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125-831: The network carried games from most of the Chicago area's major league sports teams including the Chicago Cubs and Chicago White Sox Major League Baseball franchises; the NHL 's Chicago Blackhawks ; the NBA 's Chicago Bulls ; the Chicago Fire of Major League Soccer ; and the Arena Football League 's Chicago Rush . The network also aired local and national collegiate sports , including teams sourced from its sister network Fox Sports Detroit . SportsChannel Chicago

250-401: A "2–3" format, first two games were played at the home of the team who did not have home-field advantage. Then the last three games were played at the home of the team, with home-field advantage. Thus the first two games were played at Wrigley Field and the next three at the home of their opponents, San Diego. A common and unfounded myth is that since Wrigley Field did not have lights at that time

375-620: A 50% interest in Fox Sports New England (with Comcast retaining its existing 50% stake) in an asset swap that also involved the sale of News Corporation's interest in Madison Square Garden and the arena's NBA and NHL team tenants in exchange for Cablevision's interest in FSN Ohio and FSN Florida . FSN Chicago ceased operations on June 23, 2006; Comcast SportsNet Chicago subsequently moved its operations into

500-496: A co-owned subscription service that broadcast part-time over WSNS-TV (channel 44). The Bulls and White Sox continued to broadcast a number of games on free broadcast television locally, while the Blackhawks moved all of their game broadcasts over to SportsVision, ending a longstanding partnership with WSNS. After the move, some set-top converters which were sold as part of ONTV and SportsVision subscriptions, began incorporating

625-644: A comeback, and Michael Mahoney of GT Capital expected the proposed deregulation of the cable and telephone industries to increase cable company revenues. Both expected TCI to benefit, especially since TCI owned 30 percent of a joint venture that included Sprint and 10 cable companies with the ability to serve 40 percent of American homes. Cable and phone companies could both offer each other's services, benefiting both companies and customers with product bundling . TCI had plans to upgrade to digital cable and offer more channels and services. Satellite TV providers would be competing to offer digital service, but TCI owned

750-563: A community antenna system in Bozeman, Montana . The Kearns-Tribune Corp., publisher of The Salt Lake Tribune , which owned a cable system in Reno, Nevada , began relaying signals by common carrier microwave from Salt Lake City in 1956. In 1958 it became a partner with Magness in establishing a partnership for cable TV in Montana. George C. Hatch and Brian Glasmann were also partners in

875-439: A controversial figure in the clubhouse after his corked-bat incident , Sosa's actions alienated much of his once strong fan base as well as the few teammates still on good terms with him, to the point where his boombox was reportedly smashed after he left to signify the end of an era. The disappointing season also saw fans start to become frustrated with the constant injuries to ace pitchers Mark Prior and Kerry Wood. Additionally,

1000-623: A double-play combination by Franklin P. Adams ' poem " Baseball's Sad Lexicon ". The poem first appeared in the July 18, 1910, edition of the New York Evening Mail . Mordecai "Three-Finger" Brown , Jack Taylor , Ed Reulbach , Jack Pfiester , and Orval Overall were several key pitchers for the Cubs during this time period. With Chance acting as player-manager from 1905 to 1912, the Cubs won four pennants and two World Series titles over

1125-471: A down-to-the-wire Wild Card chase with the San Francisco Giants , Chicago and San Francisco ended the regular season tied, and thus squared off in a one-game playoff at Wrigley Field. Third baseman Gary Gaetti hit the eventual game-winning homer in the playoff game. The win propelled the Cubs into the postseason for the first time since 1989 with a 90–73 regular-season record. Unfortunately,

1250-459: A fast start in 1999, they collapsed again (starting with being swept at the hands of the cross-town White Sox in mid-June) and finished in the bottom of the division for the next two seasons. Despite losing fan favorite Grace to free agency and the lack of production from newcomer Todd Hundley , skipper Don Baylor 's Cubs put together a good season in 2001. The season started with Mack Newton being brought in to preach "positive thinking". One of

1375-548: A five-year span. Although they fell to the "Hitless Wonders" White Sox in the 1906 World Series , the Cubs recorded a record 116 victories and the best winning percentage (.763) in Major League history. With mostly the same roster, Chicago won back-to-back World Series championships in 1907 and 1908 , becoming the first Major League club to play three times in the Fall Classic and the first to win it twice. However,

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1500-605: A long-term deal to carry the network on its cable systems. On June 30, 1997, News Corporation and Liberty Media —which had created a new group of regional sports networks known as Fox Sports Net in November 1996—purchased a 40% interest in Cablevision's sports properties. Properties included the SportsChannel America networks, Madison Square Garden , and the arena's professional sports franchise tenants,

1625-553: A major threat yet, represented a possible problem in the future. The good news: satellite companies could not offer local channels or phone service, and individual dishes served only one TV. The new technologies had two benefits for TCI. First, customers would need set-top boxes, which TCI already had ordered from General Instrument. Another advantage was technology developed by a new company called Imedia which would allow four times as many channels to be delivered using existing technology, even in areas not getting fiber-optic service. On

1750-591: A majority interest in the Cubs in 2009, ending the Tribune years. Apparently handcuffed by the Tribune's bankruptcy and the sale of the club to the Ricketts siblings, led by chairman Thomas S. Ricketts , the Cubs ' quest for a NL Central three-peat started with notice that there would be less invested into contracts than in previous years. Chicago engaged St. Louis in a see-saw battle for first place into August 2009, but

1875-497: A medium that would limit the reach of the team's televised game broadcasts. Chicago was, until 2019, one of the very few television markets in the United States whose baseball teams made a substantial percentage of their games available over-the-air. Until the mid-1990s, the Cubs still televised all of their games that were not aired nationally on the major broadcast networks ( ABC , NBC , CBS ) over WGN-TV (channel 9), and

2000-718: A member club of the National League (NL) Central Division . The club plays its home games at Wrigley Field , which is located on Chicago's North Side . They are one of two major league teams based in Chicago, alongside the American League (AL)’s Chicago White Sox . The Cubs, first known as the White Stockings, were a founding member of the NL in 1876 , becoming the Chicago Cubs in 1903 . Throughout

