1945 Chicago Cubs season

March 2026 November 2013 Chicago Cubs 1945 National League champions National League Wrigley Field Chicago 98 56 y 1st Philip K. Wrigley James T. Gallagher Charlie Grimm WIND(Bert Wilson, Wayne Osborne) The 1945 Chicago Cubs season was the 74th season of the Chicago Cubs franchise, the 70th in the National League and the 30th at Wrigley Field. The Cubs won the National League pennant with a record of 98–56, 3 games ahead of the second-place St. Louis Cardinals. The team went on to the World Series, which they lost to the Detroit Tigers in seven games. This was the Cubs last postseason appearance until 1984. It would take 71 years before the Cubs made it to another World Series. Regular season Season standings Chicago Cubs Record vs. opponents CHC Roster 1945 Chicago Cubs Roster Pitchers 26 Hank Borowy 31 Bob Chipman 36 Jorge Comellas 30 Paul Derringer 37 Paul Erickson 34 Ed Hanyzewski 27 George Hennessey 13 Claude Passeau 39 Ray Prim 27 Walter Signer 32,38 Ray Starr 38 Mack Stewart 35 Hy Vandenberg 36 Lon Warneke 33 Hank Wyse Catchers 10 Paul Gillespie 11 Mickey Livingston  8 Len Rice 12 Dewey Williams Infielders  7 Heinz Becker 53 Cy Block 44 Phil Cavarretta  6 Stan Hack 23 Roy Hughes 20 Pep Johnson 21 Lennie Merullo 50 Johnny Ostrowski 51 Reggie Otero 22 Bill Schuster Outfielders 32 Loyd Christopher 47 Peanuts Lowrey 43 Bill Nicholson 48 Andy Pafko 45 Ed Sauer 49 Frank Secory Other batters  5 Johnny Moore Manager 40 Charlie Grimm Coaches 42 Roy Johnson 52 Red Smith 41 Milt Stock 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 Mickey Livingston 71 224 57 .254 2 23 1B Phil Cavarretta 132 498 177 .355 6 97 2B Don Johnson Don Johnson (second baseman) 138 557 168 .302 2 58 SS Lennie Merullo 121 394 94 .239 2 37 3B Stan Hack 150 597 193 .323 2 43 OF Peanuts Lowrey 143 523 148 .283 7 89 OF Andy Pafko 144 534 159 .298 12 110 OF Bill Nicholson Bill Nicholson (baseball) 151 559 136 .243 13 88 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 Roy Hughes Roy Hughes (baseball) 69 222 58 .261 0 8 Paul Gillespie 75 163 47 .288 3 25 Heinz Becker 67 133 38 .286 2 27 Dewey Williams 59 100 28 .280 2 5 Len Rice 32 99 23 .232 0 7 Ed Sauer 49 93 24 .258 2 11 Frank Secory 35 57 9 .158 0 6 Bill Schuster 45 47 9 .191 0 2 Reggie Otero 14 23 9 .391 0 5 Johnny Ostrowski 7 10 3 .300 0 1 Cy Block 2 7 1 .143 0 1 Johnny Moore Johnny Moore (baseball) 7 6 1 .167 0 2 Loyd Christopher 1 0 0 ---- 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 Hank Wyse 38 278.1 22 10 2.68 77 Claude Passeau 34 227.0 17 9 2.46 98 Paul Derringer 35 213.2 16 11 3.45 86 Ray Prim 34 165.1 13 8 2.40 88 Hank Borowy 15 122.1 11 2 2.13 47 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 Hy Vandenberg 30 95.1 7 3 3.49 35 Bob Chipman 25 72.0 4 5 3.50 29 Lon Warneke 9 14.0 0 1 3.86 6 Ray Starr 9 13.1 0 0 7.43 5 Jorge Comellas 7 12.0 0 2 4.50 6 Ed Hanyzewski 2 4.2 0 0 5.79 2 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 Paul Erickson Paul Erickson (baseball) 28 7 4 3 3.32 53 Mack Stewart 16 0 1 0 4.76 9 Walter Signer 6 0 0 1 3.38 0 George Hennessey 2 0 0 0 7.36 2 1945 World Series 1945 World Series The Curse of Billy "The Goat" Sianis Curse of the Billy Goat The Curse of the Billy Goat was a curse on the Chicago Cubs that was started in 1945 and ended in 2016. As the story goes, Billy Sianis, a Greek immigrant (from Paleopyrgos, Greece*"The Curse of The Billy Goat". February 27, 2004. Retrieved on October 18, 2006.), who owned a nearby tavern (the now-famous Billy Goat Tavern), had two $7.20 box seat tickets to Game 4 of the 1945 World Series between the Chicago Cubs and the Detroit Tigers, and decided to bring along his pet goat, Murphy (or Sinovia according to some references), which Sianis had restored to health when the goat had fallen off a truck and subsequently limped into his tavern. The goat wore a blanket with a sign pinned to it which read "We got Detroit's goat".