# 1989 Chicago Cubs season

The 1989 Chicago Cubs season was the 118th season of the franchise, the 114th in the National League and 74th season at Wrigley Field. The Cubs were managed by Don Zimmer in his second season as manager and played their home games at Wrigley Field as members of National League East.
The Cubs stole the National League spotlight during the 1989 season along with their NL West rivals San Francisco Giants. The Cubs had All-Star seasons from Ryne Sandberg, Andre Dawson, Rick Sutcliffe, and closing pitcher Mitch Williams. Williams gave the Cubs a strong stopper in the bullpen in his impressive National League debut while the 1989 NL Rookie of the Year was Chicago's very own Jerome Walton, who proved himself to be a dependable centerfielder.
The Cubs finished the season 93–69 to win the NL East for the second time in franchise history, battling the St. Louis Cardinals into the last week of the season. The Cubs lost the NLCS four games to one to the San Francisco Giants, who proved to be more dominant with a strong hitting presence.

## Offseason

* December 5, 1988: Rafael Palmeiro, Jamie Moyer, and Drew Hall were traded by the Cubs to the Texas Rangers in exchange for Paul Kilgus, Mitch Williams, Curtis Wilkerson, Steve Wilson, Luis Benitez (minors), and Pablo Delgado (minors).
* December 7, 1988: Scott Sanderson was signed as a free agent by the Cubs.
* December 8, 1988: Rolando Roomes was traded by the Chicago Cubs to the Cincinnati Reds for Lloyd McClendon.
* March 28, 1989: Rich Gossage was released by the Cubs.

## Regular season
### Season standings

vteNL East :
| Team | W | L | Pct. | GB | Home | Road |
| Chicago Cubs | 93 | 69 | .574 | — | 48‍–‍33 | 45‍–‍36 |
| New York Mets | 87 | 75 | .537 | 6 | 51‍–‍30 | 36‍–‍45 |
| St. Louis Cardinals | 86 | 76 | .531 | 7 | 46‍–‍35 | 40‍–‍41 |
| Montreal Expos | 81 | 81 | .500 | 12 | 44‍–‍37 | 37‍–‍44 |
| Pittsburgh Pirates | 74 | 88 | .457 | 19 | 39‍–‍42 | 35‍–‍46 |
| Philadelphia Phillies | 67 | 95 | .414 | 26 | 38‍–‍42 | 29‍–‍53 |

### Record vs. opponents

1989 National League recordvte Sources: :
| Team | ATL | CHC | CIN | HOU | LAD | MON | NYM | PHI | PIT | SD | SF | STL |
| Atlanta | — | 5–7 | 8–10 | 8–10 | 6–10 | 6–6 | 2–10 | 8–4 | 4–8 | 7–11 | 6–12 | 3–9 |
| Chicago | 7–5 | — | 7–5 | 5–7 | 7–5 | 10–8 | 10–8 | 10–8 | 12–6 | 8–4 | 6–6 | 11–7 |
| Cincinnati | 10–8 | 5–7 | — | 8–10 | 8–10 | 4–8 | 4–8 | 4–8 | 7–5 | 9–9 | 8–10 | 8–4 |
| Houston | 10–8 | 7–5 | 10–8 | — | 10–8 | 4–8 | 6–6 | 9–3 | 7–5 | 8–10 | 8–10 | 7–5 |
| Los Angeles | 10–6 | 5–7 | 10–8 | 8–10 | — | 7–5 | 5–7 | 6–6 | 7–5 | 6–12 | 10–8 | 3–9 |
| Montreal | 6–6 | 8–10 | 8–4 | 8–4 | 5–7 | — | 9–9 | 9–9 | 11–7 | 5–7 | 7–5 | 5–13 |
| New York | 10–2 | 8–10 | 8–4 | 6–6 | 7–5 | 9–9 | — | 12–6 | 9–9 | 5–7 | 3–9 | 10–8 |
| Philadelphia | 4–8 | 8–10 | 8–4 | 3–9 | 6–6 | 9–9 | 6–12 | — | 10–8 | 2–10 | 4–8 | 7–11 |
| Pittsburgh | 8–4 | 6–12 | 5–7 | 5–7 | 5–7 | 7–11 | 9–9 | 8–10 | — | 3–9 | 5–7 | 13–5 |
| San Diego | 11–7 | 4–8 | 9–9 | 10–8 | 12–6 | 7–5 | 7–5 | 10–2 | 9–3 | — | 8–10 | 2–10 |
| San Francisco | 12–6 | 6–6 | 10–8 | 10–8 | 8–10 | 5–7 | 9–3 | 8–4 | 7–5 | 10–8 | — | 7–5 |
| St. Louis | 9–3 | 7–11 | 4–8 | 5–7 | 9–3 | 13–5 | 8–10 | 11–7 | 5–13 | 10–2 | 5–7 | — |

