# 1976 Chicago Cubs season

The 1976 Chicago Cubs season was the 105th season of the Chicago Cubs franchise, the 101st in the National League and the 61st at Wrigley Field. The Cubs finished fourth in the National League East with a record of 75–87.

## Offseason

* October 28, 1975: Don Kessinger was traded by the Cubs to the St. Louis Cardinals for Mike Garman and a player to be named later. The Cardinals completed the deal by sending Bobby Hrapmann (minors) to the Cubs on April 5, 1976.
* December 22, 1975, Vic Harris was traded by the Cubs to the St. Louis Cardinals for Mick Kelleher.

## Regular season

* April 17, 1976: Mike Schmidt of the Philadelphia Phillies hit four consecutive home runs in one game against the Cubs. In the game, the Phillies and Cubs combined for thirty-four runs in a game which featured nine home runs. The Cubs had blown a 13–2 lead at Wrigley, losing to the Phillies 18–16 when Schmidt hit his fourth home run in the 10th inning.
* April 25, 1976: In the fourth inning of a game against the Los Angeles Dodgers at Dodger Stadium, Cubs outfielder Rick Monday noticed two protesters kneeling on the grass in left-center field, with the apparent intention of burning an American flag. He grabbed the flag and brought it to the bullpen. The crowd at Dodger fans started singing "God Bless America" while the fans were escorted out of the stadium. Monday was later presented with the flag in a ceremony at Wrigley Field by Dodgers executive Al Campanis. In the 2000s, the Baseball Hall of Fame recently named Monday's act as one of the 100 Classic Moments in the history of the game.

### Season standings

vteNL East :
| Team | W | L | Pct. | GB | Home | Road |
| Philadelphia Phillies | 101 | 61 | .623 | — | 53‍–‍28 | 48‍–‍33 |
| Pittsburgh Pirates | 92 | 70 | .568 | 9 | 47‍–‍34 | 45‍–‍36 |
| New York Mets | 86 | 76 | .531 | 15 | 45‍–‍37 | 41‍–‍39 |
| Chicago Cubs | 75 | 87 | .463 | 26 | 42‍–‍39 | 33‍–‍48 |
| St. Louis Cardinals | 72 | 90 | .444 | 29 | 37‍–‍44 | 35‍–‍46 |
| Montreal Expos | 55 | 107 | .340 | 46 | 27‍–‍53 | 28‍–‍54 |

### Record vs. opponents

1976 National League recordvte Sources: :
| Team | ATL | CHC | CIN | HOU | LAD | MON | NYM | PHI | PIT | SD | SF | STL |
| Atlanta | — | 6–6 | 6–12 | 7–11 | 8–10 | 8–4 | 4–8 | 5–7 | 3–9 | 10–8 | 9–9 | 4–8 |
| Chicago | 6–6 | — | 3–9 | 5–7 | 3–9 | 11–7 | 5–13 | 8–10 | 8–10 | 6–6 | 8–4 | 12–6 |
| Cincinnati | 12–6 | 9–3 | — | 12–6 | 13–5 | 9–3 | 6–6 | 5–7 | 8–4 | 13–5 | 9–9 | 6–6 |
| Houston | 11–7 | 7–5 | 6–12 | — | 5–13 | 10–2 | 6–6 | 4–8 | 2–10 | 10–8 | 10–8 | 9–3 |
| Los Angeles | 10–8 | 9–3 | 5–13 | 13–5 | — | 10–2 | 7–5 | 5–7 | 9–3 | 6–12 | 8–10 | 10–2 |
| Montreal | 4–8 | 7–11 | 3–9 | 2–10 | 2–10 | — | 8–10 | 3–15 | 8–10 | 4–8 | 7–5 | 7–11 |
| New York | 8–4 | 13–5 | 6–6 | 6–6 | 5–7 | 10–8 | — | 5–13 | 10–8 | 7–5 | 7–5 | 9–9 |
| Philadelphia | 7-5 | 10–8 | 7–5 | 8–4 | 7–5 | 15–3 | 13–5 | — | 8–10 | 8–4 | 6–6 | 12–6 |
| Pittsburgh | 9–3 | 10–8 | 4–8 | 10–2 | 3–9 | 10–8 | 8–10 | 10–8 | — | 7–5 | 9–3 | 12–6 |
| San Diego | 8–10 | 6–6 | 5–13 | 8–10 | 12–6 | 8–4 | 5–7 | 4–8 | 5–7 | — | 8–10 | 4–8 |
| San Francisco | 9–9 | 4–8 | 9–9 | 8–10 | 10–8 | 5–7 | 5–7 | 6–6 | 3–9 | 10–8 | — | 5–7 |
| St. Louis | 8–4 | 6–12 | 6–6 | 3–9 | 2–10 | 11–7 | 9–9 | 6–12 | 6–12 | 8–4 | 7–5 | — |

