1988 Chicago Cubs season

The 1988 Chicago Cubs season was the 117th season of the Chicago Cubs franchise, the 113th in the National League and the 73rd at Wrigley Field. The Cubs finished fourth in the National League East with a record of 77–85, 24 games behind the New York Mets.

1988 Chicago Cubs
Major League affiliations
National League (since 1876) Eastern Division (since 1969)
Location
Wrigley Field (since 1916) Chicago (since 1870)
Other information
Owner(s)	Tribune Company
General manager(s)	Jim Frey
Manager(s)	Don Zimmer
Local television	WGN-TV/Superstation WGN (Harry Caray, Steve Stone, Dewayne Staats)
Local radio	WGN (Dewayne Staats, Dave Nelson, Harry Caray)
Stats	ESPN.com BB-reference
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The first game under lights at Wrigley Field was on August 8 (8/8/88), against the Philadelphia Phillies. With the Cubs leading 3–1, in the middle of the 4th inning, a powerful thunderstorm rolled in. The game was suspended, and finally called at 10:25PM. Since the rules of Major League Baseball state that a game is not official unless 5 innings are completed,^[1] the first official night game in the history of Wrigley Field was played on August 9, when the Cubs defeated the New York Mets 6 to 4.

Offseason

 

A ticket from the game where Cubs' reliever Goose Gossage earned his 300th career save on August 6, 1988.

• October 23, 1987: Dickie Noles was returned to the Chicago Cubs by the Detroit Tigers as part of earlier loan.^[2]
• December 8, 1987: Lee Smith was traded by the Chicago Cubs to the Boston Red Sox for Al Nipper and Calvin Schiraldi.^[3]
• December 14, 1987: Vance Law was signed as a free agent with the Chicago Cubs.^[4]
• February 12, 1988: Goose Gossage was traded by the San Diego Padres with Ray Hayward to the Chicago Cubs for Keith Moreland and Mike Brumley.^[5]
• March 31, 1988: Mike Bielecki was traded by the Pittsburgh Pirates to the Chicago Cubs for Mike Curtis (minors).^[6]

Regular season

 

President Ronald Reagan throwing out the first pitch for the first 1988 Chicago Cubs game

President of the United States Ronald Reagan threw out the ceremonial first pitch on Opening Day at Wrigley Field.

After 5,687 consecutive day games played by the Cubs at Wrigley, the lights were finally lit on August 8, 1988, when 91-year-old fan Harry Grossman gave a countdown and pressed a button, for a game with the Philadelphia Phillies. The game began before an announced crowd of 39,008. The Cubs were leading 3 to 1 and coming to bat in the bottom of the fourth when the rain delay began. The umpires called the game after waiting two hours, ten minutes.^[7][8] The Cubs played the first official night game the following night against the Mets and won, 6–4.^[8]

Season standings

v t e NL East	W	L	Pct.	GB	Home	Road
New York Mets	100	60	0.625	—	56–24	44–36
Pittsburgh Pirates	85	75	0.531	15	43–38	42–37
Montreal Expos	81	81	0.500	20	43–38	38–43
Chicago Cubs	77	85	0.475	24	39–42	38–43
St. Louis Cardinals	76	86	0.469	25	41–40	35–46
Philadelphia Phillies	65	96	0.404	35½	38–42	27–54

Record vs. opponents

1988 National League Records v t e Sources: [1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] [7] [8] [9] [10] [11] [12]
Team	ATL	CHC	CIN	HOU	LAD	MON	NYM	PHI	PIT	SD	SF	STL
Atlanta	—	5–7	5–13	5–13	4–14	4–8	4–8	6–6	5–5	8–10	5–13	3–9
Chicago	7–5	—	6–6	7–5	4–8–1	9–9	9–9	8–10	7–11	8–4	5–7	7–11
Cincinnati	13–5	6–6	—	9–9	7–11	5–7	4–7	9–3	7–5	10–8	11–7	6–6
Houston	13–5	5–7	9–9	—	9–9	6–6	5–7	8–4	8–4	6–12	7–11	6–6
Los Angeles	14–4	8–4–1	11–7	9–9	—	8–4	1–10	11–1	6–6	7–11	12–6	7–5
Montreal	8–4	9–9	7–5	6–6	4–8	—	6–12	9–9–1	8–10	4–8	7–5	13–5
New York	8–4	9–9	7–4	7–5	10–1	12–6	—	10–8	12–6	7–5	4–8	14–4
Philadelphia	6-6	10–8	3–9	4–8	1–11	9–9–1	8–10	—	7–11	4–7	7–5	6–12
Pittsburgh	5–5	11–7	5–7	4–8	6–6	10–8	6–12	11–7	—	8–4	8–4	11–7
San Diego	10–8	4–8	8–10	12–6	11–7	8–4	5–7	7–4	4–8	—	8–10	6–6
San Francisco	13–5	7–5	7–11	11–7	6–12	5–7	8–4	5–7	4–8	10–8	—	7–5
St. Louis	9–3	11–7	6–6	6–6	5–7	5–13	4–14	12–6	7–11	6–6	5–7	—

Notable transactions

• July 15, 1988: Jim Sundberg was released by the Chicago Cubs.^[9]

Roster

 

