The 1977 Chicago Cubs season was the 106th season of the Chicago Cubs franchise, the 102nd in the National League and the 62nd at Wrigley Field. The Cubs finished fourth in the National League East with a record of 81–81, 20 games behind the Philadelphia Phillies.

Offseason On November 24, 1976, Bob Kennedy was named head of baseball operations for the Cubs. His first move was to inform Jim Marshall that he was fired as manager. Salty Saltwell‚ after a year as general manager‚ was named secretary and director of park operations. After Leo Durocher turned down an offer from Cubs owner Philip K. Wrigley to manage the Cubs for the 1977 season, Herman Franks‚ who had briefly been a Cubs coach under Leo Durocher‚ was named the new manager.

Notable transactions December 6, 1976: Willie Hernández was drafted by the Cubs from the Philadelphia Phillies in the 1976 rule 5 draft.Willie Hernández page at Baseball Reference December 8, 1976: Julio González was traded by the Cubs to the Houston Astros for Greg Gross.Julio González page at Baseball Reference January 11, 1977: Rick Monday and Mike Garman were traded by Cubs to the Los Angeles Dodgers for Bill Buckner, Iván DeJesús and Jeff Albert (minors).Bill Buckner page at Baseball Reference January 17, 1977: Geoff Zahn was released by the Cubs.Geoff Zahn page at Baseball Reference February 5, 1977: Darold Knowles was traded by the Cubs to the Texas Rangers for a player to be named later and cash. The Rangers completed the trade by sending Gene Clines to the Cubs on February 15.Darold Knowles page at Baseball Reference February 11, 1977: Bill Madlock and Rob Sperring were traded by the Cubs to the San Francisco Giants for Bobby Murcer, Steve Ontiveros, and Andy Muhlstock (minors).Bill Madlock page at Baseball Reference February 16, 1977: Champ Summers was traded by the Cubs to the Cincinnati Reds for Dave Schneck.Champ Summers page at Baseball Reference February 28, 1977: Buddy Schultz was traded by the Cubs to the St. Louis Cardinals for Mark Covert (minors).Buddy Schultz page at Baseball Reference March 15, 1977: Joe Coleman was traded by the Cubs to the Oakland Athletics for Jim Todd.Jim Todd page at Baseball Reference March 15, 1977: Jerry Tabb was purchased from the Cubs by the Oakland Athletics.Jerry Tabb page at Baseball Reference March 15, 1977: Jim Tyrone was traded by the Cubs to the Oakland Athletics for Gaylen Pitts.Jim Tyrone page at Baseball Reference

Regular season In 1977, the franchise experienced one of its biggest collapses. The Cubs hit a high-water mark on June 28 at 47–22 with an 8½-game National League East lead led by Bobby Murcer, who had 27 home runs and 89 RBI overall during the season, and Rick Reuschel, who had a record of 20–10. However, the Philadelphia Phillies cut the lead to two by the All-Star break, as the Cubs sat 19 games over .500, and the Cubs swooned late in the season, going 20–40 after July 31, finishing in fourth place at 81–81.

On July 28, with the Cubs down 14–10 in the eighth inning of a game against the Cincinnati Reds, the Cubs pinch-hit for both of their middle infielders, replacing shortstop Iván DeJesús with José Cardenal and second baseman Mick Kelleher with Greg Gross. The Cubs scored three runs, making the score 14–13 going into the ninth inning. Since both replacements were typically outfielders, and the Cubs had just one player left on the bench who normally played middle infield to enter the game in the ninth inning, utilityman Dave Rosello, the Cubs allowed Cardenal to stay in the game and play second base while Rosello entered the game at shortstop. Rosello and Cardenal alternated between the two positions during the ninth inning depending on whether the batter was a left-handed or right-handed hitter. The Reds failed to score in the ninth, and the Cubs tied the game, forcing extra innings. At that point, the Cubs moved Cardenal to right field, and brought Bobby Murcer in to play the infield instead, continuing to flip-flop the positioning of Rosello and Murcer for the remainder of the game, which wound up going thirteen innings. In all, Rosello wound up switching positions twelve times, and Murcer eight times.Yankee for Life, Bobby Murcer and Glen Waggoner, p.105, Harper Collins, 2008, New York, July 28, 1977, box score from Baseball-Reference

Season standings

Record vs. opponents

Notable transactions April 20, 1977: The Cubs traded a player to be named later to the Seattle Mariners for Pete Broberg. The Cubs completed the deal by sending Jim Todd to the Mariners on October 25. May 28, 1977: Ramón Hernández was traded by the Cubs to the Boston Red Sox for Bobby Darwin.Ramón Hernández page at Baseball Reference June 7, 1977: Terry Francona was drafted by the Cubs in the 2nd round of the 1977 Major League Baseball draft, but did not sign.Terry Francona page at Baseball Reference August 23, 1977: Bobby Darwin was released by the Cubs.Bobby Darwin page at Baseball Reference September 28, 1977: Rudy Meoli was purchased by the Cubs from the Cincinnati Reds.Rudy Meoli page at Baseball Reference

Roster 1977 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 George Mitterwald 110 349 83 .238 9 43 1B 122 426 121 .284 11 60 2B 152 504 141 .280 7 57 3B 156 546 163 .299 10 68 SS 155 624 166 .266 3 40 LF 100 226 54 .239 3 18 CF 136 490 142 .290 11 69 RF 154 554 147 .265 27 89

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 138 493 147 .298 12 62 115 239 77 .322 5 32 101 239 70 .293 3 41 Steve Swisher 74 205 39 .190 5 15 Mick Kelleher 63 122 28 .230 0 11 Dave Rosello 56 82 18 .220 1 9 56 80 20 .250 2 8 Mike Gordon 8 23 1 .043 0 2 11 12 2 .167 0 0 Mike Sember 3 4 1 .250 0 0 Randy Hundley 2 4 0 .000 0 0 Mike Adams 2 2 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 39 252.0 20 10 2.79 166 39 221.0 14 16 4.72 105 34 214.2 10 13 4.36 134 Mike Krukow 34 172.0 8 14 4.40 106

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 17 53.0 1 1 3.23 23 Steve Renko 13 51.1 2 2 4.56 34 Dennis Lamp 11 30.0 0 2 6.30 12

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 Bruce Sutter 62 7 3 31 1.34 129 Paul Reuschel 69 5 6 4 4.37 62 67 8 7 4 3.03 78 Donnie Moore 27 4 2 0 4.07 34 22 1 2 0 4.75 20 20 1 1 0 9.10 17 20 0 2 1 6.04 15 6 0 0 1 8.22 4 Larry Biittner 1 0 0 0 40.50 3

Farm system

Notes

References

1977 Chicago Cubs season at Baseball Reference