Chicago Cubs Rooftops History

The Great Chicago Fire destroyed the club's ballpark, uniforms and records toward the end of the 1871 season.

The club completed its schedule, finishing second in the National Association that year, but was forced to drop out of the league for the next two seasons as a result.

In 1875, Chicago acquired several key players from the Boston Red Stockings, including pitcher Al Spalding and first baseman Cap Anson, who would later become the team leader and manager for almost twenty seasons.

Anson was arguably the best player in baseball in his day, though he is chiefly remembered today for his role in establishing baseball's color line than for his playing and managerial skill.

After Chance took over as manager for the ailing Frank Selee in 1905, the Cubs won four pennants and two World Series titles over a five-year span.

Their record of 116 victories in 1906 (in a 154-game season) has not been broken, though it was tied by the Seattle Mariners in 2001, in a 162-game season.

The Cubs relied on dominant pitching during this period, featuring hurlers such as Mordecai "Three-Finger" Brown, Jack Taylor, Ed Reulbach, Jack Pfiester and Orval Overall, who posted a record for lowest staff earned-run average that still stands today.

It can't go without mention that the Cubs have the longest dry spell between championships in all of professional sports, having failed to win a World Series since 1908.

To make matters worse, the Cubs haven't even been in a World Series since 1945, before there were divisions. They didn't win any playoff series between 1945 and 2003, when they beat the Atlanta Braves in the NLDS.

The Chicago Cubs Rooftops were full to capacity when the Cubs 2003 playoff run ended in an emotional game 7 of the NLCS against the Florida Marlins.

While at one point ahead in the 7-game series 3 games to 1, the Marlins came back to win the final three games, to the dismay of the Chicago Cubs roof tops fans.

Marlins pitcher Josh Beckett shut out the Cubs in game 5. An implosion of the Cubs defense late in game 6, following a now-infamous incident of a fan named Steve Bartman touching a ball in foul territory, allowed the Marlins to score 8 runs in the eighth inning inning and tie the series.

The Cubs were unable to win the final game at home, and the Cubs were without a pennant again. What may be the least known and cried over but possibly the most telling statistic of futility for the Cubs, though, is that they haven't had back-to-back winning seasons since 1973.

In spite of the lack of division titles, playoff appearances  and winning seasons, the Cubs are perennially in the top 10 in the league in attendance.