2125-462: A minor leaguer. Reliever Tim Stoddard (10–6 3.82, 7 saves) was acquired the same day for a minor leaguer; veteran pitcher Ferguson Jenkins was released. The team's commitment to contend was complete when Green made a midseason deal on June 15 to shore up the starting rotation due to injuries to Rick Reuschel (5–5) and Sanderson. The deal brought 1979 NL Rookie of the Year pitcher Rick Sutcliffe from

2250-469: A nationwide system upgrade. The Bell Atlantic deal also fell victim to new federal regulations that reduced cable bills up to 16 percent, costing TCI $ 300 million over two years. Higher spending coupled with lower cash receipts made TCI less attractive to investors, and the stock price dropped to $ 17 a share, half what experts believed the company was worth. Bill Nygren of Harris Associates , known for profiting from TCI's Liberty Media, said TCI could make

2375-638: A no-hitter against the Astros , and six days later the team clinched by beating St. Louis at Wrigley. The club ended the season with a 97–64 record and met Los Angeles in the NLDS . The heavily favored Cubs took an early lead in Game 1, but James Loney 's grand slam off Ryan Dempster changed the series' momentum. Chicago committed numerous critical errors and were outscored 20–6 in a Dodger sweep, which provided yet another sudden ending. The Ricketts family acquired

2500-629: A partnership with Comcast to form a new regional sports network, Comcast SportsNet Chicago , which launched on October 1, 2004. The move led many cable and satellite providers in northeastern Illinois and northwest Indiana to drop FSN Chicago. Without any local professional sports coverage remaining, FSN Chicago was left with national programming distributed by Fox Sports Net. The events from some minor local and semi-professional teams and Midwestern outdoors programs had limited interest to Chicago area viewers. In February 2005, Cablevision acquired full ownership of Fox Sports Chicago and FSN New York , and

2625-501: A pitcher's duel with D-Backs ace Brandon Webb , to "....save Zambrano for (a potential) Game 4." The Cubs, however, were unable to come through, losing the first game and eventually stranding over 30 baserunners in a three-game Arizona sweep. The Tribune company, in financial distress, was acquired by real-estate mogul Sam Zell in December 2007. This acquisition included the Cubs. However, Zell did not take an active part in running

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2750-410: A plan to buy TCI, second to Time Warner among cable operators with 13 million customers, for $ 32 billion in stock and $ 16 billion in assumed debt. This marked the first major merger between phone and cable since deregulation. The new company, to be called AT&T Consumer Services, planned to "significantly accelerate" efforts to offer digital telephone , data and video services as the companies combined

2875-541: A player and manager. His departure after 22 years led local newspaper reporters to refer to the Colts as the "Orphans". After the 1900 season , the American Base-Ball League formed as a rival professional league. The club's old White Stockings nickname (eventually shortened to White Sox) was adopted by a new American League neighbor to the south . In 1902, Spalding, who by this time had revamped

3000-480: A positive springboard since the Cubs were to play a crucial series with the Mets the next day. But Willie Stargell drilled a two-out, two-strike pitch from the Cubs' ace reliever, Phil Regan, onto Sheffield Avenue to tie the score in the top of the ninth. The Cubs would lose 7–5 in extra innings.[6] Burdened by a four-game losing streak, the Cubs traveled to Shea Stadium for a short two-game set. The Mets won both games, and

3125-471: A record 120 games 7 years earlier), would go on to win the World Series. The Cubs, despite a respectable 92–70 record, would be remembered for having lost a remarkable 17½ games in the standings to the Mets in the last quarter of the season. Following the 1969 season, the club posted winning records for the next few seasons, but no playoff action. After the core players of those teams started to move on,

3250-735: A regional network of television stations throughout parts of the Midwest. The WPWR-SportsVision partnership struggled by late 1983 and as a result, the channel was sold to Cablevision and the Washington Post (which by this time had become a partner in SportsChannel). SportsVision immediately affiliated with SportsChannel and was converted into a basic cable service by 1986. By 1988, the Post had sold its share in SportVision (and

3375-453: A reputation as "a shrewd and sometimes vicious negotiator". In 1995, TCI acquired the cable television assets of Viacom . In May 1991 United Artists announced a merger deal with their largest shareholder TCI (now Liberty Media ) to form the largest cable operator in the US, a deal valued at $ 142.5m for the 50% not already owned by TCI. TCI and US West announced a joint venture, and in 1992

3500-682: A result, SportsChannel Chicago was rebranded as Fox Sports Chicago in January 1998. The channel was then rebranded as Fox Sports Net Chicago in 2000, as part of a collective brand modification of the FSN networks under the "Fox Sports Net" banner. Fox Sports Tonight later evolved into the Chicago Sports Report in 2001, as part of a groupwide expansion of regional news programs across the Fox Sports Networks to complement

3625-578: A ride. Learning that they wanted to build a community antenna system in Paducah, Texas , he decided to raise the money for a similar system in Memphis, Texas . He sold his cattle, took out a mortgage on his home and borrowed $ 2,500 from his father. His wife did the office work while Bob put up the wires himself. Two years later Magness sold the system and was looking for a way to invest the sales proceeds. Another cable pioneer, Bill Daniels , told him about

3750-538: A rough start, which included a brawl between Michael Barrett and Carlos Zambrano , the Cubs overcame the Milwaukee Brewers , who had led the division for most of the season. The Cubs traded Barrett to the Padres, and later acquired catcher Jason Kendall from Oakland. Kendall was highly successful with his management of the pitching rotation and helped at the plate as well. By September, Geovany Soto became

3875-654: A serious contender for the National League pennant. In 2006, the bottom fell out as the Cubs finished 66–96, last in the National League Central . After finishing last in the NL Central with 66 wins in 2006, the Cubs re-tooled and went from "worst to first" in 2007. In the offseason they signed Alfonso Soriano to a contract at eight years for $ 136 million, and replaced manager Dusty Baker with fiery veteran manager Lou Piniella . After

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4000-667: A share of Primestar , and predicted a 28 percent share of the satellite market by the end of 1995. In Fall 1995, Time Warner agreed to exchange $ 8 billion in stock for 82 percent of Turner Broadcasting System . TCI would trade its 21 percent interest in Turner for the third largest stake in Time Warner, or 9 percent. Since the resulting companies would have 40 percent of cable households, enough to cause anti-trust concern, TCI agreed to let Time Warner's Gerald Levin represent TCI. This did not satisfy federal regulators. Malone ended

