The 1981 Chicago Cubs season was the 110th season of the Chicago Cubs franchise, the 106th in the National League and the 66th at Wrigley Field. The Cubs finished the first-half in last place at 15–37, 17½ games behind the Philadelphia Phillies, and the second-half in fifth place at 23–28, six games behind the eventual NL East Champion Montreal Expos in the National League East. It was also the final season for the Cubs under the Wrigley family ownership, as the Tribune Company took over the club late in the year.

Offseason December 9, 1980: Bruce Sutter was traded by the Cubs to the St. Louis Cardinals for Leon Durham, Ken Reitz, and a player to be named later. The Cardinals completed the deal by sending Tye Waller to the Cubs on December 22.Bruce Sutter at Baseball Reference December 12, 1980: Jerry Martin, Jesús Figueroa and a player to be named later was traded by the Cubs to the San Francisco Giants for Joe Strain and Philip Nastu. The Cubs completed the deal by sending Mike Turgeon (minors) to the Giants on August 11, 1981.Joe Strain at Baseball Reference February 26, 1981: George Riley was released by the Cubs.George Riley at Baseball Reference March 28, 1981: Dennis Lamp was traded by the Cubs to the Chicago White Sox for Ken Kravec. at Baseball Reference

Regular season

Season standings

Record vs. opponents

Notable transactions April 6, 1981: Butch Benton was acquired by the Cubs from the New York Mets as part of a conditional deal.Butch Benton at Baseball Reference June 8, 1981: Joe Carter was drafted by the Cubs in the 1st round (2nd pick) of the 1981 Major League Baseball draft. Player signed June 12, 1981.Joe Carter at Baseball Reference June 12, 1981: Rick Reuschel was traded by the Cubs to the New York Yankees for Doug Bird, a player to be named later, and $400,000. The Yankees completed the trade by sending Mike Griffin on August 5.Rick Reuschel at Baseball Reference August 19, 1981: The Cubs traded players to be named later to the New York Yankees for Pat Tabler. The Cubs completed the trade by sending Bill Caudill to the Yankees on April 1, 1982, and Jay Howell to the Yankees on August 2, 1982.Pat Tabler at Baseball Reference

Roster 1981 Chicago Cubs Roster Pitchers Catchers

Infielders Outfielders

Other batters 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 Jody Davis 56 180 46 .256 4 21 1B Bill Buckner 106 421 131 .311 10 75 2B Pat Tabler 35 101 19 .188 1 5 SS Iván DeJesús 106 403 78 .194 0 13 3B 82 260 56 .215 2 28 LF Steve Henderson 82 287 84 .293 5 35 CF Jerry Morales 84 245 70 .286 1 25 RF 87 328 95 .290 10 35

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 Bobby Bonds 45 163 35 .215 6 19 Tim Blackwell 58 158 37 .234 1 11 Steve Dillard 53 119 26 .218 2 11 Scot Thompson 57 115 19 .165 0 8 Héctor Cruz 53 109 25 .229 7 15 Mike Tyson 50 92 17 .185 2 8 Joe Strain 25 74 14 .189 0 1 30 71 19 .268 3 13 Jim Tracy 45 63 15 .238 0 5 Mike Lum 41 58 14 .241 2 7 Scott Fletcher 19 46 10 .217 0 1 Barry Foote 9 22 0 .000 0 1 Carlos Lezcano 7 14 1 .071 0 2 Mel Hall 10 11 1 .091 1 2 Gene Krug 7 5 2 .400 0 0 Bill Hayes 1 0 0 ---- 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 Mike Krukow 25 144.1 9 9 3.68 101 Rick Reuschel 13 85.2 4 7 3.47 53 12 75.1 4 5 3.58 34

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 Randy Martz 33 107.2 5 7 3.68 32 Ken Kravec 24 78.1 1 6 5.06 50 Bill Caudill 30 71.0 1 5 5.83 45 Lynn McGlothen 20 54.2 1 4 4.77 26 Mike Griffin 16 52.0 2 5 4.50 20 Jay Howell 10 22.1 2 0 4.84 10 11 16.0 2 0 0.56 7

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 Dick Tidrow 51 3 10 9 5.06 39 Doug Capilla 42 1 0 0 3.18 28 Lee Smith 40 3 6 1 3.51 50 Rawly Eastwick 30 0 1 1 2.28 24 Willie Hernández 12 0 0 2 3.95 13

Farm system

Notes

References

1981 Chicago Cubs season at Baseball Reference