The 1988 Chicago Cubs season was the 117th season of the Chicago Cubs franchise, the 113th in the National League and the 73rd at Wrigley Field. The Cubs finished fourth in the National League East with a record of 77–85, 24 games behind the New York Mets.
The first game under lights at Wrigley Field was on August 8 (8/8/88), against the Philadelphia Phillies. With the Cubs leading 3–1, in the middle of the 4th inning, a powerful thunderstorm rolled in. The game was suspended, and finally called at 10:25PM. Since the rules of Major League Baseball state that a game is not official unless 5 innings are completed,Rule 4.10(c)(1) mlb.com the first official night game in the history of Wrigley Field was played on August 9, when the Cubs defeated the New York Mets 6 to 4.
Offseason
October 23, 1987: Dickie Noles was returned to the Chicago Cubs by the Detroit Tigers as part of earlier loan. December 8, 1987: Lee Smith was traded by the Chicago Cubs to the Boston Red Sox for Al Nipper and Calvin Schiraldi.Lee Smith Statistics Baseball-Reference.com December 14, 1987: Vance Law was signed as a free agent with the Chicago Cubs.Vance Law Statistics Baseball-Reference.com February 12, 1988: Goose Gossage was traded by the San Diego Padres with Ray Hayward to the Chicago Cubs for Keith Moreland and Mike Brumley.Rich Gossage Statistics Baseball-Reference.com March 31, 1988: Mike Bielecki was traded by the Pittsburgh Pirates to the Chicago Cubs for Mike Curtis (minors).
Regular season
President of the United States Ronald Reagan threw out the ceremonial first pitch on Opening Day at Wrigley Field.
After 5,687 consecutive day games played by the Cubs at Wrigley, the lights were finally lit on August 8, 1988, when 91-year-old fan Harry Grossman gave a countdown and pressed a button, for a game with the Philadelphia Phillies. The game began before an announced crowd of 39,008. The Cubs were leading 3 to 1 and coming to bat in the bottom of the fourth when the rain delay began. The umpires called the game after waiting two hours, ten minutes. The Cubs played the first official night game the following night against the Mets and won, 6–4.The Cubs get lights at Wrigley Field <20 years ago this year>, Chicago Tribune, Phil Vettel, Jan. 3, 2008.
Season standings
Record vs. opponents
Notable transactions July 14, 1988: Dave Martinez was traded by the Cubs to the Montreal Expos for Mitch Webster. July 15, 1988: Jim Sundberg was released by the Chicago Cubs.Jim Sundberg Statistics Baseball-Reference.com
Roster 1988 Chicago Cubs Roster Pitchers
Catchers
Infielders
Outfielders
Manager
Coaches
Player stats = Indicates team leader 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 C Damon Berryhill 98 309 80 .259 7 38 1B Mark Grace 134 486 144 .296 7 57 2B Ryne Sandberg 155 618 163 .264 19 69 SS Shawon Dunston 155 575 143 .249 9 56 3B Vance Law 151 556 163 .293 11 78 LF Rafael Palmeiro 152 580 178 .307 8 53 CF Dave Martinez 75 256 65 .254 4 34 RF Andre Dawson 157 591 179 .303 24 79
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 Mitch Webster 70 264 70 .265 4 26 Jody Davis 88 249 57 .229 6 33 Darrin Jackson 100 188 50 .266 6 20 Manny Trillo 76 164 41 .250 1 14 Doug Dascenzo 26 75 16 .213 0 4 Leon Durham 24 73 16 .219 3 6 Gary Varsho 46 73 20 .274 0 5 Jerry Mumphrey 63 66 9 .136 0 9 34 60 15 .250 0 1 Jim Sundberg 24 54 13 .241 2 9 Rolando Roomes 17 16 3 .188 0 0 Rick Wrona 4 6 0 .000 0 0 Dave Meier 2 5 2 .400 0 1
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 Greg Maddux 34 249.0 18 8 3.18 140 Rick Sutcliffe 32 226.0 13 14 3.86 144 Jamie Moyer 34 202.0 9 15 3.48 121 Calvin Schiraldi 29 166.1 9 13 4.38 140 Mike Harkey 5 34.2 0 3 2.60 18 Kevin Blankenship 1 5.0 1 0 7.20 4 Bob Tewksbury 1 3.1 0 0 8.10 1
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 Jeff Pico 29 112.2 6 7 4.15 57 Al Nipper 22 80.0 2 4 3.04 27 Mike Bielecki 19 48.1 2 2 3.35 33
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 Rich Gossage 46 4 4 13 4.33 30 Frank DiPino 63 2 3 6 4.98 69 Les Lancaster 44 4 6 5 3.78 36 Pat Perry 35 2 2 1 3.32 24 Mike Capel 22 2 1 0 4.91 19 Drew Hall 19 1 1 1 7.66 22 Scott Sanderson 11 1 2 0 5.28 6 Bill Landrum 7 1 0 0 5.84 6
Awards and honors
Ryne Sandberg, Gold Glove Award
All-Star Game Ryne Sandberg, 2B, Starter Andre Dawson, OF, Starter Shawon Dunston, SS, Reserve Vance Law, 3B, Reserve Greg Maddux, Pitcher, Reserve Rafael Palmeiro, OF, Reserve
Farm system
Johnson, Lloyd, and Wolff, Miles, ed., The Encyclopedia of Minor League Baseball, 2nd edition. Durham, North Carolina: Baseball America, 1997
Notes
References 1988 Chicago Cubs season at Baseball Reference