Want to start in 1967? Okay! Led by 4 future Hall of Famers, Leo Durocher’s Cubbies brought north side fans thrills, joy, but also deep heartache. Before their well-documented fall to the NY Mets, the faithful watched the team rise to first, observe Billy Williams continue his consecutive-game streak, the formation of the Bleacher Bums, and Ken Holtzman’s no-hitter. But read on! In 1970, Ernie Banks hit a historic HR; two pitchers (one a rookie) tossed no-hitters in 1972; in 1976, a Cubs CF rescued the burning of the American flag; another Cub led the league in HRs in 1977, and in 1979, a strong wind at Wrigley before the Cubs/Phillies game made the final 23-22 score not much of a surprise. Then, 2 years later, after owning the club 65 years, the Wrigley family sold the club to the Tribune Company. What followed was a new, exciting era that emerged, featuring a young 3B Dallas Green “stole” in a trade (he later moved to 2B). Yes, this book includes the 2016 Championship team, but along the way, find the 5 Cy Young Award winners, the 4 Rookies of the Year, and the 4 MVP winners. This is what you will get… § Yearly Standings, including those teams who placed 1st in Batting, Pitching, and Fielding. § Top Cub pitchers and hitters, a list of rookies, and those they obtained in a trade. § Club news plus dozens of noteworthy games (the winning or losing pitcher and batting stars) § League news, a list of other league games, and year-end awards.

Lovers of history, baseball, and most certainly the Chicago Cubs, get to follow the north siders on this year-by-year journey that starts in 1901. Long before Bryant to Baez to Rizzo was the legendary double-play combination of Tinkers to Evers to Chance. That dominant 1906-1910 team won two World Series (1907, 1908) but the franchise had to wait 108 years to claim another. Who’s Hippo Vaughn? Possibly the best lefty pitcher the Cubs ever had. Who’s Hack Wilson? His MLB RBI record still stands. And what’s with Babe Ruth’s Called Shot, the 1938 Homer in the Gloamin’, or the story behind a 4-legged goat? Who was the Cubs 1st MVP, 1st Rookie of the Year, or Cy Young Award winner? Follow Sammy Sosa in the famous home run race in 1998, and papa Joe Maddon’s crew as they brought home the long-awaited trophy in 2016. It’s all here. Yearly Standings also includes how the Cubs compared with others in Batting, Pitching, and Fielding. The club’s top pitchers and hitters, a list of rookies, and those obtained in a trade. Club news and dozens of noteworthy games (the winning or losing pitcher and batting stars) League news, listing of other league games, and year-end awards.

At the start of the 1984 season, the Cubs culture, both inside Wrigley and out, began changing in a positive way - thanks in part to GM Dallas Green. The former Phillies manager assembled a playoff team - many of whom were not on the roster 3 years earlier. With Harry Caray at the mic, familiar names like Ryne Sandberg, Rick Sutcliffe, Steve Trout, Lee Smith, Gary Matthews, Leon Durham, Jody Davis, and Bobby Dernier took the field. In true fashion, more heartache came at the hands of the San Diego Padres, but in years to come there was the Hawk, night games at Wrigley, Mad Dog Maddux, Slammin’ Sammy Sosa, and a tall, 20-year old rookie pitcher from Texas who pitched a game for the ages in only his 5th start. Several years later came a new GM, a new coach, and a long, long-awaited World Series trophy. § Yearly Standings, including a comparison with those placing 1st in Batting, Pitching, and Fielding. § Top pitchers, top hitters, a list of rookies, and those obtained in a trade. § Club news and dozens of noteworthy games (the winning or losing pitcher and batting stars) § League news, listing of other league games, and year-end awards.

If you’ve followed the White Sox at all, you might be familiar with the “Hitless Wonders,” the 1919 Black Sox scandal, the 1950s Go-Go club, South Side Hit Men (1977), Winning Ugly (1983), the 2005 World Series Champions to Pedro Grifol's current club. Check out Ed Walsh, the Sox’ 40-game winner in 1908; or the four 20-game winners in 1920 (one entered the Hall of Fame, whereas another was banned from baseball). How about the Sox rookie that pitched a perfect game in the early 1920s; “Old Aches and Pains” playing shortstop; and the GM who traded for Nellie Fox, Billy Pierce, Minnie Minoso, among others. Then there’s Little Luis - the 1st of 6 Sox’ Rookies of the Year; Early Wynn, the club’s 1st of 3 Cy Young Award winners, and Dick Allen, the Sox’ 2nd MVP who helped “save” the club from moving to another city. Okay, let's add exploding scoreboards, "Demolition Derby,” and playoff heartaches in1983 and 1993. The stars were many: the Big Hurt, Albert Belle, Paul Konerko, Mark Buehrle’s pitching wizardry, and the magical 2005 championship team that won without any league leaders or award winners. Herein you will find… Yearly Standings, including a comparison with those placing 1st in Batting, Pitching, and Fielding. Top pitchers, top hitters, a list of rookies, and those obtained in a trade. Club news and dozens of noteworthy games (the winning or losing pitcher and batting stars) League news, listing of other league games, and year-end awards.

