1988 Chicago Cubs season

1988 Chicago Cubs
LeagueNational League
DivisionEast
BallparkWrigley Field
CityChicago
OwnersTribune Company
General managersJim Frey
ManagersDon Zimmer
TelevisionWGN-TV/Superstation WGN
(Harry Caray, Steve Stone, Dewayne Staats)
RadioWGN
(Dewayne Staats, Dave Nelson, Harry Caray)
StatsESPN.com
Baseball Reference
← 1987 Seasons 1989 →

The 1988 Chicago Cubs season was the 117th season of the Chicago Cubs franchise, the 113th in the National League and the 73rd at Wrigley Field. The Cubs finished fourth in the National League East with a record of 77–85, 24 games behind the New York Mets.

The first game under lights at Wrigley Field was on August 8 (8/8/88), against the Philadelphia Phillies. With the Cubs leading 3–1, in the middle of the 4th inning, a powerful thunderstorm rolled in. The game was suspended, and finally called at 10:25PM. Since the rules of Major League Baseball state that a game is not official unless 5 innings are completed,[1] the first official night game in the history of Wrigley Field was played on August 9, when the Cubs defeated the New York Mets 6 to 4.

Offseason

A ticket from the game where Cubs' reliever Goose Gossage earned his 300th career save on August 6, 1988.
  • October 23, 1987: Dickie Noles was returned to the Chicago Cubs by the Detroit Tigers as part of earlier loan.[2]
  • December 8, 1987: Lee Smith was traded by the Chicago Cubs to the Boston Red Sox for Al Nipper and Calvin Schiraldi.[3]
  • December 14, 1987: Vance Law was signed as a free agent with the Chicago Cubs.[4]
  • February 12, 1988: Goose Gossage was traded by the San Diego Padres with Ray Hayward to the Chicago Cubs for Keith Moreland and Mike Brumley.[5]
  • March 31, 1988: Mike Bielecki was traded by the Pittsburgh Pirates to the Chicago Cubs for Mike Curtis (minors).[6]

Regular season

President Ronald Reagan throwing out the first pitch for the first 1988 Chicago Cubs game

President of the United States Ronald Reagan threw out the ceremonial first pitch on Opening Day at Wrigley Field.

After 5,687 consecutive day games played by the Cubs at Wrigley, the lights were finally lit on August 8, 1988, when 91-year-old fan Harry Grossman gave a countdown and pressed a button, for a game with the Philadelphia Phillies. The game began before an announced crowd of 39,008. The Cubs were leading 3 to 1 and coming to bat in the bottom of the fourth when the rain delay began. The umpires called the game after waiting two hours, ten minutes.[7][8] The Cubs played the first official night game the following night against the Mets and won, 6–4.[8]

Season standings

NL East
Team W L Pct. GB Home Road
New York Mets 100 60 .625 — 56‍–‍24 44‍–‍36
Pittsburgh Pirates 85 75 .531 15 43‍–‍38 42‍–‍37
Montreal Expos 81 81 .500 20 43‍–‍38 38‍–‍43
Chicago Cubs 77 85 .475 24 39‍–‍42 38‍–‍43
St. Louis Cardinals 76 86 .469 25 41‍–‍40 35‍–‍46
Philadelphia Phillies 65 96 .404 35½ 38‍–‍42 27‍–‍54

Record vs. opponents

1988 National League record

Sources: [1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] [7] [8] [9] [10] [11] [12]
Team ATL CHC CIN HOU LAD MON NYM PHI PIT SD SF STL
Atlanta — 5–7 5–13 5–13 4–14 4–8 4–8 6–6 5–5 8–10 5–13 3–9
Chicago 7–5 — 6–6 7–5 4–8–1 9–9 9–9 8–10 7–11 8–4 5–7 7–11
Cincinnati 13–5 6–6 — 9–9 7–11 5–7 4–7 9–3 7–5 10–8 11–7 6–6
Houston 13–5 5–7 9–9 — 9–9 6–6 5–7 8–4 8–4 6–12 7–11 6–6
Los Angeles 14–4 8–4–1 11–7 9–9 — 8–4 1–10 11–1 6–6 7–11 12–6 7–5
Montreal 8–4 9–9 7–5 6–6 4–8 — 6–12 9–9–1 8–10 4–8 7–5 13–5
New York 8–4 9–9 7–4 7–5 10–1 12–6 — 10–8 12–6 7–5 4–8 14–4
Philadelphia 6-6 10–8 3–9 4–8 1–11 9–9–1 8–10 — 7–11 4–7 7–5 6–12
Pittsburgh 5–5 11–7 5–7 4–8 6–6 10–8 6–12 11–7 — 8–4 8–4 11–7
San Diego 10–8 4–8 8–10 12–6 11–7 8–4 5–7 7–4 4–8 — 8–10 6–6
San Francisco 13–5 7–5 7–11 11–7 6–12 5–7 8–4 5–7 4–8 10–8 — 7–5
St. Louis 9–3 11–7 6–6 6–6 5–7 5–13 4–14 12–6 7–11 6–6 5–7 —


