1909 Chicago Cubs season
The 1909 Chicago Cubs season was the 38th season of the Chicago Cubs franchise, the 34th in the National League and the 17th at West Side Park. The Cubs won 104 games but finished second in the National League, 6½ games behind the Pittsburgh Pirates season|Pittsburgh Pirates]. The Cubs had won the pennant the previous three years and would win it again in 1910. Of their 104 victories, 97 were wins for a Cubs starting pitcher; this was the most wins in a season by the starting staff of any major league team from 1908 to the present day. The 104 wins was the most by any team in Major League Baseball history by a team that failed to finish first—a record that would be unbroken for more than a century. The record was equaled by the 1942 [Brooklyn Dodgers season|1942 Brooklyn Dodgers] and eventually broken by the 2021 [Los Angeles Dodgers season|2021 Dodgers], who won 106 games but finished a game behind the San Francisco Giants season|San Francisco Giants] in the NL West. To date, the Cubs' 104 wins is the most in Major League Baseball history by a team that failed to make the postseason.
The legendary infield of Joe Tinker, Johnny Evers, Frank Chance, and Harry Steinfeldt was still intact, but it was the pitching staff that excelled. The Cubs pitchers had a collective earned run average of 1.75, a microscopic figure even for the dead-ball era. Three Finger Brown was one of the top two pitchers in the league again, going 27–9 with a 1.31 ERA.Offseason
Season standings
Record vs. opponents
Roster
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 | | 80 | 261 | 60 | .230 | 1 | 30 |
| 1B | | 93 | 324 | 88 | .272 | 0 | 46 |
| 2B | | 127 | 463 | 122 | .263 | 1 | 24 |
| SS | | 143 | 516 | 132 | .256 | 4 | 57 |
| 3B | | 151 | 528 | 133 | .252 | 2 | 59 |
| OF | | 148 | 525 | 134 | .255 | 1 | 43 |
| OF | | 153 | 527 | 150 | .285 | 2 | 58 |
| OF | | 140 | 538 | 142 | .264 | 4 | 60 |
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 |
| 77 | 246 | 54 | .220 | 1 | 23 |
| 69 | 203 | 40 | .197 | 1 | 24 |
| 65 | 183 | 50 | .273 | 0 | 21 |
| 22 | 52 | 7 | .135 | 0 | 2 |
| 20 | 45 | 4 | .089 | 0 | 5 |
| 12 | 39 | 8 | .205 | 0 | 1 |
| 11 | 37 | 11 | .297 | 1 | 9 |
| 13 | 28 | 4 | .143 | 0 | 0 |
| 2 | 7 | 1 | .143 | 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 |
| 50 | 342.2 | 27 | 9 | 1.31 | 172 |
| 38 | 285.0 | 20 | 11 | 1.42 | 205 |
| 35 | 262.2 | 19 | 10 | 1.78 | 105 |
| 29 | 196.2 | 17 | 6 | 2.43 | 73 |
| 17 | 120.1 | 9 | 4 | 1.65 | 51 |
| 1 | 9.0 | 1 | 0 | 2.00 | 2 |
| 1 | 9.0 | 1 | 0 | 0.00 | 1 |
| 1 | 2.0 | 0 | 1 | 18.00 | 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 |
| 13 | 79.0 | 4 | 4 | 1.82 | 32 |
| 19 | 78.0 | 5 | 2 | 2.19 | 32 |
| 3 | 14.0 | 1 | 1 | 3.86 | 3 |
| 2 | 4.1 | 0 | 1 | 4.15 | 0 |
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 |
| 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2.45 | 2 |
| 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.00 | 1 |
Awards and honors
League top five finishers
Mordecai Brown
- NL leader in wins
- #2 in NL in ERA
- #4 in NL in strikeouts
Orval Overall
- MLB leader in strikeouts
- #3 in NL in ERA