1931 Chicago Cubs season
The 1931 Chicago Cubs season was the 60th season of the Chicago Cubs franchise, the 56th in the National League and the 16th at Wrigley Field. The Cubs finished third in the National League with a record of 84–70, 17 games behind the St. Louis Cardinals.
| 1931 Chicago Cubs | |
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| Major League affiliations | |
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| Location | |
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| Other information | |
| Owners | William Wrigley Jr. |
| Managers | Rogers Hornsby |
| Local television | none |
| Local radio | WCFL (Johnny O'Hara) WGN (Bob Elson) WBBM (Pat Flanagan) WMAQ (Hal Totten) WLS WJJD WENR |
| < Previous season Next season > | |
Offseason
- October 14, 1930: Bill McAfee and Wes Schulmerich were traded by the Cubs to the Boston Braves for Bob Smith and Jimmy Welsh.[1]
Regular season
1931 was one of player-manager Rogers Hornsby's last productive seasons. He managed to drive in 90 runs and collect 37 doubles in only 100 games, while recording a batting average of .331. He led the league in on-base percentage (.421) for the ninth and last time in his career.
Season standings
| National League | W | L | Pct. | GB | Home | Road |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| St. Louis Cardinals | 101 | 53 | 0.656 | — | 54–24 | 47–29 |
| New York Giants | 87 | 65 | 0.572 | 13 | 50–27 | 37–38 |
| Chicago Cubs | 84 | 70 | 0.545 | 17 | 50–27 | 34–43 |
| Brooklyn Robins | 79 | 73 | 0.520 | 21 | 46–29 | 33–44 |
| Pittsburgh Pirates | 75 | 79 | 0.487 | 26 | 44–33 | 31–46 |
| Philadelphia Phillies | 66 | 88 | 0.429 | 35 | 40–36 | 26–52 |
| Boston Braves | 64 | 90 | 0.416 | 37 | 36–41 | 28–49 |
| Cincinnati Reds | 58 | 96 | 0.377 | 43 | 38–39 | 20–57 |
Record vs. opponents
Sources: | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Team | BOS | BR | CHC | CIN | NYG | PHI | PIT | STL | |||||
| Boston | — | 11–11–1 | 8–14–1 | 8–14 | 6–16 | 11–11 | 11–11 | 9–13 | |||||
| Brooklyn | 11–11–1 | — | 14–8 | 10–12 | 10–10 | 13–9 | 11–11 | 10–12 | |||||
| Chicago | 14–8–1 | 8–14 | — | 14–8 | 12–10 | 14–8 | 14–8–1 | 8–14 | |||||
| Cincinnati | 14–8 | 12–10 | 8–14 | — | 7–15 | 9–13 | 6–16 | 2–20 | |||||
| New York | 16–6 | 10–10 | 10–12 | 15–7 | — | 14–8–1 | 12–10 | 10–12 | |||||
| Philadelphia | 11–11 | 9–13 | 8–14 | 13–9 | 8–14–1 | — | 13–9 | 4–18 | |||||
| Pittsburgh | 11–11 | 11–11 | 8–14–1 | 16–6 | 10–12 | 9–13 | — | 10–12 | |||||
| St. Louis | 13–9 | 12–10 | 14–8 | 20–2 | 12–10 | 18–4 | 12–10 | — | |||||
Notable transactions
- June 13, 1931: Earl Grace was traded by the Cubs to the Pittsburgh Pirates for Rollie Hemsley.[2]
Roster
| 1931 Chicago Cubs | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Roster | |||||||||
| Pitchers | Catchers
Infielders |
Outfielders | Manager
Coaches | ||||||
Player stats
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 | Gabby Hartnett | 116 | 380 | 107 | .282 | 8 | 70 |
| 1B | Charlie Grimm | 146 | 531 | 176 | .331 | 4 | 66 |
| 2B | Rogers Hornsby | 100 | 357 | 118 | .331 | 16 | 90 |
| SS | Woody English | 156 | 634 | 202 | .319 | 2 | 53 |
| 3B | Les Bell | 75 | 252 | 71 | .282 | 4 | 32 |
| OF | Danny Taylor | 88 | 270 | 81 | .300 | 5 | 41 |
| OF | Kiki Cuyler | 154 | 613 | 202 | .330 | 9 | 88 |
| OF | Hack Wilson | 112 | 395 | 103 | .261 | 13 | 61 |
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bill Jurges | 88 | 293 | 59 | .201 | 0 | 23 |
| Riggs Stephenson | 80 | 263 | 84 | .319 | 1 | 52 |
| Footsie Blair | 86 | 240 | 62 | .258 | 3 | 29 |
| Vince Barton | 66 | 239 | 57 | .238 | 13 | 50 |
| Rollie Hemsley | 66 | 204 | 63 | .309 | 3 | 31 |
| Johnny Moore | 39 | 104 | 25 | .240 | 2 | 16 |
| Billy Herman | 25 | 98 | 32 | .327 | 0 | 16 |
| Jimmy Adair | 18 | 76 | 21 | .276 | 0 | 3 |
| Mike Kreevich | 5 | 12 | 2 | .167 | 0 | 0 |
| Earl Grace | 7 | 9 | 1 | .111 | 0 | 1 |
| Zack Taylor | 8 | 4 | 1 | .250 | 0 | 0 |
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Charlie Root | 39 | 251.0 | 17 | 14 | 3.48 | 131 |
| Bob Smith | 36 | 240.1 | 15 | 12 | 3.22 | 63 |
| Pat Malone | 36 | 228.1 | 16 | 9 | 3.90 | 112 |
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Guy Bush | 39 | 180.1 | 16 | 8 | 4.49 | 54 |
| Les Sweetland | 26 | 130.1 | 8 | 7 | 5.04 | 32 |
| Ed Baecht | 22 | 67.0 | 2 | 4 | 3.76 | 34 |
| Lon Warneke | 20 | 64.1 | 2 | 4 | 3.22 | 27 |
| Sheriff Blake | 16 | 50.0 | 0 | 4 | 5.22 | 29 |
| Johnny Welch | 8 | 33.2 | 2 | 1 | 3.74 | 7 |
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jakie May | 31 | 5 | 5 | 2 | 3.87 | 38 |
| Bud Teachout | 27 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 5.72 | 14 |
Farm system
| Level | Team | League | Manager |
|---|---|---|---|
| AA | Los Angeles Angels | Pacific Coast League | Jack Lelivelt |
| D | Bisbee Bees | Arizona–Texas League | Roy Johnson |
References
- Bob Smith page at Baseball Reference
- Earl Grace page at Baseball Reference
- Johnson, Lloyd, and Wolff, Miles, ed., The Encyclopedia of Minor League Baseball, 3rd edition. Durham, North Carolina: Baseball America, 2007