1956 Chicago Cubs season
The 1956 Chicago Cubs season was the 85th season of the Chicago Cubs franchise, the 81st in the National League and the 41st at Wrigley Field. The Cubs finished eighth and last in the National League with a record of 60–94.
Offseason
- November 27, 1955: 1955 rule 5 draft
- *Billy Muffett was drafted from the Cubs by the St. Louis Cardinals.
- *Vito Valentinetti was drafted by the Cubs from the Toronto [Maple Leafs (International League)|Toronto Maple Leafs].
- November 28, 1955: Hal Jeffcoat was traded by the Cubs to the Cincinnati Redlegs for Hobie Landrith.
- December 9, 1955: Frank Baumholtz was purchased from the Cubs by the Philadelphia Phillies.
- December 9, 1955: Randy Jackson and Don Elston were traded by the Cubs to the Brooklyn Dodgers for Don Hoak, Russ Meyer, and Walt Moryn.
- March 30, 1956: Hank Sauer was traded by the Cubs to the St. Louis Cardinals for Pete Whisenant.
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 | 111 | 312 | 69 | .221 | 4 | 32 | |
| 1B | Dee Fondy | 137 | 543 | 146 | .269 | 9 | 46 |
| 2B | Gene Baker | 140 | 546 | 141 | .258 | 12 | 57 |
| SS | Ernie Banks | 139 | 538 | 160 | .297 | 28 | 85 |
| 3B | Don Hoak | 121 | 424 | 91 | .215 | 5 | 37 |
| LF | Monte Irvin | 111 | 339 | 92 | .271 | 15 | 50 |
| CF | Pete Whisenant | 103 | 314 | 75 | .239 | 11 | 46 |
| RF | Walt Moryn | 147 | 529 | 151 | .285 | 23 | 67 |
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 |
| Eddie Miksis | 114 | 356 | 85 | .239 | 9 | 27 |
| Jim King | 118 | 317 | 79 | .249 | 15 | 54 |
| Solly Drake | 65 | 215 | 55 | .256 | 2 | 15 |
| Harry Chiti | 72 | 203 | 43 | .212 | 4 | 18 |
| Frank Kellert | 71 | 129 | 24 | .186 | 4 | 17 |
| Jerry Kindall | 32 | 55 | 9 | .164 | 0 | 0 |
| Clyde McCullough | 14 | 19 | 4 | .211 | 0 | 1 |
| Ed Winceniak | 15 | 17 | 2 | .118 | 0 | 0 |
| Gale Wade | 10 | 12 | 0 | .000 | 0 | 0 |
| Jim Fanning | 1 | 4 | 1 | .250 | 0 | 0 |
| Owen Friend | 2 | 2 | 0 | .000 | 0 | 0 |
| Richie Myers | 4 | 1 | 0 | .000 | 0 | 0 |
| El Tappe | 3 | 1 | 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 |
| Bob Rush | 32 | 239.2 | 13 | 10 | 3.19 | 104 |
| Sam Jones | 33 | 188.2 | 9 | 14 | 3.91 | 176 |
| Warren Hacker | 34 | 168.0 | 3 | 13 | 4.66 | 65 |
| Don Kaiser | 27 | 150.1 | 4 | 9 | 3.59 | 74 |
| Moe Drabowsky | 9 | 51.0 | 2 | 4 | 2.47 | 36 |
| Paul Minner | 10 | 47.0 | 2 | 5 | 6.89 | 14 |
| Dave Hillman | 2 | 12.1 | 0 | 2 | 2.19 | 6 |
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 |
| Jim Davis | 46 | 120.1 | 5 | 7 | 3.66 | 66 |
| Jim Brosnan | 30 | 95.0 | 5 | 9 | 3.79 | 51 |
| Russ Meyer | 20 | 57.0 | 1 | 6 | 6.32 | 28 |
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 |
| Turk Lown | 61 | 9 | 8 | 13 | 3.58 | 74 |
| 42 | 6 | 4 | 1 | 3.78 | 26 | |
| Jim Hughes | 25 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 5.16 | 20 |
| 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1.69 | 1 | |
| George Piktuzis | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 7.20 | 3 |
| Bill Tremel | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 9.00 | 0 |