Manager Al Lopez’ 1959 pennant-winning squad included 3 Hall of Famers, speed, pitching, and fielding. This was the first time in 40 years the franchise was World Series-bound. The 1960s brought exploding scoreboards, and razor-close finishes in 1964 and 1967. In the 1970s, a Sox finally had a HR champ; another became the AL MVP after the Sox made a trade with the LA Dodgers; then for 1 day only, Sox uniforms included wide collar shirts and shorts. In 1977, Bill Veeck’s club “rented” 2 HR hitters; in 1979, future Hall of Fame manager Tony LaRussa took the helm. The 1980s included 1983 post season play, 2 Rookies of the Year, a Cy Young Award winner, and 2 future Hall of Famers - one a catcher, the other a pitcher who won his 300th career game in a Sox uniform. The Sox returned to post-season play in 1993, 2001, and 2008, but let’s not forget the long-awaited (88 years) 2005 World Series champs. During that span, Frank Thomas became a 2-time MVP winner and Jack McDowell won the Cy Young Award. Popular players were many: Raines, Belle, Rowand, Crede, Dye, Buehrle, Thome, Pierzynski, Konerko, Quentin, Sale and Rich Renteria’s squad that included the 2014 Rookie of the Year, 2019 AL batting champ and AL RBI leader. In the first year of his 2-year stint, Hall of Fame manager Tony LaRussa returned and led the Central Division winners to the playoffs. New manager Pedro Grifol has a roster of solid players like Dylan Cease, Luis Robert, Tim Anderson, Eloi Jimenez, Yoan Moncada, and Lucas Giolito. Yearly Standings, including a comparison with those placing 1st in Batting, Pitching, and Fielding. Top pitchers, top hitters, a list of rookies, and those obtained in a trade. Club news and dozens of noteworthy games (the winning or losing pitcher and batting stars) League news, listing of other league games, year-end awards and World Series outcomes.

In 1984, the Bulls were entering their 19th year as a franchise when they signed Michael Jeffrey Jordan to a contract. Lest anyone forget, the pre-Jordan Bulls sported some very good teams that included some very good players like Guy Rodgers, Bob Love, Chet Walker, Tom Boerwinkle, Jerry Sloan, Norm Van Lier, and Artis Gilmore. Their play brought winning seasons, plenty of loud excitement and hope at the Stadium, but alas none of those teams reached the Finals. By the time His Airness took the floor, the Bulls hadn't seen the playoffs in 3 years and the 1983-84 version lost twice as many games as they won. Jordan brought the team respect, but it took a total of 6 seasons, a coaching change, and a shrewd GM to make great draft choices and add role players for the club to hoist the hardware and raise the Bulls' first championship banner. This was the first of 6 (two three-peats). The heroes were many: Scottie Pippen, Horace Grant, John Paxson, Bill Cartwright, Steve Kerr, Dennis Rodman, Ron Harper, and Toni Kukoc. And Jordan? The 5X NBA MVP was voted Finals MVP all 6 times. The tough times that followed included more coaching changes. But there were also some personal successes: two Bulls won Rookie of the Year honors (the second of the two was voted league MVP), another won a 6th Man Award (his rookie season), a fan-favorite from Duke made the 2011-12 All-Defense team, and a 7-foot center from Florida won the 2012-13 NBA Player of the Year. Yes, there were good times as well (think Bench Mob!). The current 2021-2022 Bulls, led by coach Billy Donovan, entered the playoffs with the addition of All NBA (2nd Team) forward DeMar DeRozan, Olympian Zach LeVine, center Nikola Vucevic, 3rd year guard Coby White, and rookie guard Ayu Dosunmu. This was truly DeRozan's year - tying NBA record first set by Larry Bird (1985) and breaking another set by Wilt Chamberlain in the 1960s. What's included? Year-by year Standings, Club news, draft choices, player trades, dozens of season games and all post-season summaries. For more context: there's League news, noteworthy league games, stat leaders, year-end award winners, and Finals outcomes.

