to worry teams like the Expos and Indians, who have had such long playoff droughts, and are having great years.
The Cubs don't have to worry about anything like that, but today's 3-0 shutout win over the Reds in front of a sellout of 39,317 on an absolutely gorgeous day at Wrigley Field at least gave us the hint that perhaps better days are ahead.
Since the Cubs' 6-18 start, they are now 37-35; that's playing a bit over .500 ball for more than two months' time. Obviously, trailing the Reds in the new NL Central by 13½ games, they're not heading to the playoffs, and not as the wild card either -- they're even farther behind the Braves, who lead that race. What's even weirder is that with the new divisional setup, both West divisions are being led by teams with losing records. As of the end of Sunday's games, the NL West-leading Dodgers are 48-50 and the AL West-leading Rangers are 48-52.
And that's a division leader. It would be really strange to have two teams with losing records in the playoffs.
Anyway, today, Jim Bullinger threw by far the best game of his career. Coming off a complete-game two-run performance against the Rockies in his last outing, Bullinger shut down the Reds with no runs and just five singles and a pair of walks over eight innings. Manager Tom Trebelhorn apparently didn't think Bullinger had back-to-back CG in him, even after throwing only 100 pitches, so he pulled him for Randy Myers, who registered his 20th save in an easy 1-2-3 ninth.
The Cubs didn't have many hits either, also just five, but made the most of them; Eddie Zambrano, playing left field today, had a pair of singles and scored twice, once on a Mark Grace double, the other time on a bases-loaded walk. Zambrano hits pretty well when he starts -- why won't Trebelhorn play him more?
Anyway, it might just be another win in a lost season, but maybe the Cubs can get back to near .500 by the time this year ends. Hey, they did it last year after being six games under on Sept. 2.
That is, if this season even gets to the finish line.
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Trebelhorn
Wow… I totally forgot about Trebelhorn’s one year as manager. I don’t remember his back-story… how did he end up manager for the Cubs and what happened to him after the 1994 season?
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by digitalbenjamin on Jan 28, 2012 8:34 AM CST reply actions
Trebelhorn
… had several good to decent years as Brewers manager in the late 1980s and early 1990s. They never made the playoffs and he was fired after the 1991 season despite having improved them from the previous year.
The Cubs hired him as bench coach under Jim Lefebvre for 1992 and promoted him after Lefebvre was fired after 1993. Trebelhorn was well respected at the time and it was thought to be a very good hire.
Between the bad season, the “firehouse chat” and other bad decisions, it turned out very wrong. When Andy MacPhail came in as team president, he hired Ed Lynch as GM and Lynch cleaned house, bringing in Jim Riggleman as manager.
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great info, thanks Al
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by digitalbenjamin on Jan 28, 2012 8:46 AM CST up reply actions
All this talk of a work stoppage is just posturing.
There’s no way the players and owners would throw away a season where Tony Gwynn is set to finish at .400, Matt Williams will break Hack Wilson’s NL HR record, and Montreal will cruise to a division title.
Matter of fact, the Expos are so loaded they’ll win the pennant sure as life. Looks like the idea of putting a team in Montreal was a brilliant one. Too bad MLB can’t do something about bringing the game back to D.C….
Hack Wilson's mark
is unsurpassable.
10-25-2011. Theo Epstein joins the Cubs. Now, the fun begins.
I wonder.
Either Williams or Ken Griffey Jr. has a shot at 60 this year.
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That 190 RBI Mark Is Unsurpassable
Hack had such a good year back in 1930 that he might drive in another run from the grave to make that official record, 191 RBI.
Good things come to those who wait... and wait....and wait.
The last time
… anyone drove in 170 or more runs was in 1938, when Jimmie Foxx had 175.
Sammy Sosa (160 in 2001) and Manny Ramirez (165 in 1999) are the only players to even have 160 since then.
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Just looked at Sammy's #'s from 2001
They were unbelievable. Wonder if a player has ever had numbers that dominant and NOT won the MVP. Doubt it…
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by digitalbenjamin on Jan 30, 2012 8:48 AM CST up reply actions
Ted Williams in 1942 and 1947
The Splendid Splinter won the AL triple crown in both 1942 and 1947 and lost the MVP to Joe Gordon and Joe DiMaggio, respectively.