4125-454: A somber note with the death of broadcaster Harry Caray . After the retirement of Sandberg and the trade of Dunston, the Cubs had holes to fill, and the signing of Henry Rodríguez to bat cleanup provided protection for Sammy Sosa in the lineup, as Rodriguez slugged 31 round-trippers in his first season in Chicago. Kevin Tapani led the club with a career-high 19 wins while Rod Beck anchored

4250-507: A strong bullpen and Mark Grace turned in one of his best seasons. The Cubs were swamped by media attention in 1998, and the team's two biggest headliners were Sosa and rookie flamethrower Kerry Wood . Wood's signature performance was one-hitting the Houston Astros , a game in which he tied the major league record of 20 strikeouts in nine innings. His torrid strikeout numbers earned Wood the nickname "Kid K", and ultimately earned him

4375-563: A strong top-to-bottom rotation, and Smith was one of the top closers in the game. The shift in the Cubs' fortunes was characterized June 23 on the "NBC Saturday Game of the Week" contest against the St. Louis Cardinals; it has since been dubbed simply " The Sandberg Game ". With the nation watching and Wrigley Field packed, Sandberg emerged as a superstar with not one, but two game-tying home runs against Cardinals closer Bruce Sutter . With his shots in

4500-476: A switch to allow subscribers to tune to either ONTV or SportsVision. By 1984, White Sox games began airing on ONTV as well. The decision to move most of the White Sox broadcasts to paid television led longtime announcer Harry Caray to become the play-by-play voice of the rival Chicago Cubs. He did this due to the limited exposure that the White Sox would experience as a result of having the majority of games on

4625-486: A winning record (83–78) for the third consecutive season, the first time the club had done so since 1972 , and a new era of ownership under the Ricketts family was approved by MLB owners in early October. Rookie Starlin Castro debuted in early May (2010) as the starting shortstop. The club played poorly in the early season, finding themselves 10 games under .500 at the end of June. In addition, long-time ace Carlos Zambrano

4750-510: Is known as the "June Swoon". Again, the Cubs' unusually high number of day games is often pointed to as one reason for the team's inconsistent late-season play. Wrigley died in 1977. The Wrigley family sold the team to the Chicago Tribune for $ 20.5 million in 1981, ending the family's 65-year relationship with the Cubs. After over a dozen more subpar seasons, in 1981 the Cubs hired GM Dallas Green from Philadelphia to turn around

4875-562: The National Sports Report . Around that time, Fox Sports Net Chicago also began serving as the production and origination hub for the Ohio Sports Report and Bay Area Sports Report news programs (all of which were 50% owned by Cablevision through its Rainbow Sports subsidiary) for sister networks Fox Sports Ohio and Fox Sports Net Bay Area . In 2004, the channel shortened its name to FSN Chicago , through

5000-422: The 1918 World Series , Boston's last Series championship until 2004. Beginning in 1916, Bill Wrigley of chewing-gum fame acquired an increasing quantity of stock in the Cubs and by 1921, he was the majority owner. Meanwhile, Bill Veeck, Sr. began his tenure as team president in 1919. Veeck would hold that post throughout the 1920s and into the 1930s. The management team of Wrigley and Veeck came to be known as

5125-724: The Chicago Whales of the short-lived Federal League . As principal owners, the pair moved the club from the West Side Grounds to the much newer Weeghman Park , which had been constructed for the Whales only two years earlier, where they remain to this day. The Cubs responded by winning a pennant in the war-shortened season of 1918, where they played a part in another team's curse : the Boston Red Sox defeated Grover Cleveland Alexander 's Cubs four games to two in

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5250-715: The Cy Young Award . The Cubs 1984 starting lineup was very strong. It consisted of LF Matthews (.291 14–82 101 runs 17 SB), C Jody Davis (.256 19–94), RF Keith Moreland (.279 16–80), SS Larry Bowa (.223 10 SB), 1B Leon "Bull" Durham (.279 23–96 16SB), CF Dernier (.278 45 SB), 3B Ron Cey (.240 25–97), Closer Lee Smith (9–7 3.65 33 saves) and 1984 NL MVP Ryne Sandberg (.314 19–84 114 runs, 19 triples, 32 SB). Reserve players Hebner, Thad Bosley , Henry Cotto , Hassey and Dave Owen produced exciting moments. The bullpen depth of Rich Bordi , George Frazier , Warren Brusstar and Dickie Noles did their job in getting

5375-632: The Detroit Tigers in the 1908 World Series . After losing an extra-inning game in Game 1, the Cubs rallied and took a three-games-to-one lead over the Wild Card Florida Marlins in the National League Championship Series . Florida shut the Cubs out in Game 5, but the Cubs returned home to Wrigley Field with young pitcher Mark Prior to lead the Cubs in Game 6 as they took a 3–0 lead into

5500-598: The New York Knicks and New York Rangers . Following the purchase, SportsChannel Chicago abruptly canceled its daily sports news program The SportsChannel Report on August 10, resulting in the layoffs of ten staff members (including the program's veteran anchors Jim Blaney, Steve Kashul and Dyrol Joyner). That October, the channel launched Fox Sports Tonight , a similarly formatted sports news program focusing on local sports, intended to complement Fox Sports Net's national program Fox Sports News . During that period,

5625-641: The Philadelphia Phillies cut the lead to two by the All-star break, as the Cubs sat 19 games over .500, but they swooned late in the season, going 20–40 after July 31. The Cubs finished in fourth place at 81–81, while Philadelphia surged, finishing with 101 wins. The following two seasons also saw the Cubs get off to a fast start, as the team rallied to over 10 games above .500 well into both seasons, only to again wear down and play poorly later on, and ultimately settling back to mediocrity. This trait

5750-638: The Yankees featured Babe Ruth's " called shot " at Wrigley Field in game three. There were some historic moments for the Cubs as well; In 1930, Hack Wilson , one of the top home run hitters in the game, had one of the most impressive seasons in MLB history, hitting 56 home runs and establishing the current runs-batted-in record of 191. That 1930 club, which boasted six eventual hall of fame members (Wilson, Gabby Hartnett , Rogers Hornsby , George "High Pockets" Kelly , Kiki Cuyler and manager Joe McCarthy ) established

