The Chicago Cubs were
in a rebuilding mode in 1977. It was nothing new. The core of the team that had
finished over .500 for six straight seasons (1967-1972) but had failed to reach
the postseason was gone. The last holdout was shortstop Don Kessinger, who was
traded to the Cardinals after the 1975 season.[1]
The Cubs had re-tooled with young players that they acquired for their aging
starts: Rick Monday (from Oakland for Ken Holtzman), Bill Madlock (from Texas
for Fergie Jenkins), Manny Trillo (also from the A’s, for Billy Williams), Jerry
Morales (from the Padres for Glenn Beckert), Steve Stone (from Chicago’s South
Side for Ron Santo). In 1976, Madlock won his second consecutive NL batting
title at .339, besting Cincinnati’s Ken Griffey in a thrilling race that went
down to the season’s last day, which Madlock entered trailing by 5 points.
Monday, batting leadoff, hit 32 homers and scored 107 runs.
But it wasn’t enough; the Cubs went 75-87, the same record
they had the previous year, although they climbed one notch in the standings,
from fifth (in the six-team NL East) to fourth. Although the trades for their
veteran stars had mostly been reasonable, they had traded away several
promising young players in other deals, including Oscar Gamble, Burt Hooton, Joe
Niekro, Fred Norman, and Andre Thornton, without getting much in return, and
failed to develop their farm system. Of their regular position players, only
first baseman Pete LaCock (.221 with 8 homers) was a product of the Cubs’ minor
league system. They did have two good starting pitchers, Rick Reuschel (14-12,
3.46) and Ray Burris (15-13, 3.11), and one promising rookie reliever, Bruce
Sutter (10 saves, 2.70) who had come up through the system. Despite these
performances, the Cubs finished 11th in the 12-team NL in ERA.
The Cubs had finished below .500 for four straight years, so
it seemed obvious their rebuilding effort was not working. The organization
retooled in the 1976-77 offseason. Salty Saltwell, who had served one year as
general manager, was reassigned and former “Head Coach” Bob Kennedy was hired
as the new general manager.[2]
Jim Marshall, who had gone 175-218 in two plus years as manager, was fired and
replaced by Herman Franks. Franks had managed the San Francisco Giants for four
years in the mid-1960s, winning between 88 and 95 games and finishing 2nd
each year.
But the biggest changes the Cubs made were on the field, as
they traded their two best position players during the off-season. Monday was
sent to the Dodgers for outfielder-first baseman Bill Buckner, as well as a
young shortstop, Ivan De Jesus, who could not crack the Dodgers’ famous
Garvey-Lopes-Russell-Cey infield. It was a sacrifice of a power hitter for a
contact hitter; Buckner had hit over .300 for three of the previous five seasons,
but had yet to reach double figures in home runs.
It was the other trade that proved to be more controversial.
With free agency a new feature in the game, Madlock had let his salary demands
be known. The Cubs organization publicly declared that he was too expensive and
traded him to the San Francisco Giants on February 11, 1977 for outfielder
Bobby Murcer, third baseman Steve Ontiveros, and a minor leaguer. They promptly
gave Murcer a more lucrative contract than the one Madlock had asked for,
leading to not unreasonable charges of racism.
Opening Day
Lineup – 1977
De Jesus, ss
Cardenal, lf
Biittner, 1b
Murcer, rf
Morales, cf
Ontiveros, 3b
Swisher, c
Trillo, 2b
Burris, p
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The Cubs lost their opener to the Mets 5-3 and had a
pedestrian 9-10 record after losing to the Astros on May 5. It seemed that
little had changed in Chicago. However, on May 6, Reuschel beat Houston to run
his record to 4-1 and start the Cubs on a six-game winning streak. After the
streak ended with a loss on May 11, the Cubs reeled off another six-game
victory skein and suddenly they were 21-11 and only 2 games off the division
lead. Sutter was a revelation. Throwing
a devastating “split-fingered fastball” taught to him by Cubs roving minor
league instructor Fred Martin, the 24-year old reliever was as close to
unhittable as any pitcher in the game. After closing out a 3-2 victory against
the Pirates on May 29, he had pitched in 23 of the Cubs’ 42 games, saving 14 of
them, giving up only 21 hits, 2 (!) walks, and 4 earned runs in 41 1/3 innings,
good for a 0.87 ERA.