1942
Joe Gordon -88 R, 18 HR, 103 RBI, .322 Avg, 173 H, 29 2B, .409 OBP
Ted Williams -141 R, 36 HR, 137 RBI, .356 Avg, 186 H, 34 2B, .499 OBP
1947
Joe DiMaggio- 97 R, 20 HR, 97 RBI, .315 Avg, 168 H, 31 2B, .391 OBP
Ted Williams- 125 R, 32 HR, 114 RBI, .343 Avg, 181 H, 40 2B, .499 OBP
Good things come to those who wait... and wait....and wait.
by memphiscub on Jan 30, 2012 11:48 AM CST up reply actions 1 recs
Mostly because the writers who voted for the award couldn't stand Williams.
It was personal.
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wow
yea, looks like Ted got robbed…
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by digitalbenjamin on Feb 3, 2012 9:34 AM CST up reply actions
Saved by the bell: Both 1994 and 1981, the two worst seasons in recent Cubs history,
mercifully were tossed down the memory hole as a result of the MLBPA’s two most devastatingly-effective strikes. Too bad ‘94 didn’t end in a split-season to give Trebelhorn’s Cubs an all-important second shot at the playoffs.
"Elder White! Look at the talent on those Cubs!" Harry Caray, KMOX Radio, 4/22/62
"And you have to wonder – What's the matter with Broglio?" Harry, KMOX, 5/24/64
I don't know if those were the two absolute worst
1980, 1997, 1999, 2000 and 2006 are also right up there, for various reasons.
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A veritable feast... Where to begin?
1980 – in his family’s last full season of ownership, Bill Wrigley trims the payroll, perhaps at the Trib’s request. A year that may be the highlight of Preston Gomez’ incredible managerial resume.
1997 – Andy ‘n’ Ed, doing their best to sustain the Cubs image as a national laughingstock with that season-opening streak. OTOH, they did manage to send Mel Rojas to the Mets later that year.
1999 – Free internet broadcasts from ‘GN via RealRadio. Seems I remember an atrocious game in Phoenix that sent the Cubs into a tailspin that lasted until 2001. If only baseball would ban domed stadiums the Cubs might pick up 5-6 games in the standings. Come to think of it, that abomination in Miami signals even more road grief for today’s Cubs.
2000 – All downhill following that nice opener in Tokyo. Still, Baylor seemed like the guy to turn things around.
2006 – Rafael F. Furcal, dagnabbit. When it was over, at least MacPhail was gone and Zell was ready to open his checkbook.
All-in-all, when were talking about rock-bottom years, I’d still go with the complete and utter desolation of ’81 and 1994.
"Elder White! Look at the talent on those Cubs!" Harry Caray, KMOX Radio, 4/22/62
"And you have to wonder – What's the matter with Broglio?" Harry, KMOX, 5/24/64
'81 was definitely worse than '80.
But I’d pick 1997 or 1999 over 1994. The strike ruined ’94, but after the bad start, the team played near .500 ball.
In 1997, the season was over at the end of April after the 0-14 start.
In 1999, there was promise that the team might actually contend again, starting 32-23, but then going 35-72 the rest of the way. They quit on Jim Riggleman. Ed Lynch got himself fired after the non-rain-delay in August when they sat for two hours waiting for it to start raining on a 7:05 start — could easily have played six innings. Instead, at 9:15 it finally started raining and they had to cancel the game forcing refunds for a sellout crowd.
Awful.
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Checking the standings...
1980- .395 (27 out of 1st)
1981- .369 (21.5 games out of first)
So Al, did 3% really make that much of a difference? Or is it falling below the 100 loss threshold (even though the reaction would have to be unconscious because it was nearly impossible to lose 100 games that year ‘cause of the strike)? Or was there something in 1981 that didn’t show up in the records but was abominable?
1997- .420. Sounds like with going 0-14 the Cubs were saved by the Orioles 1988 0-22 start from wearing that albatross (garbage gull?) around their neck.
1998 is an anomaly, one surging season between some really crappy seasons. Was there anything good (clean) that team had? Suspicious Sosa was the most memorable thing about that team given the Sosa vs. McGuire roid race.
1999- .414 and 2000- .401. Interesting comment about that weird 8/99 game. Weird but interesting things like that often get forgotten; adds to the lore like the White Sox’s blackout tiebreaker game, their Disco Demolition Derby, or the last game the Washington Senators played in DC, and also like that guy who parachuted into Shea Stadium in the 1986 World Series and how the crowd reacted to that. Had it been done 15 or so years later… I’m thinking it would have gotten a very different response.