5875-524: The "Double-Bills". Near the end of the first decade of the double-Bills' guidance, the Cubs won the NL Pennant in 1929 and then achieved the unusual feat of winning a pennant every three years, following up the 1929 flag with league titles in 1932, 1935, and 1938. Unfortunately, their success did not extend to the Fall Classic , as they fell to their AL rivals each time. The '32 series against

6000-469: The 15 percent discount on Turner programming that would have lasted 20 years, and Time Warner had to pay $ 67 million to cover TCI's taxes due. Magness died in November 1996, with a 26 percent share of the company. No one believed this meant the end of Malone's tenure as head of TCI, even though Malone called Magness his "mentor" and "father figure". Still, TCI had $ 15 billion in debt and negative cash flow of $ 400 million for 1996. Malone believed he could turn

6125-786: The 1983 World Series the Baltimore Orioles of the AL had home-field advantage. In the NLCS , the Cubs easily won the first two games at Wrigley Field against the San Diego Padres . The Padres were the winners of the Western Division with Steve Garvey , Tony Gwynn , Eric Show , Goose Gossage and Alan Wiggins . With wins of 13–0 and 4–2, the Cubs needed to win only one game of the next three in San Diego to make it to

6250-549: The 1998 NL Rookie of the Year award. Sosa caught fire in June, hitting a major league record 20 home runs in the month, and his home run race with Cardinal's slugger Mark McGwire transformed the pair into international superstars in a matter of weeks. McGwire finished the season with a new major league record of 70 home runs, but Sosa's .308 average and 66 homers earned him the National League MVP Award . After

6375-444: The 2004 season led to the departure of popular commentator Steve Stone , who had become increasingly critical of management during broadcasts and was verbally attacked by reliever Kent Mercker . Things were no better in 2005 , despite a career year from first baseman Derrek Lee and the emergence of closer Ryan Dempster . The club struggled and suffered more key injuries, only managing to win 79 games after being picked by many to be

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6500-402: The 8th inning. It was at this point when a now-infamous incident took place. Several spectators attempted to catch a foul ball off the bat of Luis Castillo . A Chicago Cubs fan by the name of Steve Bartman , of Northbrook, Illinois, reached for the ball and deflected it away from the glove of Moisés Alou for the second out of the eighth inning. Alou reacted angrily toward the stands and after

6625-453: The 9th and 10th innings, Wrigley Field erupted and Sandberg set the stage for a comeback win that cemented the Cubs as the team to beat in the East. No one would catch them. In early August the Cubs swept the Mets in a 4-game home series that further distanced them from the pack. An infamous Keith Moreland- Ed Lynch fight erupted after Lynch hit Moreland with a pitch, perhaps forgetting Moreland

6750-562: The Anson-led Chicago Base Ball Club won six National League pennants between 1876 and 1886. By 1890 , the team had become known the Chicago Colts , or sometimes "Anson's Colts", referring to Cap's influence within the club. Anson was the first player in history credited with 3,000 career hits . In 1897, after a disappointing record of 59–73 and a ninth-place finish, Anson was released by the club as both

6875-459: The Cardinals for pitcher Ernie Broglio (who won only seven games over the next three seasons), hampered on-field performance. The late-1960s brought hope of a renaissance, with third baseman Ron Santo , pitcher Ferguson Jenkins , and outfielder Billy Williams joining Banks. After losing a dismal 103 games in 1966, the Cubs brought home consecutive winning records in '67 and '68 , marking

7000-870: The Cardinals played to a torrid 20–6 pace that month, designating their rivals to battle in the Wild Card race, from which they were eliminated in the season's final week. The Cubs were plagued by injuries in 2009, and were only able to field their Opening Day starting lineup three times the entire season. Third baseman Aramis Ramírez injured his throwing shoulder in an early May game against the Milwaukee Brewers, sidelining him until early July and forcing journeyman players like Mike Fontenot and Aaron Miles into more prominent roles. Additionally, key players like Derrek Lee (who still managed to hit .306 with 35 home runs and 111 RBI that season), Alfonso Soriano, and Geovany Soto also nursed nagging injuries. The Cubs posted

7125-634: The Cleveland Indians. Joe Carter (who was with the Triple-A Iowa Cubs at the time) and right fielder Mel Hall were sent to Cleveland for Sutcliffe and back-up catcher Ron Hassey (.333 with Cubs in 1984). Sutcliffe (5–5 with the Indians) immediately joined Sanderson (8–5 3.14), Eckersley (10–8 3.03), Steve Trout (13–7 3.41) and Dick Ruthven (6–10 5.04) in the starting rotation. Sutcliffe proceeded to go 16–1 for Cubs and capture

7250-404: The Cubs again. They led the Wild Card by 1.5 games over the San Francisco Giants and the Houston Astros on September 25. On that day, both teams lost, giving the Cubs a chance at increasing the lead to 2.5 games with only eight games remaining in the season, but reliever LaTroy Hawkins blew a save to the New York Mets , and the Cubs lost the game in extra innings. The defeat seemingly deflated

7375-403: The Cubs led the division down the stretch. Chicago halted the St. Louis Cardinals ' run to the playoffs by taking four of five games from the Cardinals at Wrigley Field in early September, after which they won their first division title in 14 years. They then went on to defeat the Atlanta Braves in a dramatic five-game Division Series , the franchise's first postseason series win since beating

7500-434: The Cubs left New York with a record of 84–58 just 1⁄2 game in front. More of the same followed in Philadelphia, as a 99 loss Phillies team nonetheless defeated the Cubs twice, to extend Chicago's losing streak to eight games. In a key play in the second game, on September 11, Cubs starter Dick Selma threw a surprise pickoff attempt to third baseman Ron Santo, who was nowhere near the bag or the ball. Selma's throwing error opened

7625-455: The Cubs would not win another World Series until 2016 ; this remains the longest championship drought in North American professional sports. The next season, veteran catcher Johnny Kling left the team to become a professional pocket billiards player. Some historians think Kling's absence was significant enough to prevent the Cubs from also winning a third straight title in 1909, as they finished 6 games out of first place. When Kling returned

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7750-410: The Cubs, and at the time of his death was regarded as one of the greatest players not in the Hall of Fame. He was posthumously elected to the Major League Baseball Hall of Fame in 2012. Tele-Communications Inc. Tele-Communications, Inc. ( TCI ) was a cable television provider in the United States, and for most of its history was controlled by Bob Magness and John Malone . The company