After a 7-9 April, the Cubs ripped off a 21-7 record in May.
A 6-3 victory over Pittsburgh on May 27, won by Reuschel and saved by Sutter,
put them in first place. Chicago was every bit as impressive in June. On June
28, the Cubs won their eighth straight game, 4-2 over the Montreal Expos in 10
innings. Reuschel pitched the first 9 innings to run his record to 11-2 and
Sutter pitched the bottom of the 10th for his 21st save
in the club’s 69th game.[3]
The Cubs were 47-22 and in first place in the NL East by 8 ½ games. They were
the talk of baseball; surely this team would expiate the disappointment of
1969.
Sadly, it was not to be. The Cubs came back to Earth in
July, finishing the month with a 14-17 record and watching their lead shrink to
2 games. There was one last major highlight during the month; an epic battle
with the defending world champion Cincinnati Reds at Wrigley on July 28, won by
the Cubs 16-15 in 13 innings. Reuschel scored the winning
run and was the winning pitcher in relief, putting his record at 15-3.
On August 2, Bruce Sutter was placed on the 21-day disabled
list with a right shoulder strain. At that point, he had worked 47 of the
team’s 99 games and pitched 85 innings. It was an unsustainable pace, but the
pressure to use an unhittable pitcher as often as possible had proven too much
for Franks. Sutter’s ERA was 1.06 at that point in the season and he had struck
out 101 batters, while walking only 15 and giving up just 10 earned runs.
Although the Cubs’ slide had begun before Sutter was
injured, his absence accelerated it. The Cubs went 8-10 while he was gone,
falling out of first place for good after losing the first game of a
doubleheader to San Diego on August 7. By the time Sutter recorded his next
save on August 26, the Cubs were 7 ½ games out. The whole team seemed to
struggle. Resuchel won just 5 of his last 12 decisions, although he did win his
20th game on September 22, beating the Phillies 5-3. Bobby Murcer
had seemed rejuvenated in Chicago after a disappointing stint in San Francisco.
On August 22, after homering against his former team, the Giants, Murcer had 24
home runs and 84 RBIs; a seeming lock for a 30-100 season. However, he hit only
3 more home runs and drove in just 5 more runs.
In September, all the Cubs had to play for was a winning
record. On September 26, they beat the Phillies 10-7 for their 81st
win against 76 losses. However, they lost their last five games of the season
to finish at 81-81. Considering their success in May and June, it was a
crushing disappointment.
There were some positive signs. Though not quite as superhuman
in the second half as he had been before going on the DL, Sutter still finished
with great numbers. He pitched 107.1 innings and saved 31 games while striking
out 129 hitters (10.8 per 9 innings pitched) and walking only 23. His final ERA
was 1.34. It was, and remains, one of the great seasons by a relief pitcher in
baseball history. Reuschel finished with a 20-10 record, becoming the first Cub
to win 20 games in a season since 1972. There would not be another until 1992.
Ontiveros hit .299 with a .390 on-base percentage, 8th in the NL. De
Jesus scored 91 runs.
1977 Cubs Batting
Leaders: R – Ivan De Jesus, 91; H – De Jesus, 166; HR – Bobby Murcer, 27; RBI
– Murcer, 89; BA – Steve Ontiveros,
.299; OBP – Ontiveros, .390; SP – Murcer, .455
1977 Cubs Pitching
Leaders: G – Paul Reuschel, 69; IP – Rick Reuschel, 252; W – R. Reuschel, 20; SO – R. Reuschel, 166; ERA – R. Reuschel, 2.79; SV – Bruce Sutter, 31
[1]
Kessinger would go on to become the answer to a trivia question. Named as the
White Sox’s skipper in 1979 while still an active player, he was the last
player-manager in the American League.
[2]
Kennedy’s designation as “head coach” in 1963 had mostly ended the ill-fated
“College of Coaches” experiment instituted by owner P.K. Wrigley in 1961,
though the system didn’t officially terminate until Leo Durocher was hired as
manager before the 1966 season.
[3]
The season record for saves at the time was 38, by Detroit’s John Hiller in
1973.
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