Mordecai Brown by Edward Drobinski - HTML preview

Mordecai Brown

Page 40

1906 Chicago Cubs Season

The 1906 Chicago Cubs, skippered by first time player-manager Frank Chance, won the National League pennant with a record of 116–36, a full 20 games ahead of the second place New York Giants. The team's .763 winning percentage, with two ties in their 154 game season, is the highest in modern MLB history.

The Cubs dominated the NL from start to finish. They led the league in both runs scored and fewest runs allowed by large margins. Their record of 116 wins has never been beaten, although it was tied by the 2001 Seattle Mariners, who played a longer 162 game season.

Mordecai Brown was the workhorse of the pitching staff, regularly starting every fourth game all year.

The team included four future Hall of Famers; manager and first baseman Chance, second baseman Johnny Evers, shortstop Joe Tinker, and pitcher Mordecai Brown. Brown finished second in the NL in wins to Joe McGinnity, but his 1.04 ERA set a major league record. Although the record was broken by Dutch Leonard in 1914 in the American League, Brown's mark still stands as the National League record.

The pitching staff led the majors with a team earned run average of 1.76. Six members of the pitching staff had double digit