*"Da Curse of the Billy Goat...The Chicago Cubs, Pennant Races and Curses" – Chapter 1 – Enter the Goat. Retrieved October 18, 2006 https://web.archive.org/web/20080529072702/http://www.dacurse.com/bgcchapter1p1-6-revised3.13.04.pdf May 29, 2008 Sianis and the goat were allowed into Wrigley Field and even paraded about on the playing field before the game before ushers intervened and led them off the field. After a heated argument, both Sianis and the goat were permitted to stay in the stadium occupying the box seat for which he had tickets. At this point, Andy Frain (head of Wrigley Field's hired security company at the time), waved the goat's box-seat ticket in the air and proclaimed, "If he eats the ticket that would solve everything." However, the goat did not. Before the game was over, it started to rain and Sianis and the goat were ejected from the stadium at the command of Cubs owner Philip Knight Wrigley due to the objectionable odor of wet goat. Sianis was outraged at the ejection and allegedly placed a curse upon the Cubs that they would never win another pennant or play in a World Series at Wrigley Field again because the Cubs organization had insulted his goat, and subsequently left the U.S. to vacation in his home in Greece. The Cubs lost Game 4 and eventually the 1945 World Series, prompting Sianis to write to Wrigley from Greece, saying, "Who stinks now?" The Cubs would eventually break the curse and what would turn out to be a 108-year drought by winning the World Series in 2016 over the Cleveland Indians in seven games. Game 1 October 3, 1945, at Briggs Stadium in Detroit Chicago CHI 4 0 3 0 0 0 2 0 0 9 13 0 Detroit DET 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 6 0 Hank Borowy (1–0) Hal Newhouser (0–1) Phil Cavarretta (1) None yes Game 2 October 4, 1945, at Briggs Stadium in Detroit Chicago CHI 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 1 7 0 Detroit DET 0 0 0 0 4 0 0 0 0 4 7 0 Virgil Trucks (1–0) Hank Wyse (0–1) None Hank Greenberg (1) yes Game 3 October 5, 1945, at Briggs Stadium in Detroit Chicago CHI 0 0 0 2 0 0 1 0 0 3 8 0 Detroit DET 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 2 Claude Passeau (1–0) Stubby Overmire (0–1) Game 4 October 6, 1945, at Wrigley Field in Chicago Detroit DET 0 0 0 4 0 0 0 0 0 4 7 1 Chicago CHI 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 1 5 1 Dizzy Trout (1–0) Ray Prim (0–1) Game 5 October 7, 1945, at Wrigley Field in Chicago Detroit DET 0 0 1 0 0 4 1 0 2 8 11 0 Chicago CHI 0 0 1 0 0 0 2 0 1 4 7 2 Hal Newhouser (1–1) Hank Borowy (1–1) Game 6 October 8, 1945, at Wrigley Field in Chicago Detroit DET 0 1 0 0 0 0 2 4 0 0 0 0 7 13 1 Chicago CHI 0 0 0 0 4 1 2 0 0 0 0 1 8 15 3 Hank Borowy (2–1) Dizzy Trout (1–1) Hank Greenberg (2) None yes Game 7 October 10, 1945, at Wrigley Field in Chicago Detroit DET 5 1 0 0 0 0 1 2 0 9 9 1 Chicago CHI 1 0 0 1 0 0 0 1 0 3 10 0 Hal Newhouser (2–1) Hank Borowy (2–2) Farm system Minor League Baseball AA Los Angeles Angels Pacific Coast League Bill Sweeney A1 Nashville Vols Southern Association Larry Gilbert B Hagerstown Owls Interstate League Mickey Balla and Dutch Dorman B Portsmouth Cubs Piedmont League Ival Goodman C Leaksville-Draper-Spray Triplets Carolina League Jack Warner D Elizabethton Betsy Cubs Appalachian League Bill Kelly D Statesville Cubs North Carolina State League Jim Poole References 2 External links 1945 Chicago Cubs season at Baseball Reference Category:Chicago Cubs seasons Chicago Cubs season Category:National League champion seasons Chicago Cubs Category:1945 in Chicago