7875-443: The Gloamin' ". After the "Double-Bills" (Wrigley and Veeck) died in 1932 and 1933 respectively, P.K. Wrigley , son of Bill Wrigley, took over as majority owner. He was unable to extend his father's baseball success beyond 1938, and the Cubs slipped into years of mediocrity, although the Wrigley family would retain control of the team until 1981. The Cubs enjoyed one more pennant at the close of World War II, finishing 98–56. Due to

8000-468: The National League decided to give the home field advantage to the winner of the NL West. In fact, home-field advantage had rotated between the winners of the East and West since 1969 when the league expanded. In even-numbered years, the NL West had home-field advantage. In odd-numbered years, the NL East had home-field advantage. Since the NL East winners had had home-field advantage in 1983, the NL West winners were entitled to it. The confusion may stem from

8125-543: The Orleans Street facility formerly occupied by FSN Chicago, and acquired the rights to broadcast FSN's nationally distributed programs. The set formerly used by the Chicago Sports Report was purchased by NBC affiliate WREX-TV in Rockford for use as the station's main news set. The Orleans Street facility had since also become the homebase of the Chicago Sun-Times . Chicago Cubs The Chicago Cubs are an American professional baseball team based in Chicago . The Cubs compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as

8250-520: The Padres win the game 6–3, with a 4-run 7th inning and keep Chicago out of the 1984 World Series against the Detroit Tigers . The loss ended a spectacular season for the Cubs, one that brought alive a slumbering franchise and made the Cubs relevant for a whole new generation of Cubs fans. The Padres would be defeated in 5 games by Sparky Anderson's Tigers in the World Series. The 1985 season brought high hopes. The club started out well, going 35–19 through mid-June, but injuries to Sutcliffe and others in

8375-472: The United States. After a failed merger attempt with Bell Atlantic in 1994, it was purchased in 1999 by AT&T , whose cable television assets in select markets were later acquired by Charter Communications , Cox Communications , and then Cablevision and Comcast Corporation . After graduating from Southwestern Oklahoma State University , Bob Magness was a cotton seed salesman and cattle rancher . In 1956, he met two men who were stranded and needed

8500-435: The World Series. After being beaten in Game 3 7–1, the Cubs lost Game 4 when Smith, with the game tied 5–5, allowed a game-winning home run to Garvey in the bottom of the ninth inning. In Game 5 the Cubs took a 3–0 lead into the 6th inning, and a 3–2 lead into the seventh with Sutcliffe (who won the Cy Young Award that year) still on the mound. Then, Leon Durham had a sharp grounder go under his glove. This critical error helped

8625-428: The Year Runner-Up Dwight Smith. The Cubs won the NL East once again that season winning 93 games. This time the Cubs met the San Francisco Giants in the NLCS . After splitting the first two games at home, the Cubs headed to the Bay Area, where despite holding a lead at some point in each of the next three games, bullpen meltdowns and managerial blunders ultimately led to three straight losses. The Cubs could not overcome

8750-594: The baseball franchise, instead concentrating on putting together a deal to sell it. The Cubs successfully defended their National League Central title in 2008 , going to the postseason in consecutive years for the first time since 1906–08. The offseason was dominated by three months of unsuccessful trade talks with the Orioles involving 2B Brian Roberts , as well as the signing of Chunichi Dragons star Kosuke Fukudome . The team recorded their 10,000th win in April, while establishing an early division lead. Reed Johnson and Jim Edmonds were added early on and Rich Harden

8875-470: The bats went cold in October, as manager Jim Riggleman 's club batted .183 and scored only four runs en route to being swept by Atlanta in the National League Division Series . The home run chase between Sosa, McGwire and Ken Griffey Jr. helped professional baseball to bring in a new crop of fans as well as bringing back some fans who had been disillusioned by the 1994 strike . The Cubs retained many players who experienced career years in 1998, but, after

9000-590: The biggest stories of the season transpired as the club made a midseason deal for Fred McGriff , which was drawn out for nearly a month as McGriff debated waiving his no-trade clause . The Cubs led the wild card race by 2.5 games in early September, but crumbled when Preston Wilson hit a three-run walk-off homer off of closer Tom "Flash" Gordon , which halted the team's momentum. The team was unable to make another serious charge, and finished at 88–74, five games behind both Houston and St. Louis , who tied for first. Sosa had perhaps his finest season and Jon Lieber led

9125-459: The chagrin of the packed stadium, Cubs shortstop Alex Gonzalez misplayed an inning-ending double play, loading the bases. The error would lead to eight Florida runs and a Marlins victory. Despite sending Kerry Wood to the mound and holding a lead twice, the Cubs ultimately dropped Game 7, and failed to reach the World Series . The "Steve Bartman incident" was seen as the "first domino" in

9250-618: The channel relocated its production and office facilities to a new facility in the Apparel Center , at 350 North Orleans Street in the Near North Side area. The new joint venture formed between News Corporation, Cablevision and Liberty Media, National Sports Partners, began a gradual rebranding of the SportsChannel networks that Cablevision had previously controlled into owned-and-operated outlets of Fox Sports Net. As

9375-511: The club's history, the Cubs have played in a total of 11 World Series. The 1906 Cubs won 116 games, finishing 116–36 and posting a modern-era record winning percentage of .763, before losing the World Series to the Chicago White Sox ("The Hitless Wonders") by four games to two. The Cubs won back-to-back World Series championships in 1907 and 1908 , becoming the first major league team to play in three consecutive World Series, and

9500-594: The companies known as Community Television Inc. and Western Microwave Inc. The Magness family moved to Bozeman. Six systems were built, serving a total of 12,000 homes. In 1962, Magness purchased Collier Electric Company, which had subscribers in Wyoming , Colorado , and Nebraska , bringing the total number of subscribers to 18,000. Magness later moved to Scottsbluff, Nebraska . Over time, Magness acquired more systems but remained in Bozeman. By 1965, Daniels told him

9625-408: The companies needed to be located in a larger city. Salt Lake City and Denver, Colorado , were both considered. In 1968, the companies moved to Denver and became Tele-Communications Inc. Tele-Communications Inc. went public in 1970. At the time, it was the 10th largest cable company in the United States. By 1972, with 100,000 subscribers, Magness needed someone with more business knowledge to run

