With their victory over the Pirates on Monday, the Chicago Cubs reached the 100-win mark in a season for the sixth time in franchise history and the first time since 1935. According to Elias Sports Bureau research, the 80 seasons between 100-win campaigns is the second-longest in major league history (the Braves are first, with 94 seasons).
A lot has changed since the most recent time the Cubs won 100 games:
In 1935, the Cubs were led in home runs by Phil Klein, with 21. That was good for seventh in the National League and tied for 13th in all of baseball. The 1935 Cubs had three players with double-digit home runs on the season.
The 2016 Cubs are led in home runs by Kris Bryant, with 39, second in the NL. They have nine different players with 10 or more home runs on the season.
Bryant is the only Cub with 100 runs scored this season, and he leads the NL with 120. The 1935 Cubs had two such players, including outfielder Augie Galan, who led the major leagues with 133 that season.
Although the 2016 Cubs have more home run power, the 1935 Cubs had a higher batting average. That year’s team hit .288, best in the NL and second in the major leagues. They had five players hit over .300 while qualifying for the batting title, led by Gabby Hartnett, whose .344 average ranked sixth in the majors.
The 2016 Cubs have no qualified hitters batting over .300. The team leader is Bryant at .295. The Cubs are hitting .257 as a team, which is slightly above the major league average of .255. The major league average in 1935 was .279.
An area in which the two teams are similar offensively is on-base percentage. The 1935 Cubs led the National League with a .347 OBP. The 2016 Cubs also lead the NL with a .344 clip.
This year’s Cubs team leads the major leagues in innings pitched (960 1/3) and ERA (2.89) from their starting pitching staff. The 1935 Cubs' starting pitching staff had an ERA of 3.21 but did so throwing 1102 1/3 innings. Their pitchers threw a complete game in more than half their games (81), and seven pitchers threw a complete game that season. The 2016 Cubs have the most complete games in the NL and are tied for fourth in the majors with five.
In 1935, the Cubs had two different pitchers record 100 or more strikeouts (Bill Lee and Lon Warneke). That tied for the most in the majors that season.
This season, all five of the Cubs' starting pitchers have at least 144 strikeouts. Closer Aroldis Chapman has 85 strikeouts in 56 innings pitched between the Cubs and New York Yankees this season.
The Cubs won 100 or more games four times prior to the Live Ball Era, in 1906, 1907, 1909 and 1910. Kris Bryant has more home runs this season than the entire Cubs team did in each of those four seasons.
