1981 Chicago Cubs season

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1981 Chicago Cubs
Major league affiliations
National League (since 1876) Eastern Division (since 1969)
Location
Wrigley Field (since 1916) Chicago, Illinois (since 1876)
1981 information
Owner(s)	William Wrigley III, Tribune Company
General manager(s)	Bob Kennedy, Herman Franks, Dallas Green
Manager(s)	Joey Amalfitano
Local television	WGN-TV (Jack Brickhouse, Lou Boudreau, Milo Hamilton)
Local radio	WGN (Vince Lloyd, Lou Boudreau)
Stats	ESPN.com BB-reference
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The Chicago Cubs' 1981 season was a season in American baseball. It involved the Chicago Cubs finishing the first-half in last place at 15-37, 17½ games behind the Philadelphia Phillies, and the second-half in fifth place at 23-28, six games behind the eventual NL East Champion Montreal Expos in the National League East. It was also the final season for the Cubs under the Wrigley family ownership, as the Tribune Company took over the club late in the year.

Contents

1 Offseason
2 Regular season
3 Player stats
- 3.1 Batting
  - 3.1.1 Starters by position
  - 3.1.2 Other batters
- 3.2 Pitching
4 Farm system
5 Notes
6 References

Offseason

December 9, 1980: Bruce Sutter was traded by the Cubs to the St. Louis Cardinals for Leon Durham, Ken Reitz, and a player to be named later. The Cardinals completed the deal by sending Tye Waller to the Cubs on December 22.^[1]
December 12, 1980: Jerry Martin, Jesús Figueroa and a player to be named later was traded by the Cubs to the San Francisco Giants for Joe Strain and Philip Nastu. The Cubs completed the deal by sending Mike Turgeon (minors) to the Giants on August 11, 1981.^[2]
February 26, 1981: George Riley was released by the Cubs.^[3]
March 28, 1981: Dennis Lamp was traded by the Cubs to the Chicago White Sox for Ken Kravec.^[4]

Regular season

Season standings

NL East First Half standings	Wins	Losses	Win %	GB
Philadelphia Phillies	34	21	.618	—
St. Louis Cardinals	30	20	.600	1.5
Montreal Expos	30	25	.545	4.0
Pittsburgh Pirates	25	23	.521	5.5
New York Mets	17	34	.333	15.0
Chicago Cubs	15	37	.288	17.5

NL East Second Half standings	Wins	Losses	Win %	GB
Montreal Expos	30	23	.566	—
St. Louis Cardinals	29	23	.558	0.5
Philadelphia Phillies	25	27	.481	4.5
New York Mets	24	28	.462	5.5
Chicago Cubs	23	28	.451	6.0
Pittsburgh Pirates	21	33	.389	9.5

Notable transactions

April 6, 1981: Butch Benton was acquired by the Cubs from the New York Mets as part of a conditional deal.^[5]
June 8, 1981: Joe Carter was drafted by the Cubs in the 1st round (2nd pick) of the 1981 Major League Baseball Draft. Player signed June 12, 1981.^[6]
June 12, 1981: Rick Reuschel was traded by the Cubs to the New York Yankees for Doug Bird, a player to be named later, and $400,000. The Yankees completed the trade by sending Mike Griffin on August 5.^[7]
August 19, 1981: The Cubs traded players to be named later to the New York Yankees for Pat Tabler. The Cubs completed the trade by sending Bill Caudill to the Yankees on April 1, 1982, and Jay Howell to the Yankees on August 2, 1982.^[8]

Roster

1981 Chicago Cubs

Roster

Pitchers

Catchers

Infielders

Outfielders

Other batters

47 Gene Krug

Manager

5 Joey Amalfitano

Coaches

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
3B	Reitz, KenKen Reitz	82	260	56	.215	2	28
RF	Durham, LeonLeon Durham	87	328	95	.290	10	35

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
Waller, TyeTye Waller	30	71	19	.268	3	13

Pitching

Starting pitchers

Player	G	IP	W	L	ERA	SO
Bird, DougDoug Bird	12	75.1	4	5	3.58	34

Other pitchers

Player	G	IP	W	L	ERA	SO
Geisel, DaveDave Geisel	11	16	2	0	0.56	7

Relief pitchers

Player	G	W	L	SV	ERA	SO

Farm system

Level	Team	League	Manager
AAA	Iowa Cubs	American Association	Randy Hundley and Roy Hartsfield
AA	Midland Cubs	Texas League	Roy Hartsfield and George Enright
A	Quad Cities Cubs	Midwest League	Rich Morales
Short-Season A	Geneva Cubs	New York-Penn League	Bob Hartsfield
Rookie	GCL Cubs	Gulf Coast League	Hugh Yancy

Notes

References

Johnson, Lloyd; Wolff, Miles, eds. (1997). The Encyclopedia of Minor League Baseball (2nd ed.). Durham, N.C.: Baseball America. ISBN 978-0-9637189-8-3.
1981 Chicago Cubs season at Baseball Reference

v t e 1981 MLB season by team

AL East	Baltimore Boston Cleveland Detroit Milwaukee New York Toronto

AL West	California Chicago Kansas City Minnesota Oakland Seattle Texas

NL East	Chicago Montréal New York Philadelphia Pittsburgh St. Louis

NL West	Atlanta Cincinnati Houston Los Angeles San Diego San Francisco

1981 Major League Baseball Draft 1981 All-Star Game 1981 strike 1981 World Series

Chicago Cubs

Formerly the Chicago White Stockings, Chicago Colts and the Chicago Orphans • Based in Chicago, Illinois

