1976 Chicago Cubs season

1976 Chicago Cubs
Major League affiliations
National League (since 1876)
Eastern Division (since 1969)
Location
Wrigley Field (since 1916)
Chicago (since 1870)
Other information
Owner(s)	Philip K. Wrigley
General manager(s)	Salty Saltwell
Manager(s)	Jim Marshall
Local television	WGN-TV (Jack Brickhouse, Jim West)
Local radio	WGN (Vince Lloyd, Lou Boudreau)
Stats	ESPN.com BB-reference
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The 1976 Chicago Cubs season was the 105th season of the Chicago Cubs franchise, the 101st in the National League and the 61st at Wrigley Field. The Cubs finished fourth in the National League East with a record of 75–87.

Offseason

• October 28, 1975: Don Kessinger was traded by the Cubs to the St. Louis Cardinals for Mike Garman and a player to be named later. The Cardinals completed the deal by sending Bobby Hrapmann (minors) to the Cubs on April 5, 1976.^[1]
• December 22, 1975, Vic Harris was traded by the Cubs to the St. Louis Cardinals for Mick Kelleher.^[2]

Regular season

• April 17, 1976: Mike Schmidt of the Philadelphia Phillies hit four home runs in one game against the Cubs.^[3] In that game, the Phillies and Cubs combined for thirty-four runs in a game which featured nine home runs.^[4] The Cubs had blown a 13-2 lead at Wrigley on April 17, losing to the Phillies 18-16 when Mike Schmidt hits his fourth home run of the game in the 10th inning.^[5]
• April 25, 1976: In the fourth inning of a game against the Los Angeles Dodgers at Dodger Stadium, Cubs outfielder Rick Monday noticed two protesters kneeling on the grass in left-center field, with the apparent intention of burning an American flag. He grabbed the flag and brought it to the bullpen. The crowd at Dodger fans started singing God Bless America while the fans were escorted out of the stadium.^[6] Monday was later presented with the flag in a ceremony at Wrigley Field by Dodgers executive Al Campanis. In the 2000s, the Baseball Hall of Fame recently named Monday's act as one of the 100 Classic Moments in the history of the game.^[7]

Season standings

NL East	W	L	Pct.	GB	Home	Road
Philadelphia Phillies	101	61	0.623	—	53–28	48–33
Pittsburgh Pirates	92	70	0.568	9	47–34	45–36
New York Mets	86	76	0.531	15	45–37	41–39
Chicago Cubs	75	87	0.463	26	42–39	33–48
St. Louis Cardinals	72	90	0.444	29	37–44	35–46
Montreal Expos	55	107	0.340	46	27–53	28–54

Record vs. opponents

1976 National League Records Sources:
Team	ATL	CHC	CIN	HOU	LAD	MON	NYM	PHI	PIT	SD	SF	STL
Atlanta	—	6–6	6–12	7–11	8–10	8–4	4–8	5–7	3–9	10–8	9–9	4–8
Chicago	6–6	—	3–9	5–7	3–9	11–7	5–13	8–10	8–10	6–6	8–4	12–6
Cincinnati	12–6	9–3	—	12–6	13–5	9–3	6–6	5–7	8–4	13–5	9–9	6–6
Houston	11–7	7–5	6–12	—	5–13	10–2	6–6	4–8	2–10	10–8	10–8	9–3
Los Angeles	10–8	9–3	5–13	13–5	—	10–2	7–5	5–7	9–3	6–12	8–10	10–2
Montreal	4–8	7–11	3–9	2–10	2–10	—	8–10	3–15	8–10	4–8	7–5	7–11
New York	8–4	13–5	6–6	6–6	5–7	10–8	—	5–13	10–8	7–5	7–5	9–9
Philadelphia	7-5	10–8	7–5	8–4	7–5	15–3	13–5	—	8–10	8–4	6–6	12–6
Pittsburgh	9–3	10–8	4–8	10–2	3–9	10–8	8–10	10–8	—	7–5	9–3	12–6
San Diego	8–10	6–6	5–13	8–10	12–6	8–4	5–7	4–8	5–7	—	8–10	4–8
San Francisco	9–9	4–8	9–9	8–10	10–8	5–7	5–7	6–6	3–9	10–8	—	5–7
St. Louis	8–4	6–12	6–6	3–9	2–10	11–7	9–9	6–12	6–12	8–4	7–5	—