In The Franchise: Chicago Cubs, take a more profound and unique journey into the history of an iconic team. This thoughtful and engaging collection of essays captures the astute fans' history of the franchise, going beyond well-worn narratives of yesteryear to uncover the less-discussed moments, decisions, people, and settings that fostered the Cubs' one-of-a-kind identity. Through wheeling and dealing, mythmaking and community building, explore where the organization has been, how it got to prominence in the modern major league landscape, and how it'll continue to evolve and stay in contention for generations to come.Cubs fans in the know will enjoy this personal, local, in-depth look at baseball history.

Page through a year-by-year journey through MLB’s oldest league and this is what you will get… End-of-year standings that include teams who placed 1st in Batting, Pitching, and Fielding. League notes highlighting rule changes, trends, trades, suspensions, and winning/losing streaks. Noteworthy games: high scores, batting fetes, records set End-of-the-year awards: Rookie of the Year, Cy Young, MVP, those entering the Hall of Fame, and World Series outcomes. What NL team has won the most Series championships? Who’s 2nd? All NL teams – past and present, are here, including the Boston Braves, Montreal Expos, and the Houston Astros. Which NL team changed their name to the Bees? A few years later, another became the Blue Jays! Both returned to their former selves a few years later. Follow the dynasties (the St. Louis Cardinals, New York/San Francisco Giants, and the Brooklyn/LA Dodgers), or legends like Wagner, Dean, or Musial; Jackie Robinson, Mays, Koufax, Bench, and Seaver. Those who soon followed were Gwynn, Maddux, Bonds, Walker and Larkin. Current stars like Joey Votto, Clayton Kershaw, Kris Bryant, Max Scherzer, Jacob de Grom, Nolan Arenado, Manny Machado, Paul Goldschmidt, and Fernando Tatis are also included.

Start in 1983? Okay! Tony LaRussa’s 1st place squad won a club-record 99 games, featured a Cy Young pitcher, a Rookie of the Year, a Hall of Fame catcher, and speed on the bases. It was also the first time in 24 years a Chicago team entered post-season play. The club signed a Hall of Fame pitcher the following year, and in 1985 a charismatic rookie from Venezuela took over shortstop and won Rookie of the Year honors. Comiskey Park I (the 1910 version) was leveled – and with a push from Governor Thompson, Comiskey Park II was built. Then along came Frank Thomas, Robin Ventura, and more post-season play! But it took the mercurial Venezuelan, this time the club manager, to lead the club to 2005 glory. Read about the 2008 Black Out, Phillip Humber’s perfect game, the emergent Chris Sale, AL's 2014 Rookie of the Year and 2020 AL MVP Jose Abreu, and 2019 BA Champ Tim Anderson. Current Sox new manager Pedro Grifol has stars like Dylan Cease, Eloi Jimenez, Yoan Moncada, and Luis Robert. What's inside... § Yearly Standings, including a comparison with those placing 1st in Batting, Pitching, and Fielding. § Top pitchers, top hitters, a list of rookies, and those obtained in a trade. § Club news and dozens of noteworthy games (the winning or losing pitcher and batting stars) § League news, listing of other league games, and year-end awards.

In 1901, the 25-year-old National League once again had competition - but this time the new league stayed. In AL’s 1st year, the NY Yankees didn’t exist, the Cleveland and Boston clubs went by different names, and finances forced the Milwaukee Brewers to move to St. Louis where they were known as the Browns. AL’s peaks and valleys include the Deadball Era, the 1919 scandal, the 56-game hitting streak and baseball’s last .400 hitter – both in 1941; the Yankees’ continual dominance; expansion; strikes, the steroid era, etc. Yesterdays and today’s stars are all here! End-of-year standings that include who placed 1st in batting, pitching, and fielding. League notes that highlight rule changes, trends, trades, suspensions, and winning/losing streaks. Noteworthy games: high scores, batting fetes, records set or broken. End-of-the-year awards: Rookie of the Year, Cy Young, MVP, and those entering the Hall of Fame. World Series outcomes. What AL team is 2nd to the NY Yankees in championships? All AL teams are here (including when the Athletics were in Philadelphia), as are the legends: Cobb, Joe Jackson, Babe Ruth, Gehrig, Feller, DiMaggio, Ted Williams, Brooks Robinson, and Yaz. Those who followed include Kirk Gibson, Jose Canseco, Dennis Eckersley, Frank Thomas, Derek Jeter, David Ortiz, Pedro Martinez, and Alex Rodriguez. You also get current stars like Jason Verlander, Aaron Judge, Mike Trout, and Shohei Ohtani.