### Notable transactions

* August 24, 1989: The Cubs traded players to be named later to the Atlanta Braves for Paul Assenmacher. The Cubs completed the deal by sending Kelly Mann and Pat Gomez to the Braves on September 1.
* August 30, 1989: Calvin Schiraldi, Darrin Jackson and a player to be named later were traded by the Cubs to the San Diego Padres for Marvell Wynne and Luis Salazar. The Cubs completed the deal by sending Phil Stephenson to the Padres on September 5.

### Game log

1989 Chicago Cubs regular season game log: 93–69 (.574) :
April: 12–11 (.522)
#DateOpponentScoreWinLossSaveAttendanceRecordOther Info
1April 4Phillies5–4Sutcliffe (1–0)Youmans (0–1)Williams (1)33,3611–0
2April 5Phillies12–4Howell (1–0)Maddux (0–1)Maddux (1)18,6741–1
3April 6Phillies8–3Ontiveros (1–0)Kilgus (0–1)6,3641–2
4April 7Pirates6–5Wilson (1–0)Taylor (0–1)Williams (2)6,1952–2
5April 8Pirates5–3Bielecki (1–0)Heaton (0–1)Schiraldi (1)19,3743–2
6April 9Pirates8–3Sutcliffe (2–0)Walk (0–1)11,3874–2
7April 11Cardinals5–4Schiraldi (1–0)DeLeón (1–1)Williams (3)7,9435–2
8April 12Cardinals3–2Kilgus (1–1)Terry (0–1)Williams (4)21,1876–2
9April 14@ Phillies6–4Sanderson (1–0)Ruffin (0–2)Williams (5)20,8517–2
10April 16@ Phillies5–3Sutcliffe (3–0)Youmans (0–2)Williams (6)32,2498–2
11April 17@ Expos2–1Gross (2–1)Maddux (0–2)Burke (3)8,8478–3
12April 18@ Expos11–2B. Smith (1–0)Kilgus (1–2)11,9138–4
13April 19@ Expos3–2Den. Martinez (1–0)Sanderson (1–1)Burke (4)9,0148–5
14April 20@ Mets4–3Gooden (3–0)Williams (0–1)McDowell (1)28,9448–6
15April 21@ Mets8–4Sutcliffe (4–0)Ojeda (0–3)Wilson (1)34,6909–6
16April 22@ Mets3–1Fernandez (2–0)Maddux (0–3)McDowell (2)41,3239–7
17April 23@ Mets4–2Aguilera (1–0)Schiraldi (1–1)40,2689–8
18April 25Dodgers4–0Belcher (2–1)Sanderson (1–2)31,8769–9
19April 26Dodgers3–1Morgan (2–1)Sutcliffe (4–1)Howell (2)13,2219–10
20April 27Dodgers1–0Maddux (1–3)Hershiser (3–2)12,01310–10
21April 28Padres3–1Kilgus (2–2)Rasmussen (1–4)Williams (7)9,50411–10
22April 29Padres5–4Terrell (3–2)Bielecki (1–1)Davis (11)34,74811–11
23April 30Padres7–3Sanderson (2–2)Show (4–2)28,73512–11 :
May: 16–11 (.593)
#DateOpponentScoreWinLossSaveAttendanceRecordOther Info
24May 1@ Giants4–3 (12)Pico (1–0)LaCoss (1–2)Schiraldi (2)17,91413–11
25May 2@ Giants4–0Reuschel (4–2)Maddux (1–4)Gossage (1)11,12813–12
26May 3@ Padres5–4Kilgus (3–2)Grant (0–1)Williams (8)20,40314–12