### Notable transactions

* April 19, 1976: Tim Hosley was selected off waivers from the Cubs by the Oakland Athletics.
* April 22, 1976: Tom Dettore was released by the Cubs.
* May 17, 1976: Andre Thornton was traded by the Cubs to the Montreal Expos for Steve Renko and Larry Biittner.
* June 8, 1976: Joe Coleman was purchased by the Cubs from the Detroit Tigers.
* June 8, 1976: Keith Drumright was drafted by the Cubs in the 4th round of the 1976 Major League Baseball draft.
* September 8, 1976: Ramón Hernández was purchased by the Cubs from the Pittsburgh Pirates.

### Roster
## Player stats
### 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 | Steve Swisher | 109 | 377 | 89 | .236 | 5 | 42 |
| 1B | Pete LaCock | 106 | 244 | 54 | .221 | 8 | 28 |
| 2B | Manny Trillo | 158 | 582 | 139 | .239 | 4 | 59 |
| SS | Mick Kelleher | 124 | 337 | 77 | .228 | 0 | 22 |
| 3B | Bill Madlock | 142 | 514 | 174 | .339 | 15 | 84 |
| LF | José Cardenal | 136 | 521 | 156 | .299 | 8 | 47 |
| CF | Rick Monday | 137 | 534 | 145 | .272 | 32 | 77 |
| RF | Jerry Morales | 140 | 537 | 147 | .274 | 16 | 67 |

#### 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 |
| Joe Wallis | 121 | 338 | 86 | .254 | 5 | 21 |
| George Mitterwald | 101 | 303 | 65 | .215 | 5 | 28 |
| Dave Rosello | 91 | 227 | 55 | .242 | 1 | 11 |
| Larry Biittner | 78 | 192 | 47 | .245 | 0 | 17 |
| Champ Summers | 83 | 126 | 26 | .206 | 3 | 13 |
| Rob Sperring | 43 | 93 | 24 | .258 | 0 | 7 |
| Andre Thornton | 27 | 85 | 17 | .200 | 2 | 14 |
| Wayne Tyrone | 30 | 57 | 13 | .228 | 1 | 8 |
| Mike Adams | 25 | 29 | 4 | .138 | 0 | 2 |
| Jerry Tabb | 11 | 24 | 7 | .292 | 0 | 0 |
| Randy Hundley | 13 | 18 | 3 | .167 | 0 | 1 |
| Ed Putman | 5 | 7 | 3 | .429 | 0 | 0 |
| Tim Hosley | 1 | 1 | 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 |
| Rick Reuschel | 38 | 260.0 | 14 | 12 | 3.46 | 146 |
| Ray Burris | 37 | 249.0 | 15 | 13 | 3.11 | 112 |
| Bill Bonham | 32 | 196.0 | 9 | 13 | 4.27 | 110 |
| Steve Renko | 28 | 163.1 | 8 | 11 | 3.86 | 112 |
| Steve Stone | 17 | 75.0 | 3 | 6 | 4.08 | 33 |

#### 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 |
| Ken Frailing | 6 | 18.2 | 1 | 2 | 2.41 | 10 |
| Ken Crosby | 7 | 12.0 | 0 | 0 | 12.00 | 5 |
| Geoff Zahn | 3 | 8.1 | 0 | 1 | 10.80 | 4 |

#### 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 | 52 | 6 | 3 | 10 | 2.70 | 73 |
| Darold Knowles | 58 | 5 | 7 | 9 | 2.89 | 39 |
| Paul Reuschel | 50 | 4 | 2 | 3 | 4.55 | 55 |
| Mike Garman | 47 | 2 | 4 | 1 | 4.95 | 37 |
| Oscar Zamora | 40 | 5 | 3 | 3 | 5.24 | 27 |
| Joe Coleman | 39 | 2 | 8 | 4 | 4.10 | 66 |
| Buddy Schultz | 29 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 6.08 | 15 |
| Tom Dettore | 4 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 10.29 | 4 |
| Mike Krukow | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 8.31 | 1 |
| Ramón Hernández | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.00 | 1 |

## Farm system

| Level | Team | League | Manager |
| AAA | Wichita Aeros | American Association | Doc Edwards |
| AA | Midland Cubs | Texas League | Dennis Sommers |
| A | Pompano Beach Cubs | Florida State League | Jack Hiatt |
| Rookie | GCL Cubs | Gulf Coast League | Walt Dixon |