2006- .407. Ended Dusty Baker’s tenure with the Cubs.
I see 2002 was a bad year too (.414). Was that year somehow forgettably bad compared to these memorably bad years? Or was it so bad people block it out of their minds?
Looks like 1986 (37 games behind) was pretty bad too. At least 1987 had MVP hall-of-famer Andre Dawson with the team.
And going back, it looks like the late ’60s and ’70s was only a half-bad stretch. Only 1974 really sucked before we get back to some really horrible years (the College of Coaches, a few 100 loss seasons).
by ddoubleheader on Jan 29, 2012 12:20 AM CST up reply actions
The 1981 season
… was atrocious. The 98-loss team of 1980 was clearly worse. They started 1-16, then had records of 3-17, 5-27 and 10-36 before winning five of their last six before the strike to get to 15-37.
They did manage to play close to .500 ball (23-28) in the wacky “second half” of that strike season, but I have absolutely no doubt they would have shattered the team loss record had that season played to completion. The .369 winning percentage equates to a 59-103 record, which would have simply tied it, but the team was playing .288 ball before the strike. They’d have had to go 21-38 in the 59 games missed to avoid breaking the record.
Possible, but the way that team was going, not likely.
Bill Buckner led the 1981 Cubs with 75 RBI (which was actually quite good — it was third in the NL behind George Foster and Mike Schmidt). No one else on the team had more than 35 (Leon Durham, who was 49th in the NL). The 1981 Cubs allowed the most runs in the NL and scored the second-fewest.
Awful. I hope we never see that again.
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huh
I recall most if not all former Cubs. But I do remember Eddie Zambrano. Looks like he had a couple partial seasons. I also forgot that Deion Sanders played MLB.
Second-best Zambrano in Cubs history.
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Why, Willie Banks, of course.
And don’t call me “oaky”.
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RE: Deion's baseball career...
Carlton Fisk remembers: http://articles.chicagotribune.com/2011-01-30/news/ct-met-kass-0130-20110129_1_bears-quarterback-jay-cutler-tweet-heart-expert
As does Tim McCarver: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7p8mXc4pfAo
"Elder White! Look at the talent on those Cubs!" Harry Caray, KMOX Radio, 4/22/62
"And you have to wonder – What's the matter with Broglio?" Harry, KMOX, 5/24/64
Honesty compels me to say,
Eddie Zambrano was somehow evaporated from my memory.
by deadcatbounce on Jan 28, 2012 5:52 PM CST up reply actions
Zambrano hits pretty well when he starts?
Why won’t Ozzie play him more?
"Wait, are you saying I'm a sunshine-pumping, koolaid-drinking, Soriano-loving, rainbow-rising, unicorn-riding, double-clutching, Sweet Lou-backing, Hendry-supporting, hey hey whaddya saying, Cubs are going all the waying, glass is overflowing, Rothschild is all-knowing, Cubs fan? - ballhawk
by vonde6 on Jan 28, 2012 12:13 PM CST reply actions 1 recs
You are all too damn young. (not you, Al.)
1997 was awful, because the season was over in 2 and a half weeks. However, 1966 and its’ 103 losses…….how can it be any worse? (Well, 1962. Same record.)
I was just beginning to watch the games the year before, when I was 10 and the poor kid has to get hit with 103 losses.
Gotta go with 1966. This, however — is a different type of failure, different than 1969, 1984, 1989….etc etc.
Had 1981 continued, that would have been an epic FAIL. 1966’s squad had the seed of good teams to come.
1981 had Joey Amalfatano. Enough said.
by San Diego Smooth Jazz Man on Jan 28, 2012 8:53 PM CST reply actions
"If you're gonna yell, don't run off and hide, Slim," Trebelhorn shouted at one rowdy hovering in the back of the crowd.
Classic.
I miss Chicago.
"Hey Hey, Holy mackerel, no doubt about it,!"
by scottsdalecubs on Jan 28, 2012 10:17 PM CST reply actions
How well did the Cubs do against the '94 Expos?
and looks like T minus 2 weeks til the strike.
They need to get that Parallelovision technology down so we can peer into a parallel dimension which was identical to this one til Aug 1994 so we can see how the postseason played out.
Hey Al, want a non-random Cubs recap?
How about doing 9/28/62, 9/29/62, 9/30/62? Cubs vs. Mets at Wrigley.
