1977 Chicago Cubs season

March 2026 November 2013 Chicago Cubs 1977 Chicago Cubs logo.svg National League East Wrigley Field Chicago 81 81 y 4th Philip K. Wrigley, William Wrigley III Bob Kennedy Herman Franks WGN-TV(Jack Brickhouse, Lou Boudreau) WGN(Vince Lloyd, Lou Boudreau) chc CHC The 1977 Chicago Cubs season was the 106th season of the Chicago Cubs franchise, the 102nd in the National League and the 62nd at Wrigley Field. The Cubs finished fourth in the National League East with a record of 81–81, 20 games behind the Philadelphia Phillies. Offseason On November 24, 1976, Bob Kennedy was named head of baseball operations for the Cubs. His first move was to inform Jim Marshall that he was fired as manager. Salty Saltwell‚ after a year as general manager‚ was named secretary and director of park operations. After Leo Durocher turned down an offer from Cubs owner Philip K. Wrigley to manage the Cubs for the 1977 season, Herman Franks‚ who had briefly been a Cubs coach under Leo Durocher‚ was named the new manager.http://www.baseballlibrary.com/ballplayers/player.php?name%3DSalty_Saltwell%26page%3Dchronology The Ballplayers - Salty Saltwell | BaseballLibrary.com 2009-07-15 dead https://web.archive.org/web/20121019062407/http://www.baseballlibrary.com/ballplayers/player.php?name=Salty_Saltwell&page=chronology October 19, 2012 mdy Notable transactions December 6, 1976: Willie Hernández was drafted by the Cubs from the Philadelphia Phillies in the 1976 rule 5 draft.Willie Hernández page at Baseball Reference December 8, 1976: Julio González was traded by the Cubs to the Houston Astros for Greg Gross.Julio González page at Baseball Reference January 11, 1977: Rick Monday and Mike Garman were traded by Cubs to the Los Angeles Dodgers for Bill Buckner, Iván DeJesús and Jeff Albert (minors).Bill Buckner page at Baseball Reference January 17, 1977: Geoff Zahn was released by the Cubs.Geoff Zahn page at Baseball Reference February 5, 1977: Darold Knowles was traded by the Cubs to the Texas Rangers for a player to be named later and cash. The Rangers completed the trade by sending Gene Clines to the Cubs on February 15.Darold Knowles page at Baseball Reference February 11, 1977: Bill Madlock and Rob Sperring were traded by the Cubs to the San Francisco Giants for Bobby Murcer, Steve Ontiveros, and Andy Muhlstock (minors).Bill Madlock page at Baseball Reference February 16, 1977: Champ Summers was traded by the Cubs to the Cincinnati Reds for Dave Schneck.Champ Summers page at Baseball Reference February 28, 1977: Buddy Schultz was traded by the Cubs to the St. Louis Cardinals for Mark Covert (minors).Buddy Schultz page at Baseball Reference March 15, 1977: Joe Coleman was traded by the Cubs to the Oakland Athletics for Jim Todd.Jim Todd page at Baseball Reference March 15, 1977: Jerry Tabb was purchased from the Cubs by the Oakland Athletics.Jerry Tabb page at Baseball Reference March 15, 1977: Jim Tyrone was traded by the Cubs to the Oakland Athletics for Gaylen Pitts.Jim Tyrone page at Baseball Reference Regular season In 1977, the franchise experienced one of its biggest collapses. The Cubs hit a high-water mark on June 28 at 47–22 with an 8½-game National League East lead led by Bobby Murcer, who had 27 home runs and 89 RBI overall during the season, and Rick Reuschel, who had a record of 20–10. However, the Philadelphia Phillies cut the lead to two by the All-Star break, as the Cubs sat 19 games over .500, and the Cubs swooned late in the season, going 20–40 after July 31, finishing in fourth place at 81–81. On July 28, with the Cubs down 14–10 in the eighth inning of a game against the Cincinnati Reds, the Cubs pinch-hit for both of their middle infielders, replacing shortstop Iván DeJesús with José Cardenal and second baseman Mick Kelleher with Greg Gross. The Cubs scored three runs, making the score 14–13 going into the ninth inning. Since both replacements were typically outfielders, and the Cubs had just one player left on the bench who normally played middle infield to enter the game in the ninth inning, utilityman Dave Rosello, the Cubs allowed Cardenal to stay in the game and play second base while Rosello entered the game at shortstop. Rosello and Cardenal alternated between the two positions during the ninth