50 best MLB teams that didn’t win the World Series
Lost in the World Series. 1906 Chicago Cubs. 4. player. 9. . 116-36
The 1906 Chicago Cubs won 116 games, which set a Major League Baseball record for wins in a season that has never been broken (only tied by the 2001 Seattle Mariners). The Cubs’ .763 winning percentage in the regular season is one record that is likely to never be broken, because a modern big league club would need to go 123-39 to do it.
Chicago dominated the National League, beating the second place New York Giants by 20 games in the standings. The Cubs roster featured three eventual Hall of Famers, infielders Joe Tinker and Johnny Evers (one of the most famous double play combinations in the game, along with first baseman Frank Chance), as well as pitcher Mordecai “Three Finger” Brown.
Brown led an absolutely masterful pitching staff that recorded a team ERA of 1.75 for the season. The right-hander posted a 26-6 record with a 1.04 ERA in 277.1 innings across 36 games, including 32 starts (27 complete games). He tossed nine shutouts and struck out 144 hitters. Jack Pfiester, Ed Reulbach, Jack Taylor and Orvall Overall all posted ERAs below 2.00 in at least 14 starts, and Carl Lundgren had a 2.21 ERA in 24 starts.
In an obviously very different era, the offensive star of the club was third baseman Harry Steinfeldt, who led the club with a .327 average and 83 RBI. Frank Schulte had a team-high seven home runs, and Frank Chance added 71 RBI.
The 1906 season was the year that Chicago ruled the baseball world, and the Cubs lost to the Chicago White Sox in the World Series four games to two. The Cubs did win their first World Series in 1907, and repeated in 1908, but haven’t won since.
Next: 1931 Philadelphia Athletics