Franchise

History • Seasons • Records • No-hitters • Players • Managers • Owners and executives • Broadcasters • Opening Day starting pitchers • First-round draft picks

Ballparks

23rd Street Grounds • Lakefront Park • West Side Park I • South Side Park • West Side Park II • Wrigley Field
Spring training: Plant Field • Blair Field • HoHoKam Park

Lore

Babe Ruth's called shot • The Inning • Gatorade Glove Play • Homer in the Gloamin' • The Sandberg Game • Fall of '69 • Sandy Koufax's perfect game • Home Run Chase • Brock for Broglio • Merkle's Boner • Worst to First • Monday Saves the Flag • College of Coaches • Ken Hubbs incident • Billy Jurges incident • Game 163

Culture

Steve Bartman • Curse of the Billy Goat • Ex-Cubs Factor • Tinker to Evers to Chance • Rookie of the Year • This Old Cub • Ronnie Woo Woo • Grant DePorter • Wrigley Rooftops • Cubby Bear • Wrigleyville • Wayne Messmer • Yosh Kawano • Mike Royko • Holy Cow! • Wrigley Company • Old Style Beer • Hey Hey Holy Mackerel • Bill Holden • Bleacher Bums • The Heckler • Arne Harris • Voice of Chicago • Billy Sianis • "Go, Cubs, Go" • The Natural • Pat and Ron Show • "All the Way" • Cubs Win Flag • Brant Brown • JDRF • Addison Red Line Station • Sheridan Red Line Station • Taking Care of Business • Billy Goat Tavern • Heel Click • Winter Classic • Clark Street • Addison Street • Radio Network • "Let's Play Two!" • Mr. Cub • A League of Their Own • Take Me Out to the Ball Game • I.O. • The Cubs Fan's Guide To Happiness • Pat Pieper • The Cubby Bear • Great Chicago Fire • Harry Caray's Italian Steakhouse • Bohemian National Cemetery Columbarium

Rivalries

Milwaukee Brewers • St. Louis Cardinals • Chicago White Sox

Retired numbers

10 • 14 • 23 • 26 • 31 • 31 • 42 • Hey Hey!

Key personnel

Owner: Family of Joe Ricketts; operated by Tom Ricketts • President of Baseball Operations: Theo Epstein • General Manager: Jed Hoyer • Manager: Dale Sveum

World Series
Championships (4)

1882 • 1885 • 1907 • 1908

National League
Championships (16)

1876 • 1880 • 1881 • 1882 • 1885 • 1886 • 1906 • 1907 • 1908 • 1910 • 1918 • 1929 • 1932 • 1935 • 1938 • 1945

Division
Championships

Eastern	1984 • 1989

Central	2003 • 2007 • 2008

Wild Card	1998

Minor league
affiliates

Iowa Cubs (AAA) • Tennessee Smokies (AA) • Daytona Cubs (A) • Peoria Chiefs (A) • Boise Hawks (A) • Arizona League Cubs (Rookie) • DSL Cubs1 (Rookie) • DSL Cubs2 (Rookie)

Other assets

Comcast SportsNet Chicago • WGN

Seasons (140)

1870s	1870 • 1871 • 1872 • 1873 • 1874 • 1875 • 1876 • 1877 • 1878 • 1879

1880s	1880 • 1881 • 1882 • 1883 • 1884 • 1885 • 1886 • 1887 • 1888 • 1889

1890s	1890 • 1891 • 1892 • 1893 • 1894 • 1895 • 1896 • 1897 • 1898 • 1899

1900s	1900 • 1901 • 1902 • 1903 • 1904 • 1905 • 1906 • 1907 • 1908 • 1909

1910s	1910 • 1911 • 1912 • 1913 • 1914 • 1915 • 1916 • 1917 • 1918 • 1919

1920s	1920 • 1921 • 1922 • 1923 • 1924 • 1925 • 1926 • 1927 • 1928 • 1929

1930s	1930 • 1931 • 1932 • 1933 • 1934 • 1935 • 1936 • 1937 • 1938 • 1939

1940s	1940 • 1941 • 1942 • 1943 • 1944 • 1945 • 1946 • 1947 • 1948 • 1949

1950s	1950 • 1951 • 1952 • 1953 • 1954 • 1955 • 1956 • 1957 • 1958 • 1959

1960s	1960 • 1961 • 1962 • 1963 • 1964 • 1965 • 1966 • 1967 • 1968 • 1969

1970s	1970 • 1971 • 1972 • 1973 • 1974 • 1975 • 1976 • 1977 • 1978 • 1979

1980s	1980 • 1981 • 1982 • 1983 • 1984 • 1985 • 1986 • 1987 • 1988 • 1989

1990s	1990 • 1991 • 1992 • 1993 • 1994 • 1995 • 1996 • 1997 • 1998 • 1999

2000s	2000 • 2001 • 2002 • 2003 • 2004 • 2005 • 2006 • 2007 • 2008 • 2009

2010s	2010 • 2011 • 2012

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