inning depending on whether the batter was a left-handed or right-handed hitter. The Reds failed to score in the ninth, and the Cubs tied the game, forcing extra innings. At that point, the Cubs moved Cardenal to right field, and brought Bobby Murcer in to play the infield instead, continuing to flip-flop the positioning of Rosello and Murcer for the remainder of the game, which wound up going thirteen innings. In all, Rosello wound up switching positions twelve times, and Murcer eight times.Yankee for Life, Bobby Murcer and Glen Waggoner, p.105, Harper Collins, 2008, New York, 978-0-06-147342-5July 28, 1977, box score from Baseball-Reference Season standings Chicago Cubs Record vs. opponents CHC Notable transactions April 20, 1977: The Cubs traded a player to be named later to the Seattle Mariners for Pete Broberg. The Cubs completed the deal by sending Jim Todd to the Mariners on October 25. May 28, 1977: Ramón Hernández was traded by the Cubs to the Boston Red Sox for Bobby Darwin.Ramón Hernández page at Baseball Reference June 7, 1977: Terry Francona was drafted by the Cubs in the 2nd round of the 1977 Major League Baseball draft, but did not sign.Terry Francona page at Baseball Reference August 23, 1977: Bobby Darwin was released by the Cubs.Bobby Darwin page at Baseball Reference September 28, 1977: Rudy Meoli was purchased by the Cubs from the Cincinnati Reds.Rudy Meoli page at Baseball Reference Roster 1977 Chicago Cubs Roster Pitchers 33 Bill Bonham 40 Pete Broberg 34 Ray Burris 44 Dave Giusti 36 Ramón Hernández 38 Willie Hernández 39 Mike Krukow 47 Dennis Lamp 49 Donnie Moore 50 Steve Renko 43 Paul Reuschel 48 Rick Reuschel 41 Dave Roberts 42 Bruce Sutter 31 Jim Todd Catchers 23 Mike Gordon  4 Randy Hundley 15 George Mitterwald  9 Steve Swisher Infielders 26 Larry Biittner 22 Bill Buckner 11 Iván DeJesús 20 Mick Kelleher 16 Steve Ontiveros 17 Dave Rosello 10 Mike Sember 19 Manny Trillo Outfielders 30 Mike Adams  1 José Cardenal 18 Gene Clines 12 Bobby Darwin 21 Greg Gross 24 Jerry Morales  7 Bobby Murcer 27 Joe Wallis Manager  3 Herman Franks Coaches 45 Jack Bloomfield  5 Alvin Dark  4 Randy Hundley  2 Peanuts Lowrey  6 Barney Schultz Player stats = Indicates team leader 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 George Mitterwald 110 349 83 .238 9 43 1B Bill Buckner 122 426 121 .284 11 60 2B Manny Trillo 152 504 141 .280 7 57 3B Steve Ontiveros Steve Ontiveros (infielder) 156 546 163 .299 10 68 SS Iván DeJesús 155 624 166 .266 3 40 LF José Cardenal 100 226 54 .239 3 18 CF Jerry Morales 136 490 142 .290 11 69 RF Bobby Murcer 154 554 147 .265 27 89 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 Larry Biittner 138 493 147 .298 12 62 Greg Gross 115 239 77 .322 5 32 Gene Clines 101 239 70 .293 3 41 Steve Swisher 74 205 39 .190 5 15 Mick Kelleher 63 122 28 .230 0 11 Dave Rosello 56 82 18 .220 1 9 Joe Wallis 56 80 20 .250 2 8 Mike Gordon 8 23 1 .043 0 2 Bobby Darwin 11 12 2 .167 0 0 Mike Sember 3 4 1 .250 0 0 Randy Hundley 2 4 0 .000 0 0 Mike Adams 2 2 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 39 252.0 20 10 2.79 166 Ray Burris 39 221.0 14 16 4.72 105 Bill Bonham 34 214.2 10 13 4.36 134 Mike Krukow 34 172.0 8 14 4.40 106 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 Dave Roberts Dave Roberts (pitcher) 17 53.0 1 1 3.23 23 Steve Renko 13 51.1 2 2 4.56 34 Dennis Lamp 11 30.0 0 2 6.30 12 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 62 7 3 31 1.34 129 Paul Reuschel 69 5 6 4 4.37 62 Willie Hernández 67 8 7 4 3.03 78 Donnie Moore 27 4 2 0 4.07 34 Pete Broberg 22 1 2 0 4.75 20 Jim Todd Jim Todd (baseball) 20 1 1 0 9.10 17 Dave Giusti 20 0 2 1 6.04 15 Ramón Hernández Ramón Hernández (pitcher) 6 0 0 1 8.22 4 Larry Biittner 1 0 0 0 40.50 3 Farm system Minor League Baseball AAA Wichita Aeros American Association Harry Dunlop AA Midland Cubs Texas League Jim Saul A Pompano Beach Cubs Florida State League Jack Hiatt A-Short Season Geneva Cubs New York–Penn League Bob Hartsfield Rookie GCL Cubs Gulf Coast League Ron Matney Notes 2 References Johnson Lloyd Wolff Miles The Encyclopedia of Minor League Baseball 2nd Durham, North Carolina Baseball America 1997 978-0-9637189-8-3 1977 Chicago Cubs season at Baseball Reference Category:Chicago Cubs seasons Chicago Cubs season Chicago Cubs