Notable transactions

Roster

Reds vs. Cubs at Wrigley Field, September 2, 1988
1988 Chicago Cubs
Roster
Pitchers Catchers

Infielders

Outfielders 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 Damon Berryhill 98 309 80 .259 7 38
1B Mark Grace 134 486 144 .296 7 57
2B Ryne Sandberg 155 618 163 .264 19 69
SS Shawon Dunston 155 575 143 .249 9 56
3B Vance Law 151 556 163 .293 11 78
LF Rafael Palmeiro 152 580 178 .307 8 53
CF Dave Martinez 75 256 65 .254 4 34
RF Andre Dawson 157 591 179 .303 24 79

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
Mitch Webster 70 264 70 .265 4 26
Jody Davis 88 249 57 .229 6 33
Darrin Jackson 100 188 50 .266 6 20
Manny Trillo 76 164 41 .250 1 14
Doug Dascenzo 26 75 16 .213 0 4
Leon Durham 24 73 16 .219 3 6
Gary Varsho 46 73 20 .274 0 5
Jerry Mumphrey 63 66 9 .136 0 9
Ángel Salazar 34 60 15 .250 0 1
Jim Sundberg 24 54 13 .241 2 9
Rolando Roomes 17 16 3 .188 0 0
Rick Wrona 4 6 0 .000 0 0
Dave Meier 2 5 2 .400 0 1

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
Greg Maddux 34 249.0 18 8 3.18 140
Rick Sutcliffe 32 226.0 13 14 3.86 144
Jamie Moyer 34 202.0 9 15 3.48 121
Calvin Schiraldi 29 166.1 9 13 4.38 140
Mike Harkey 5 34.2 0 3 2.60 18
Kevin Blankenship 1 5.0 1 0 7.20 4
Bob Tewksbury 1 3.1 0 0 8.10 1

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
Jeff Pico 29 112.2 6 7 4.15 57
Al Nipper 22 80.0 2 4 3.04 27
Mike Bielecki 19 48.1 2 2 3.35 33

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
Rich Gossage 46 4 4 13 4.33 30
Frank DiPino 63 2 3 6 4.98 69
Les Lancaster 44 4 6 5 3.78 36
Pat Perry 35 2 2 1 3.32 24
Mike Capel 22 2 1 0 4.91 19
Drew Hall 19 1 1 1 7.66 22
Scott Sanderson 11 1 2 0 5.28 6
Bill Landrum 7 1 0 0 5.84 6

Farm system

See also: Minor League Baseball
Level Team League Manager
AAA Iowa Cubs American Association Pete Mackanin
AA Pittsfield Cubs Eastern League Jim Essian
A Winston-Salem Spirits Carolina League Jay Loviglio
A Peoria Chiefs Midwest League Jim Tracy
A Charleston Wheelers South Atlantic League Brad Mills
A-Short Season Geneva Cubs New York–Penn League Bill Hayes
Rookie Wytheville Cubs Appalachian League Steve Roadcap

[11]

Notes

  1. ^ Rule 4.10(c)(1) Archived March 31, 2016, at the Wayback Machine mlb.com
  2. ^ "Tiger-Cub Trade Even!". Toledo Blade. October 24, 1987. p. 16.
  3. ^ Lee Smith Statistics Archived February 28, 2009, at the Wayback Machine Baseball-Reference.com
  4. ^ Vance Law Statistics Archived February 10, 2009, at the Wayback Machine Baseball-Reference.com
  5. ^ Rich Gossage Statistics Archived September 5, 2008, at the Wayback Machine Baseball-Reference.com
  6. ^ "Mike Bielecki Statistics - Baseball-Reference.com". Archived from the original on March 31, 2009. Retrieved September 19, 2019.
  7. ^ "Rain halts night debut for Cubs". Toledo Blade. August 9, 1988. p. 17. Retrieved September 19, 2011.
  8. ^ a b The Cubs get lights at Wrigley Field <20 years ago this year>, Chicago Tribune, Phil Vettel, Jan. 3, 2008.
  9. ^ "Mitch Webster Stats, Height, Weight, Position, Rookie Status & More". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved August 20, 2024.
  10. ^ Jim Sundberg Statistics Archived February 3, 2009, at the Wayback Machine Baseball-Reference.com
  11. ^ Johnson, Lloyd, and Wolff, Miles, ed., The Encyclopedia of Minor League Baseball, 2nd edition. Durham, North Carolina: Baseball America, 1997

References