9750-498: The company around. This meant higher rates for customers as well as programmers. Malone even succeeded in getting Fox News Channel to pay $ 200 million for his companies to add the network. At the same time, cost cutting had to take place, and many of the cable customers were in rural areas with old equipment and limited offerings. Upgrading to fiber optic service, which could be used for Internet and telephone service, would be cost-effective only in urban areas. Satellite TV, while not

9875-419: The company's " Jimmy Olsen " because he just did whatever was needed, fresh from Harvard Business School . Barton went on to become president of TCI's Cable Value Network (later QVC ) in 1986, and in 1991, president of TCI spinoff Liberty Media . Barton had a playful side and even kept toys in his Liberty Media office, and a gorilla costume to represent his status as " second banana " to Malone. Yet he had

10000-565: The current team batting average record of .309. In 1935 the Cubs claimed the pennant in thrilling fashion, winning a record 21 games in a row in September. The '38 club saw Dizzy Dean lead the team's pitching staff and provided a historic moment when they won a crucial late-season game at Wrigley Field over the Pittsburgh Pirates with a walk-off home run by Gabby Hartnett, which became known in baseball lore as " The Homer in

10125-538: The deal was complete with TCI acquired 40-60% of Flextech while Flextech acquired 100% of Bravo, 25% of UK Gold , and 31% of UK Living and 25% of the Children's Channel which increased its share in that channel. In Spring of 1995 TCI purchased Mile-Hi Cablevision, the CATV provider for the city of Denver, Colorado and the city of Glendale, Colorado . Mile-Hi Cablevision had been in business since 1983. And prior to

10250-554: The efforts of Will Clark, whose home run off Maddux, just after a managerial visit to the mound, led Maddux to think Clark knew what pitch was coming. Afterward, Maddux would speak into his glove during any mound conversation, beginning what is a norm today. Mark Grace was 11–17 in the series with 8 RBI. Eventually, the Giants lost to the " Bash Brothers " and the Oakland A's in the famous " Earthquake Series ". The 1998 season began on

10375-501: The fact that Chicago was one of the last major U.S. cities where cable television was still not widely available, SportsVision initially operated as an over-the-air subscription service . They broadcast over WPWR each weeknight and weekend. Viewers were required to purchase a set-top converter and pay a monthly fee to view the telecasts, which included Bulls, White Sox, and Blackhawks games, as well as college sports events of local interest. Some sports telecasts were also simulcast on ONTV,

10500-481: The fact that Major League Baseball did decide that, should the Cubs make it to the World Series, the American League winner would have home-field advantage. At the time home field advantage was rotated between each league. Odd-numbered years the AL had home-field advantage. Even-numbered years the NL had home-field advantage. In the 1982 World Series the St. Louis Cardinals of the NL had home-field advantage. In

10625-406: The final 37 games of the year. Despite being well out of playoff contention the Cubs went 24–13 under Quade, the best record in baseball during that 37 game stretch, earning Quade the manager position going forward on October 19. On December 3, 2010, Cubs broadcaster and former third baseman, Ron Santo , died due to complications from bladder cancer and diabetes. He spent 13 seasons as a player with

10750-476: The first time a Cub team had accomplished that feat in over two decades. In 1969 the Cubs, managed by Leo Durocher , built a substantial lead in the newly created National League Eastern Division by mid-August. Ken Holtzman pitched a no-hitter on August 19, and the division lead grew to 8 1 ⁄ 2 games over the St. Louis Cardinals and by 9 1 ⁄ 2 games over the New York Mets . After

10875-499: The first to win it twice. Most recently, the Cubs won the 2016 National League Championship Series and 2016 World Series , which ended a 71-year National League pennant drought and a 108-year World Series championship drought, both of which are record droughts in Major League Baseball . The 108-year drought was also the longest such occurrence in all major sports leagues in the United States and Canada . Since

11000-435: The following year, but this was only good enough for third place. In the following two decades, the Cubs played mostly forgettable baseball, finishing among the worst teams in the National League on an almost annual basis. From 1947 to 1966, they only notched one winning season. Longtime infielder-manager Phil Cavarretta , who had been a key player during the 1945 season, was fired during spring training in 1954 after admitting

11125-644: The franchise has played the most games in MLB history, with an all-time regular season record of 11,327–10,767–161 (.513). The Cubs began in 1870 as the Chicago White Stockings , playing their home games at West Side Grounds . Six years later, they joined the National League (NL) as a charter member. In the runup to their NL debut, owner William Hulbert signed various star players, such as pitcher Albert Spalding and infielders Ross Barnes , Deacon White , and Adrian "Cap" Anson . The White Stockings quickly established themselves as one of

11250-441: The franchise. Green had managed the 1980 Phillies to the World Series title. One of his early GM moves brought in a young Phillies minor-league 3rd baseman named Ryne Sandberg, along with Larry Bowa for Iván DeJesús. The 1983 Cubs had finished 71–91 under Lee Elia, who was fired before the season ended by Green. Green continued the culture of change and overhauled the Cubs roster, front-office and coaching staff prior to 1984. Jim Frey

11375-468: The full-time starter behind the plate, replacing the veteran Kendall. Winning streaks in June and July, coupled with a pair of dramatic, late-inning wins against the Reds , led to the Cubs ultimately clinching the NL Central with a record of 85–77. They met Arizona in the NLDS , but controversy followed as Piniella, in a move that has since come under scrutiny, pulled Carlos Zambrano after the sixth inning of

11500-430: The game of September 2, the Cubs record was 84–52 with the Mets in second place at 77–55. But then a losing streak began just as a Mets winning streak was beginning. The Cubs lost the final game of a series at Cincinnati, then came home to play the resurgent Pittsburgh Pirates (who would finish in third place). After losing the first two games by scores of 9–2 and 13–4, the Cubs led going into the ninth inning. A win would be

11625-427: The game stated that he would have caught the ball. Alou at one point recanted, saying he would not have been able to make the play, but later said this was just an attempt to make Bartman feel better and believing the whole incident should be forgotten. Interference was not called on the play, as the ball was ruled to be on the spectator side of the wall. Castillo was eventually walked by Prior. Two batters later, and to

