1976 Chicago Cubs season

1976  Chicago Cubs
League	National League
Division	East
Ballpark	Wrigley Field
City	Chicago
Record	75–87 (.463)
Divisional place	4th
Owners	Philip K. Wrigley
General managers	Salty Saltwell
Managers	Jim Marshall
Television	WGN-TV (Jack Brickhouse, Jim West)
Radio	WGN (Vince Lloyd, Lou Boudreau)
Stats	ESPN.com Baseball Reference
←  1975 Seasons 1977  →

The 1976 Chicago Cubs season was the 105th season of the Chicago Cubs franchise, the 101st in the National League and the 61st at Wrigley Field. The Cubs finished fourth in the National League East with a record of 75–87.

Offseason

• October 28, 1975: Don Kessinger was traded by the Cubs to the St. Louis Cardinals for Mike Garman and a player to be named later. The Cardinals completed the deal by sending Bobby Hrapmann (minors) to the Cubs on April 5, 1976. ^[1]
• December 22, 1975, Vic Harris was traded by the Cubs to the St. Louis Cardinals for Mick Kelleher. ^[2]

Regular season

• April 17, 1976: Mike Schmidt of the Philadelphia Phillies hit four consecutive home runs in one game against the Cubs. ^[3] In the game, the Phillies and Cubs combined for thirty-four runs in a game which featured nine home runs. ^[4] The Cubs had blown a 13–2 lead at Wrigley, losing to the Phillies 18–16 when Schmidt hit his fourth home run in the 10th inning. ^[5]
• April 25, 1976: In the fourth inning of a game against the Los Angeles Dodgers at Dodger Stadium, Cubs outfielder Rick Monday noticed two protesters kneeling on the grass in left-center field, with the apparent intention of burning an American flag. He grabbed the flag and brought it to the bullpen. The crowd at Dodger fans started singing "God Bless America" while the fans were escorted out of the stadium. ^[6] Monday was later presented with the flag in a ceremony at Wrigley Field by Dodgers executive Al Campanis. In the 2000s, the Baseball Hall of Fame recently named Monday's act as one of the 100 Classic Moments in the history of the game. ^[7]

Season standings

• v
• t
• e

NL East

Team	W	L	Pct.	GB	Home	Road
Philadelphia Phillies	101	61	.623	—	53‍–‍28	48‍–‍33
Pittsburgh Pirates	92	70	.568	9	47‍–‍34	45‍–‍36
New York Mets	86	76	.531	15	45‍–‍37	41‍–‍39
Chicago Cubs	75	87	.463	26	42‍–‍39	33‍–‍48
St. Louis Cardinals	72	90	.444	29	37‍–‍44	35‍–‍46
Montreal Expos	55	107	.340	46	27‍–‍53	28‍–‍54

Record vs. opponents

1976 National League record v t e Sources:
Team	ATL	CHC	CIN	HOU	LAD	MON	NYM	PHI	PIT	SD	SF	STL
Atlanta	—	6–6	6–12	7–11	8–10	8–4	4–8	5–7	3–9	10–8	9–9	4–8
Chicago	6–6	—	3–9	5–7	3–9	11–7	5–13	8–10	8–10	6–6	8–4	12–6
Cincinnati	12–6	9–3	—	12–6	13–5	9–3	6–6	5–7	8–4	13–5	9–9	6–6
Houston	11–7	7–5	6–12	—	5–13	10–2	6–6	4–8	2–10	10–8	10–8	9–3
Los Angeles	10–8	9–3	5–13	13–5	—	10–2	7–5	5–7	9–3	6–12	8–10	10–2
Montreal	4–8	7–11	3–9	2–10	2–10	—	8–10	3–15	8–10	4–8	7–5	7–11
New York	8–4	13–5	6–6	6–6	5–7	10–8	—	5–13	10–8	7–5	7–5	9–9
Philadelphia	7-5	10–8	7–5	8–4	7–5	15–3	13–5	—	8–10	8–4	6–6	12–6
Pittsburgh	9–3	10–8	4–8	10–2	3–9	10–8	8–10	10–8	—	7–5	9–3	12–6
San Diego	8–10	6–6	5–13	8–10	12–6	8–4	5–7	4–8	5–7	—	8–10	4–8
San Francisco	9–9	4–8	9–9	8–10	10–8	5–7	5–7	6–6	3–9	10–8	—	5–7
St. Louis	8–4	6–12	6–6	3–9	2–10	11–7	9–9	6–12	6–12	8–4	7–5	—

Notable transactions

• April 19, 1976: Tim Hosley was selected off waivers from the Cubs by the Oakland Athletics. ^[8]
• April 22, 1976: Tom Dettore was released by the Cubs. ^[9]
• May 17, 1976: Andre Thornton was traded by the Cubs to the Montreal Expos for Steve Renko and Larry Biittner. ^[10]
• June 8, 1976: Joe Coleman was purchased by the Cubs from the Detroit Tigers. ^[11]
• June 8, 1976: Keith Drumright was drafted by the Cubs in the 4th round of the 1976 Major League Baseball draft. ^[12]
• September 8, 1976: Ramón Hernández was purchased by the Cubs from the Pittsburgh Pirates. ^[13]