There’s something very special in a very bad way about these games, even behind it being the pathetic de facto end to the College of Coaches. I’ve dug through baseball history, curious if a certain matchup ever occurred and these 3 games are the only time it happened.
Just a guess...
The first time two teams, each with more than 100 losses, met in a regular season game. Note that attendance for that three game series was 7,425. It would have been 7,426, but I had to work that Sunday at Hackney’s, where I did see Ken Hubbs start a triple play in the eighth as I glanced at the TV over the bar.
Attendance for the Friday game was estimated generously as 595, sending a blunt message to Phil Wrigley that forced him to respond weeks later – by hiring Air Force Colonel Bob Whitlow as “athletic director.” Those indeed were the days to be a Cubs fan.
"Elder White! Look at the talent on those Cubs!" Harry Caray, KMOX Radio, 4/22/62
"And you have to wonder – What's the matter with Broglio?" Harry, KMOX, 5/24/64
9/15/62
This loss exemplifies the 1962 season…The Cubs lost their 10th straight, 6-4 to the Dodgers. The Cubs surrendered eleven walks, three errors, two hit batsmen, a wild pitch and a passed ball. George Altman was picked off first, doubled off second and thrown out at the plate. Glen Hobbie took the loss, falling to 5-14. The Cubs fell to 52-96
By Mother's Day, Brickhouse had a ready explanation for the '62 disaster:
“This team is just snakebit.” You could count on him to say it at least once during every blowout. 1962 undoubtedly was the worst season in Cubs history, but it’s pre-modern – emblematic of Wrigley ownership and all that entails. That’s why I didn’t list anything before ’81 in my original post.
"Elder White! Look at the talent on those Cubs!" Harry Caray, KMOX Radio, 4/22/62
"And you have to wonder – What's the matter with Broglio?" Harry, KMOX, 5/24/64
Yep!
But a little off… Only time two 100 loss teams met after they each had lost at least 100 games.
I checked all years with 2 100 loss teams or more and it never quite lined up any other time.
I tried to wonder what the crowd might be thinking. Cubs really sucked, Mets really REALLY sucked that year, it was the final series of the season. I got on the track of 2 100 loss teams meeting up when I wondered what would have been the least appealing series ever played in baseball from a historical record POV.
by ddoubleheader on Jan 29, 2012 7:10 AM CST up reply actions
Yeah, I looked that up as well.
… because toward August of last year, when the Cubs were skidding, it looked like it might happen with the Cubs and Astros in September, but the Cubs got too good.
However, on Sept. 18, the Cubs did host a 100-loss team, after they gave Houston their 100th loss on Sept. 17. It was the first time since 1976, when the Cubs hosted the Expos for the last three games of the season, that a team that already had 100 losses had played in Wrigley Field. Montreal came in with 104 losses, and the Cubs swept them.
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Nice work. As with all games played in extreme circumstances, that final '62 series was filled with irony...
For example, the triple play started by Hubbs included HoF’er Richie Ashburn’s last-ever appearance as a player when Ken tagged him out as he slid into second. Ashburn, famous for 15 years as a premier centerfielder, played second that day, much as Jorge Posada did for one game at the end of 2011.
For pure pathos, it’s tough to beat the last series of 1962. In the Saturday game, Bob Miller – one of two Bob Millers pitching for the Mets – recorded his first win of ’62, giving him a 1-13 record and enabling him to escape the infamy that would belong to Terry Felton and Mad Anthony Young in future years.
Really, that final game on Sunday was the polar opposite of this great 1947 WS game, also filled with ironic twists: http://www.baseball-reference.com/boxes/BRO/BRO194710030.shtml
"Elder White! Look at the talent on those Cubs!" Harry Caray, KMOX Radio, 4/22/62
"And you have to wonder – What's the matter with Broglio?" Harry, KMOX, 5/24/64
The firehouse chat - too funny
The best man at my wedding realized the Cubs would likely lose that day and left the game early for the firehouse. In the newspaper photo of Treblehorn, my friend can be seen standing next to Treblehorn and managing the discussion. Until one of the security guards realizes that my friend is not associated to the Cubs at all.
"Just shut up and play" - Matt Garza
"Pain is inevitable, suffering is an option." - Dale Sveum
What happened to Bullinger?
He was one a favorite of me and my dad back in mid-’90s. He was pretty good in ’95 and sort of fell off in a big way in ’96. Did he get hurt?
Where have you gone, Kiko Calero. A nation turns its lonely eyes to you.
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