With the World Series under way, Chicago baseball fans once again find themselves in the familiar role of the eunuch in a harem. Those lamenting our annual place on the sidelines would do well to remember that a Chicago team, the Cubs, was the first major league franchise to win back-to-back World Series, beating the Detroit Tigers in two consecutive fall classics. Of course, that was in 1907 and 1908. Since then, the Cubs have won bubkis. They were in the World Series in 1910, 1918, 1929, 1932, 1935, 1938 and 1945, but lost them all, and their playoff failures in 1984 and 1989 are well-known.
In the 50 seasons since 1945, the Cubs have won 3,641 regular season games and lost 4,186, making them a mere 273 games under .500. Their overall winning percentage is .465.
Through the 50-year dry spell, the Cubs have batted .255 with a 4.00 earned run average, and are an astonishing 1,0381Z2 games out of first place.