Roster

1976 Chicago Cubs
Roster
Pitchers 33 Bill Bonham 34 Ray Burris 31 Joe Coleman 39 Ken Crosby 31 Tom Dettore 47 Ken Frailing 44 Mike Garman 36 Ramón Hernández 32 Darold Knowles 40 Mike Krukow 50 Steve Renko 43 Paul Reuschel 48 Rick Reuschel 35 Buddy Schultz 30 Steve Stone 42 Bruce Sutter 38 Geoff Zahn 45 Oscar Zamora		Catchers  6 Tim Hosley 15 George Mitterwald  8 Ed Putman  9 Steve Swisher Infielders 26 Larry Biittner 20 Mick Kelleher 23 Pete LaCock 18 Bill Madlock 17 Dave Rosello 16 Rob Sperring 12 Jerry Tabb 12 Andre Thornton 19 Manny Trillo		Outfielders 21 Mike Adams  1 José Cardenal  7 Rick Monday 24 Jerry Morales 27 Champ Summers 22 Wayne Tyrone 28 Joe Wallis Other batters  6 Tim Hosley		Manager 25 Jim Marshall Coaches  3 Jack Bloomfield  4 Harry Dunlop 46 Marv Grissom  2 Jim Saul

Player stats

Batting

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	Steve Swisher	109	377	89	.236	5	42
1B	Pete LaCock	106	244	54	.221	8	28
2B	Manny Trillo	158	582	139	.239	4	59
SS	Mick Kelleher	124	337	77	.228	0	22
3B	Bill Madlock	142	514	174	.339	15	84
LF	José Cardenal	136	521	156	.299	8	47
CF	Rick Monday	137	534	145	.272	32	77
RF	Jerry Morales	140	537	147	.274	16	67

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
Joe Wallis	121	338	86	.254	5	21
George Mitterwald	101	303	65	.215	5	28
Dave Rosello	91	227	55	.242	1	11
Larry Biittner	78	192	47	.245	0	17
Champ Summers	83	126	26	.206	3	13
Rob Sperring	43	93	24	.258	0	7
Andre Thornton	27	85	17	.200	2	14
Wayne Tyrone	30	57	13	.228	1	8
Mike Adams	25	29	4	.138	0	2
Jerry Tabb	11	24	7	.292	0	0
Randy Hundley	13	18	3	.167	0	1
Ed Putman	5	7	3	.429	0	0
Tim Hosley	1	1	0	.000	0	0

Pitching

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
Rick Reuschel	38	260.0	14	12	3.46	146
Ray Burris	37	249.0	15	13	3.11	112
Bill Bonham	32	196.0	9	13	4.27	110
Steve Renko	28	163.1	8	11	3.86	112
Steve Stone	17	75.0	3	6	4.08	33

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
Ken Frailing	6	18.2	1	2	2.41	10
Ken Crosby	7	12.0	0	0	12.00	5
Geoff Zahn	3	8.1	0	1	10.80	4

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
Bruce Sutter	52	6	3	10	2.70	73
Darold Knowles	58	5	7	9	2.89	39
Paul Reuschel	50	4	2	3	4.55	55
Mike Garman	47	2	4	1	4.95	37
Oscar Zamora	40	5	3	3	5.24	27
Joe Coleman	39	2	8	4	4.10	66
Buddy Schultz	29	1	1	2	6.08	15
Tom Dettore	4	0	1	0	10.29	4
Mike Krukow	2	0	0	0	8.31	1
Ramón Hernández	2	0	0	0	0.00	1

Farm system

See also: Minor League Baseball

Level	Team	League	Manager
AAA	Wichita Aeros	American Association	Doc Edwards
AA	Midland Cubs	Texas League	Dennis Sommers
A	Pompano Beach Cubs	Florida State League	Jack Hiatt
Rookie	GCL Cubs	Gulf Coast League	Walt Dixon

Notes

1. Don Kessinger at Baseball-Reference
2. Vic Harris at Baseball-Reference
3. Retrosheet box score: Phillies vs. Cubs 04/17/76
4. Baseball Almanac box score: Phillies vs. Cubs 04/17/76
5. "The Cubs: 99 years of misery - ESPN Page 2".
6. The Cubs, by Glenn Stout, Richard A. Johnson, Dick Johnson, p.302, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishers, 2007, ISBN   978-0-618-59500-6
7. Resnick, Joe (April 22, 2006). "Rick Monday Saved the Flag 30 Years Ago". The Washington Post. Retrieved April 20, 2010.
8. Tim Hosley at Baseball-Reference
9. Tom Dettore at Baseball-Reference
10. Andre Thornton at Baseball-Reference
11. Joe Coleman at Baseball-Reference
12. Keith Drumright at Baseball-Reference
13. Ramón Hernández at Baseball-Reference

References

• Johnson, Lloyd; Wolff, Miles, eds. (1997). The Encyclopedia of Minor League Baseball (2nd ed.). Durham, North Carolina: Baseball America. ISBN   978-0-9637189-8-3.
• 1976 Chicago Cubs season at Baseball Reference