11750-557: The game to Smith or Stoddard. At the top of the order, Dernier and Sandberg were exciting, aptly coined "the Daily Double" by Harry Caray . With strong defense – Dernier CF and Sandberg 2B, won the NL Gold Glove - solid pitching and clutch hitting, the Cubs were a well-balanced team. Following the "Daily Double", Matthews, Durham, Cey, Moreland and Davis gave the Cubs an order with no gaps to pitch around. Sutcliffe anchored

11875-471: The game's first true superstar. In 1885 and 1886, after winning NL pennants, the White Stockings met the champions of the short-lived American Association in that era's version of a World Series. Both seasons resulted in matchups with the St. Louis Brown Stockings ; the clubs tied in 1885 and St. Louis won in 1886. This was the genesis of what would eventually become one of the greatest rivalries in sports. In all,

12000-510: The games as an over-the-air premium service, since many parts of Chicago still were not wired for cable television service. SportsVision also formed a partnership with the Blackhawks , Bulls and Sting to bring their games to the new network as well. The move of the White Sox games from SportsChannel led to Cablevision filing a breach of contract lawsuit. SportsChannel Chicago would disappear from channel lineups, but not permanently. Due to

12125-405: The gates to a Phillies rally. After that second Philly loss, the Cubs were 84–60 and the Mets had pulled ahead at 85–57. The Mets would not look back. The Cubs' eight-game losing streak finally ended the next day in St. Louis, but the Mets were in the midst of a ten-game winning streak, and the Cubs, wilting from team fatigue, generally deteriorated in all phases of the game.[1] The Mets (who had lost

12250-672: The idea of improving the nation's infrastructure , and the business community took his statement to mean administration approval of the merger. The $ 33 billion deal, based on a $ 54 per share price for Bell Atlantic stock, would have been the largest in American telecommunications history, the resulting company serving one in four cable TV customers. But it fell apart for many reasons, including declining stock prices for both companies. Malone, who would have made over $ 1 billion, wanted more shares of Bell Atlantic when its price dropped below $ 54, which Ray Smith refused to do because it would lessen

12375-470: The joint venture company became Telewest Communications . By June, the deal was approved. A week later on June 8 the deal was finalized with TCI acquiring the remaining 46% of United Artists, to allow full control. During the autumn of 1993 talks were also held with Flextech (a British television programming provider). Under the original terms of the proposed deal, Flextech would acquire TCI's European programming business in exchange for shares. By January

12500-567: The long distance, wireless and dial-up Internet service of AT&T with the cable, high-speed Internet and telecommunications services of TCI. For the first time, AT&T would be able to offer local telephone service. To do this, the company could have bought a Baby bell such as SBC Communications (which purchased AT&T in 2005 and took the AT&;T name), but this would have meant regulatory problems. Liberty Media stockholders would receive separate tracking stock . Federal regulators and

12625-943: The merger, TCI served only the suburbs around the city & county of Denver. In Spring 1993, Bell Atlantic began looking at merger partners, including cable companies. TCI and Liberty Media would be acquired for $ 11.8 billion in stock and assumption of $ 9.8 billion in debt. And $ 5 billion in Liberty properties could likely be added to the deal. Numerous regulatory concerns made the deal tricky; regional telephone companies could not offer long distance service or transmit satellite television services such as Discovery Channel . TCI would also have to sell operations in Bell Atlantic territory. As for antitrust concerns, Bell Atlantic argued that competing telephone services could be offered where TCI had cable systems, and video services could compete with TCI. Vice President Al Gore supported

12750-516: The networks' de-emphasis of the "Fox Sports Net" brand. In December 2003, Reinsdorf, Bill Wirtz and the Tribune Company —the owners of the Bulls, White Sox, Blackhawks and Cubs respectively—decided to end their cable television agreement with FSN Chicago. This stripped the network of broadcast rights to all of the professional sports teams in the Chicago area. All three decided to enter into

12875-512: The new league's top teams. Spalding won forty-seven games and Barnes led the league in hitting at .429 as Chicago won the first National League pennant , which at the time was the game's top prize. After back-to-back pennants in 1880 and 1881, Hulbert died, and Spalding, who had retired from playing to start Spalding sporting goods, assumed ownership of the club. The White Stockings, with Anson acting as player-manager, captured their third consecutive pennant in 1882, and Anson established himself as

13000-489: The next year, the Cubs won the pennant again, but lost to the Philadelphia Athletics in the 1910 World Series . In 1914, advertising executive Albert Lasker obtained a large block of the club's shares and before the 1916 season assumed majority ownership of the franchise. Lasker brought in a wealthy partner, Charles Weeghman , the proprietor of a popular chain of lunch counters who had previously owned

13125-413: The operation. He decided on John Malone, president of Jerrold Electronics , a division of General Instrument . Malone took on the bankers who wanted to call in their loans, and effectively saved the company from bankruptcy . Magness made Malone CEO but remained as chairman. By 1982 Malone had made TCI the largest cable company in the United States. In 1982, Malone hired Peter Barton, who called himself

13250-547: The other SportsChannel networks) and NBC became a new partner gaining 50% ownership of the network. On March 1, 1989, the channel relaunched as SportsChannel Chicago , returning the name after over seven years. The network began broadcasting 24 hours a day in 1991. Also that year, Tele-Communications Inc. (TCI) purchased a 25% share in SportsChannel Chicago, with the remaining 75% split evenly between Cablevision and NBC. As part of this transaction, TCI also signed

13375-495: The other hand, digital service had its disadvantages. Customers who did not even want a box would still lose channels so that digital channels could be added. And General Instrument only reluctantly agreed to allow multiple suppliers to bring TCI's costs down. In 1997 TCI sold ten of its cable systems in NJ and NY to Cablevision . TCI improved its fortunes, hiring Leo Hindery as president and making Malone chairman and CEO. Still, it

13500-559: The pitching staff contributed to a 13-game losing streak that pushed the Cubs out of contention. In 1989, the first full season with night baseball at Wrigley Field, Don Zimmer 's Cubs were led by a core group of veterans in Ryne Sandberg , Rick Sutcliffe and Andre Dawson , who were boosted by a crop of youngsters such as Mark Grace , Shawon Dunston , Greg Maddux , Rookie of the Year Jerome Walton , and Rookie of

13625-495: The roster to boast what would soon be one of the best teams of the early century, sold the club to Jim Hart . Referencing the youth of the team's roster, the Chicago Daily News called the franchise the Cubs in 1902; it officially took the name five years later. During this period, which has become known as baseball's dead-ball era , Cub infielders Joe Tinker , Johnny Evers , and Frank Chance were made famous as

