2004 Chicago Cubs

In 2003, the Chicago Cubs made history. Their playoff victory against the Atlanta Braves in first round was the first time the Cubs had won a postseason series since 1908. Controversy surrounded their loss in the National League Championship Series against the Florida Marlins, who won in seven games. 2004 is expected to be the year the Cubs return to the World Series, but they will probably get there via the wild card spot. Regardless of their recent success, fans have flocked to Wrigley Field for Cubs games for decades, with close to three million tickets changing hands every year.

No major league team has continuously represented the same city longer than the Chicago Cubs and their predecessors, who date back to 1870. Chicago's first star was Cap Anson, one of the premier batsmen of the 19th century, who led the team to the first championship of the National League in 1876.

Chicago fielded many powerful teams from 1876 to 1910. In 1906 the Cubs set the record for most wins in the regular season. In 1907 and 1908 the Cubs won consecutive World Series titles, but since then the team has established the longest championship drought in major league baseball.

The Chicago White Stockings club, the predecessor of the Cubs, was formed in 1870 to challenge the Cincinnati Red Stockings (now the Reds), baseball's first professional team. The first professional league, the National Association, was founded the next year. Frustrated by players jumping from one team to another in search of higher pay, White Stockings president William Hulbert founded the National League in 1876 to provide regularly scheduled games, professional umpires, and better relations between players and owners. The team's first manager was Albert Spalding, a star pitcher who left the game in 1878 to build his sporting goods company. Anson replaced Spalding and led the White Stockings to five NL titles during his first seven years as manager.

After a sportswriter noted that the team played like bear cubs, the team adopted the name Cubs in 1902. The change marked the beginning of Chicago's second dynasty. Under managers Frank Selee and Frank Chance, the Chicago Cubs earned four NL pennants and two World Series victories from 1902 to 1912.

After the Cubs lost the 1945 World Series, Chicago fell to the bottom of the NL despite the contributions of several future Hall of Fame players. Ernie Banks, who joined the team in 1953, became one of the greatest power-hitting shortstops in major league history, although he never played in a postseason game. Known simply as Mr. Cub, Banks in 1958 became the first member of a team with a losing record to be named the NL's most valuable player (MVP). A year later he became the first NL player to win back-to-back MVP awards.

In 1984 the Cubs made their first postseason appearance in 39 years, although they lost in the NL Championship Series to the San Diego Padres. Second baseman Ryne Sandberg was named NL MVP, pitcher Rick Sutcliffe won the Cy Young Award, and Jim Frey was named the league's manager of the year. They won the division championship again in 1989, won a wild card spot in 1998, and finally made it past the first round in 2003.