Reds vs. Cubs at Wrigley Field, September 2, 1988

1988 Chicago Cubs
Roster
Pitchers 36 Mike Bielecki 51 Kevin Blankenship 38 Mike Capel 33 Frank DiPino 54 Goose Gossage 44 Drew Hall 48 Mike Harkey 50 Les Lancaster 47 Bill Landrum 31 Greg Maddux 49 Jamie Moyer 45 Al Nipper 37 Pat Perry 39 Jeff Pico 21 Scott Sanderson 32 Calvin Schiraldi 40 Rick Sutcliffe 42 Bob Tewksbury		Catchers  9 Damon Berryhill  7 Jody Davis 11 Jim Sundberg  1 Rick Wrona Infielders 12 Shawon Dunston 10 Leon Durham 17,28 Mark Grace  2 Vance Law 20 Dave Meier 18 Argenis Salazar 23 Ryne Sandberg 19 Manny Trillo		Outfielders 29 Doug Dascenzo  8 Andre Dawson 30 Darrin Jackson  1 Dave Martinez 22 Jerry Mumphrey 25 Rafael Palmeiro 27 Rolando Roomes 24 Gary Varsho 28 Mitch Webster		Manager  4 Don Zimmer Coaches  6 Joe Altobelli  5 Chuck Cottier 35 Larry Cox  3 José Martínez 34 Dick Pole

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	Damon Berryhill	98	309	80	.259	7	38
1B	Mark Grace	134	486	144	.296	7	57
2B	Ryne Sandberg	155	618	163	.264	19	69
SS	Shawon Dunston	155	575	143	.249	9	56
3B	Vance Law	151	556	163	.293	11	78
LF	Rafael Palmeiro	152	580	178	.307	8	53
CF	Dave Martinez	75	256	65	.254	4	34
RF	Andre Dawson	157	591	179	.303	24	79

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
Mitch Webster	70	264	70	.265	4	26
Jody Davis	88	249	57	.229	6	33
Darrin Jackson	100	188	50	.266	6	20
Manny Trillo	76	164	41	.250	1	14
Doug Dascenzo	26	75	16	.213	0	4
Leon Durham	24	73	16	.219	3	6
Gary Varsho	46	73	20	.274	0	5
Jerry Mumphrey	63	66	9	.136	0	9
Ángel Salazar	34	60	15	.250	0	1
Jim Sundberg	24	54	13	.241	2	9
Rolando Roomes	17	16	3	.188	0	0
Rick Wrona	4	6	0	.000	0	0
Dave Meier	2	5	2	.400	0	1

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
Greg Maddux	34	249.0	18	8	3.18	140
Rick Sutcliffe	32	226.0	13	14	3.86	144
Jamie Moyer	34	202.0	9	15	3.48	121
Calvin Schiraldi	29	166.1	9	13	4.38	140
Mike Harkey	5	34.2	0	3	2.60	18
Kevin Blankenship	1	5.0	1	0	7.20	4
Bob Tewksbury	1	3.1	0	0	8.10	1

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
Jeff Pico	29	112.2	6	7	4.15	57
Al Nipper	22	80.0	2	4	3.04	27
Mike Bielecki	19	48.1	2	2	3.35	33

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
Rich Gossage	46	4	4	13	4.33	30
Frank DiPino	63	2	3	6	4.98	69
Les Lancaster	44	4	6	5	3.78	36
Pat Perry	35	2	2	1	3.32	24
Mike Capel	22	2	1	0	4.91	19
Drew Hall	19	1	1	1	7.66	22
Scott Sanderson	11	1	2	0	5.28	6
Bill Landrum	7	1	0	0	5.84	6

Farm system

See also: Minor League Baseball

Level	Team	League	Manager
AAA	Iowa Cubs	American Association	Pete Mackanin
AA	Pittsfield Cubs	Eastern League	Jim Essian
A	Winston-Salem Spirits	Carolina League	Jay Loviglio
A	Peoria Chiefs	Midwest League	Jim Tracy
A	Charleston Wheelers	South Atlantic League	Brad Mills
A-Short Season	Geneva Cubs	New York–Penn League	Bill Hayes
Rookie	Wytheville Cubs	Appalachian League	Steve Roadcap

^[10]

Notes

1. Rule 4.10(c)(1) March 31, 2016, at the Wayback Machine mlb.com
2. "Tiger-Cub Trade Even!". Toledo Blade. October 24, 1987. p. 16.
3. Lee Smith Statistics February 28, 2009, at the Wayback Machine Baseball-Reference.com
4. Vance Law Statistics February 10, 2009, at the Wayback Machine Baseball-Reference.com
5. Rich Gossage Statistics September 5, 2008, at the Wayback Machine Baseball-Reference.com
6. "Mike Bielecki Statistics - Baseball-Reference.com". from the original on March 31, 2009. Retrieved September 19, 2019.
7. "Rain halts night debut for Cubs". Toledo Blade. August 9, 1988. p. 17. Retrieved September 19, 2011.
8. The Cubs get lights at Wrigley Field <20 years ago this year>, Chicago Tribune, Phil Vettel, Jan. 3, 2008.
9. Jim Sundberg Statistics February 3, 2009, at the Wayback Machine Baseball-Reference.com
10. Johnson, Lloyd, and Wolff, Miles, ed., The Encyclopedia of Minor League Baseball, 2nd edition. Durham, North Carolina: Baseball America, 1997

References

• 1988 Chicago Cubs season at Baseball Reference