Notable transactions

• April 19, 1976: Tim Hosley was selected off waivers from the Cubs by the Oakland Athletics.^[8]
• April 22, 1976: Tom Dettore was released by the Cubs.^[9]
• May 17, 1976: Andre Thornton was traded by the Cubs to the Montreal Expos for Steve Renko and Larry Biittner.^[10]
• June 8, 1976: Joe Coleman was purchased by the Cubs from the Detroit Tigers.^[11]
• June 8, 1976: Keith Drumright was drafted by the Cubs in the 4th round of the 1976 Major League Baseball draft.^[12]
• September 8, 1976: Ramón Hernández was purchased by the Cubs from the Pittsburgh Pirates.^[13]

Roster

1976 Chicago Cubs
Roster
Pitchers 33 Bill Bonham 34 Ray Burris 31 Joe Coleman 39 Ken Crosby 31 Tom Dettore 47 Ken Frailing 44 Mike Garman 36 Ramón Hernández 32 Darold Knowles 40 Mike Krukow 50 Steve Renko 43 Paul Reuschel 48 Rick Reuschel 35 Buddy Schultz 30 Steve Stone 42 Bruce Sutter 38 Geoff Zahn 45 Oscar Zamora		Catchers  6 Tim Hosley 15 George Mitterwald  8 Ed Putman  9 Steve Swisher Infielders 26 Larry Biittner 20 Mick Kelleher 23 Pete LaCock 18 Bill Madlock 17 Dave Rosello 16 Rob Sperring 12 Jerry Tabb 12 Andre Thornton 19 Manny Trillo		Outfielders 21 Mike Adams  1 José Cardenal  7 Rick Monday 24 Jerry Morales 27 Champ Summers 22 Wayne Tyrone 28 Joe Wallis Other batters  6 Tim Hosley		Manager 25 Jim Marshall Coaches  3 Jack Bloomfield  4 Harry Dunlop 46 Marv Grissom  2 Jim Saul

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
SS	Kelleher, MickMick Kelleher	124	337	77	.228	0	22
LF	Cardenal, JoséJosé Cardenal	136	521	156	.299	8	47
CF	Monday, RickRick Monday	137	534	145	.272	32	77

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
Wallis, JoeJoe Wallis	121	338	86	.254	5	21
Biittner, LarryLarry Biittner	78	192	47	.245	0	17
Thornton, AndreAndre Thornton	27	85	17	.200	2	14
Adams, MikeMike Adams	25	29	4	.138	0	2
Tabb, JerryJerry Tabb	11	24	7	.292	0	0
Putman, EdEd Putman	5	7	3	.429	0	0
Hosley, TimTim Hosley	1	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
Burris, RayRay Burris	37	249	15	13	3.11	112
Bonham, BillBill Bonham	32	196	9	13	4.27	110
Renko, SteveSteve Renko	28	163.1	8	11	3.86	112
Stone, SteveSteve Stone	17	75	3	6	4.08	33

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
Zahn, GeoffGeoff Zahn	3	8.1	0	1	10.80	4

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
Garman, MikeMike Garman	47	2	4	1	4.95	37
Zamora, OscarOscar Zamora	40	5	3	3	5.24	27
Coleman, JoeJoe Coleman	39	2	8	4	4.10	66
Crosby, KenKen Crosby	7	0	0	0	12.00	5
Dettore, TomTom Dettore	4	0	1	0	10.29	4
Hernández, RamónRamón Hernández	2	0	0	0	0.00	1

Farm system

Level	Team	League	Manager
AAA	Wichita Aeros	American Association	Doc Edwards
AA	Midland Cubs	Texas League	Dennis Sommers
A	Pompano Beach Cubs	Florida State League	Jack Hiatt
Rookie	GCL Cubs	Gulf Coast League	Walt Dixon

Notes

1. Don Kessinger at Baseball-Reference
2. Vic Harris at Baseball-Reference
3. Retrosheet box score: Phillies vs. Cubs 04/17/76
4. Baseball Almanac box score: Phillies vs. Cubs 04/17/76
5. http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/page2/story?page=cubs/7079
6. The Cubs, by Glenn Stout, Richard A. Johnson, Dick Johnson, p.302, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishers, 2007, ISBN 978-0-618-59500-6
7. Resnick, Joe (April 22, 2006). "Rick Monday Saved the Flag 30 Years Ago". The Washington Post. Retrieved April 20, 2010.
8. Tim Hosley at Baseball-Reference
9. Tom Dettore at Baseball-Reference
10. Andre Thornton at Baseball-Reference
11. Joe Coleman at Baseball-Reference
12. Keith Drumright at Baseball-Reference
13. Ramón Hernández at Baseball-Reference

References

• Johnson, Lloyd; Wolff, Miles, eds. (1997). The Encyclopedia of Minor League Baseball (2nd ed.). Durham, North Carolina: Baseball America. ISBN 978-0-9637189-8-3.
• 1976 Chicago Cubs season at Baseball Reference