The 10 Darkest Days in Chicago Cubs History

Today, Ron Santo failed to make it to baseball’s Hall of Fame. The Tribune Company, owners of the Chicago Cubs, filed for bankruptcy. For Cubs fans, today is pretty dark. InGameNow has decided to recount the 10 darkest days in Cubs history.

10. Greg Maddux Becomes a Brave, April 5th, 1993
The Cubs let Greg Maddux, winner of the 1992 Cy Young, leave the team via free agency. On opening day of the 1993 season, Maddux and the Braves beat the Cubs 1-0. During the 1993 season, Greg HIbbard lead the Cubs with a 3.96 ERA. Greg Maddux won 20 games, and had a 2.36 ERA. Maddux went on to win 3 more Cy Youngs, make 6 more All Star teams, and an impressive 15 Gold Gloves. Guess the Cubs should not have let Maddux go!

9. Babe Ruth’s “Called Shot.” October 1st, 1932.
Due to very poor film footage, nobody is entirely sure exactly what happened. The Chicago Cubs bench was heckling the fat man to no end, doing everything in their power to distract Ruth. While at bat, Ruth had some words for the Cubs. If you believe some of the really old drunks in Wrigleyville, Ruth pointed towards center field. On the next pitch, the Bambino smoked a ball to deep center. As he rounded the bases, Ruth taunted the Cubs dugout. This turned out to be Babe Ruth’s last hit in any World Series game. The New York Yankees swept the Chicago Cubs to win the 1932 World Series.

8. All the Way, September 18th, 2008
Longtime Cubs fan Eddie Vedder released “All the Way” for his friend, Ernie Banks. This Song is crap. Nothing will ever top Harry Carry singing “Take Me out to the Ball Game.” Billy Corgan went as far as to criticize Vedder, by saying, “If the Cubs did have a chance this last year that just passed, f*ckin’ Eddie Vedder killed that sh*t dead. Last I checked Eddie ain’t living here, okay? Eddie ain’t living here to write a song about my f*ckin’ team.”

7. Ron Santo Snub, Tribune Bancuptcy, December 8th, 2008
The Tribune Company, owners of the Chicago Cubs, filed for bankruptcy. Not many things can be worse for a team than the owners filing chapter 11. That is exactly what happened when the Tribune bankruptcy was filed. To make matters worse, Cub legend Ron Santo was not voted in to the Hall of Fame. The Veterans Committee gave Ron Santo 39 votes to get into Cooperstown. A total of 48 were needed.

6. 1906 World Series October 14th, 1906.
In what was the first ever “subway series,” the Chicago Cubs lost to the cross-town rival Chicago White Sox in game six of the World Series. The two worst outcomes for a Cubs fan are 1. The Cubs not winning it all, and 2. the White Sox being crowned Champs. For both occurrences to happen on the same day was too much to handle for Cubbie fans. Some interesting notes of this series: It snowed, the away team won the first 5 games, and the last time a World Series involved two teams that had never been there before.

5. Leon Durham Blunder, October 7th, 1984.
The Chicago Cubs were in San Diego (Discovered by the Germans in 1904, they named it San Diego, which of course in German means a whale’s vagina) for the rubber match of the NLCS. In the bottom of the 7th, Tim Flannery hit a grounder through first baseman Leon Durham’s legs. The Padres scored 4 runs that inning, eventually winning the game 6-3, to earn a trip to the World Series.

4. 100 years of Losing, October 4th, 2008
The Chicago Cubs were swept by the Los Angeles Dodgers in the 2008 NLDS. This game market 100 consecutive years without a World Series Title. No other sports franchise in the country can lay claim to that statistic. For the Cubs, this loss marked the 9th consecutive post season loss. Ron Santo’s heart must have been broken during this series.

3. The Black Cat, September 8th, 1969.
Ron Santo was on the Cubs on deck circle, where he was warming up. A black cat ran around Santo, then sprinted into the Cubs dugout, where it stared down Leo Durocher. The Cubs lost that game, as well as the next game, to allow the Mets to take the Cubs out of first place for the first time in 155 days. The Cubs blew a 9 1/2 game lead against the Mets, ending up 8 games behind them.

2. Bartman, October 14th, 2003.
The Chicago Cubs lead the Florida Marlins 3 games to 2 in the NLCS. They were 5 outs away from their first Wolrd Series since 1945. Mark Prior was on the mound, throwing a three hit shut out. Prior pitched to Luis Castillo, who put a ball down the left field foul line. Moises Alou ran over to field the ball, and as he jumped up, had the ball snatched out of his hands by Steve Bartman. The Marlins went on to score eight runs, win the game, and eventually the series. Bartman was crucified for his actions. Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich tried to get Bartman into the witness protection plan. To this day, Bartman won’t show his face in public. He passed on an offer to sign a picture of himself for $25,000. None of this should be surprising, Bartman attended Notre Dame.

1. The Curse of the Billy Goat October 6th, 1945
The Chicago Cubs faced the Detroit Tigers in the 1945 World Series. Due to wartime travel restrictions, the first 3 games of the Series were played in Detroit, and the last four in Chicago. The Cubs took and impressive 2-1 lead in the games in Detroit. On October 6th, the Cubs hosted the Tigers for game 4. Billy Sianis, owner of The Billy Goat Tavern, attended the game with his goat. Sianis walked his goat around the stadium with a sign that said, “We Got Detroit’s Goat.” In the seventh inning, both the goat and Sianis were removed from the stadium, due to complaints over the smelly goat. Sianis freaked out over this, and cursed the Cubs. Sianis sent a telegram to the head of the Cubs, stating, “You are going to lose this World Series and you are never going to win another World Series again. You are never going to win a World Series again because you insulted my goat.” The Cubs went on to loose the 1945 World Series, and have not played in a World Series since then.