13750-577: The staff with a 20-win season. The Cubs had high expectations in 2002, but the squad played poorly. On July 5, 2002, the Cubs promoted assistant general manager and player personnel director Jim Hendry to the General Manager position. The club responded by hiring Dusty Baker and by making some major moves in 2003. Most notably, they traded with the Pittsburgh Pirates for outfielder Kenny Lofton and third baseman Aramis Ramírez , and rode dominant pitching, led by Kerry Wood and Mark Prior , as

13875-606: The start of divisional play in 1969, the Cubs have appeared in the postseason 11 times through the 2024 season. The Cubs are known as "the North Siders", a reference to the location of Wrigley Field within the city of Chicago, and in contrast to the White Sox, whose home field ( Guaranteed Rate Field ) is located on the South Side. The Cubs won the Laureus World Team of the Year in 2017. Through 2024,

14000-496: The team declined during the 1970s, and they became known as "the Loveable Losers", which would become a long-standing moniker for the club. In 1977 , the team found some life, but ultimately experienced one of its biggest collapses. The Cubs hit a high-water mark on June 28 at 47–22, boasting an 8 + 1 ⁄ 2 game NL East lead, as they were led by Bobby Murcer (27 HR/89 RBI), and Rick Reuschel (20–10). However,

14125-474: The team was unlikely to finish above fifth place. Although shortstop Ernie Banks would become one of the star players in the league during the next decade, finding help for him proved a difficult task, as quality players such as Hank Sauer were few and far between. This, combined with poor ownership decisions such as the College of Coaches , and the ill-fated trade of future Hall of Fame member Lou Brock to

14250-485: The team, as they proceeded to drop six of their last eight games as the Astros won the Wild Card. Despite the fact that the Cubs had won 89 games, this fallout was decidedly unlovable, as the Cubs traded superstar Sammy Sosa after he had left the season's final game after the first pitch, which resulted in a fine (Sosa later stated that he had gotten permission from Baker to leave early, but he regretted doing so). Already

14375-430: The turning point of the era, and the Cubs did not win a playoff game for the next eleven seasons. In 2004 , the Cubs were a consensus pick by most media outlets to win the World Series. The offseason acquisition of Derek Lee (who was acquired in a trade with Florida for Hee-seop Choi ) and the return of Greg Maddux only bolstered these expectations. Despite a mid-season deal for Nomar Garciaparra , misfortune struck

14500-464: The two companies' shareholders approved the merger February 17, 1999. By that time, the value of the stock portion of the deal had increased to $ 43.5 billion. The Federal Communications Commission did not require TCI to give other companies access to its cable lines, despite requests by America Online and others. TCI had made its cable lines capable of providing Internet access, and AT&T wanted those same lines to provide local phone service, which it

14625-401: The value of existing shares. The two companies also had different cultures. Bell Atlantic paid dividends and was used to being regulated, while TCI tended to invest in the business rather than pay dividends. And thus ended a $ 20 billion project to expand the information superhighway , though other mergers promised to put the project back on track, with a more local emphasis rather than attempting

14750-467: The wartime travel restrictions, the first three games of the 1945 World Series were played in Detroit , where the Cubs won two games, including a one-hitter by Claude Passeau , and the final four were played at Wrigley. The Cubs lost the series, and did not return until the 2016 World Series . After losing the 1945 World Series to the Detroit Tigers , the Cubs finished with a respectable 82–71 record in

14875-679: Was acquired from the Oakland Athletics in early July. The Cubs headed into the All-Star break with the NL's best record, and tied the league record with eight representatives to the All-Star game , including catcher Geovany Soto, who was named Rookie of the Year . The Cubs took control of the division by sweeping a four-game series in Milwaukee. On September 14, in a game moved to Miller Park due to Hurricane Ike , Zambrano pitched

15000-483: Was first launched in 1981 when Cablevision obtained rights to 81 Chicago White Sox homes games for the 1981 season. Shortly after another deal was made to carry sporting events from Notre Dame both on SportsChannel Chicago and New York . The agreement with Cablevision was supposed to be a two-year deal. However, the White Sox's new owners Jerry Reinsdorf and Eddie Einhorn launched a new cable service named SportsVision which also contracted with ONTV to provide

15125-519: Was hired to manage the 1984 Cubs, with Don Zimmer coaching 3rd base and Billy Connors serving as pitching coach. Green shored up the 1984 roster with a series of transactions. In December 1983 Scott Sanderson was acquired from Montreal in a three-team deal with San Diego for Carmelo Martínez . Pinch hitter Richie Hebner (.333 BA in 1984) was signed as a free-agent. In spring training, moves continued: LF Gary Matthews and CF Bobby Dernier came from Philadelphia on March 26, for Bill Campbell and

15250-474: Was once a linebacker at the University of Texas. It was the second game of a doubleheader and the Cubs had won the first game in part due to a three-run home run by Moreland. After the bench-clearing fight, the Cubs won the second game, and the sweep put the Cubs at 68–45. In 1984, each league had two divisions, East and West. The divisional winners met in a best-of-5 series to advance to the World Series, in

15375-419: Was pulled from a game against the White Sox on June 25 after a tirade and shoving match with Derrek Lee, and was suspended indefinitely by Jim Hendry, who called the conduct "unacceptable". On August 22, Lou Piniella, who had already announced his retirement at the end of the season, announced that he would leave the Cubs prematurely to take care of his sick mother. Mike Quade took over as the interim manager for

15500-496: Was regarded as a company likely to be taken over. TCI was acquired by AT&T in 1999 and in 2002, Comcast acquired the rest of TCI's cable television systems. In 1997 TCI merged with the Kearns-Tribune Corp., publisher of The Salt Lake Tribune , Utah's largest newspaper. Kearns-Tribune Corp. was a large holder of TCI stock. On June 24, 1998, AT&T, the nation's largest provider of telephone service, announced

15625-467: Was started in 1958 in Bozeman, Montana as Western Microwave, Inc. and Community Television, Inc. , two firms with common ownership. The companies merged in 1968 and operations moved to Denver , taking the name Tele-Communications Inc. It was the largest cable operator in the United States at one time. After going public in 1970, the company grew rapidly, and became the top cable provider in

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