27May 4@ Padres4–0Bielecki (2–1)Terrell (3–3)25,89215–12
28May 5@ Dodgers4–2Sanderson (3–2)Belcher (2–3)Williams (9)46,76716–12
29May 6@ Dodgers3–0Morgan (3–1)Sutcliffe (4–2)Howell (3)46,38916–13
30May 7@ Dodgers4–2Wilson (2–0)Hershiser (4–3)Williams (10)46,32917–13
31May 9Giants4–2Krukow (2–0)Kilgus (3–3)Lefferts (5)13,94917–14
32May 10Giants4–3LaCoss (2–3)Williams (0–2)Lefferts (6)25,63817–15
33May 12Astros3–1Deshaies (5–2)Sutcliffe (4–3)21,14117–16
34May 13Astros1–0Knepper (2–5)Maddux (1–5)Smith (6)27,77517–17
35May 14Astros5–1Scott (5–2)Kilgus (3–4)23,39117–18
36May 15Braves4–0Bielecki (3–1)Lilliquist (2–3)16,92018–18
37May 16Braves4–3Sanderson (4–2)Glavine (5–1)Williams (11)24,07019–18
38May 17Braves4–0Pico (2–0)Z. Smith (1–6)31,19620–18
39May 19@ Reds8–2Maddux (2–5)Jackson (2–7)29,20221–18
40May 20@ Reds7–3Kilgus (4–4)Browning (3–4)Perry (1)49,17522–18
41May 21@ Reds7–2Mahler (6–4)Bielecki (3–2)34,12822–19
42May 22@ Astros5–3Sutcliffe (5–3)Deshaies (5–3)Schiraldi (3)11,92323–19
43May 23@ Astros5–4Sanderson (5–2)Scott (6–3)Schiraldi (4)15,66524–19
44May 24@ Astros3–1Maddux (3–5)Knepper (2–6)Williams (12)17,04225–19
45May 26Reds10–8 (12)Dibble (4–1)Schiraldi (1–2)33,58325–20
46May 27Reds5–3Sutcliffe (6–3)Rijo (4–1)34,54626–20
47May 28Reds6–1Bielecki (4–2)Jackson (3–8)37,23127–20
48May 29@ Braves2–1Lilliquist (3–3)Sanderson (5–3)Boever (7)15,12327–21
49May 30@ Braves3–2Maddux (4–5)P. Smith (1–7)Williams (13)7,56628–21
50May 31@ Braves3–2Smoltz (7–3)Kilgus (4–5)Boever (8)7,95828–22 :
June: 13–15 (.464)
#DateOpponentScoreWinLossSaveAttendanceRecordOther Info
51June 2@ Cardinals5–2Sutcliffe (7–3)Magrane (3–4)Williams (14)46,44829–22
52June 3@ Cardinals6–5 (10)Quisenberry (2–1)Schiraldi (1–3)44,71929–23
53June 4@ Cardinals11–3Sanderson (6–3)Terry (4–5)45,65930–23
54June 5Mets15–3Maddux (5–5)Cone (3–5)34,84031–23
55June 6Mets8–4Kilgus (5–5)Ojeda (2–6)33,55832–23
56June 7Mets10–5Gooden (7–2)Sutcliffe (7–4)Aguilera (4)35,37232–24
57June 8Mets5–4 (10)Williams (1–2)Aase (1–2)36,35833–24
58June 9Cardinals1–0DeLeón (8–3)Sanderson (6–4)Worrell (7)34,93733–25
59June 10Cardinals6–0Magrane (4–5)Maddux (5–6)38,04533–26
60June 11Cardinals10–7Carpenter (2–4)Schiraldi (1–4)35,45033–27
61June 12Cardinals10–3Wilson (3–0)Terry (4–6)27,15434–27
62June 13@ Mets4–2Bielecki (5–2)Darling (4–5)Williams (15)26,66435–27
63June 14@ Mets2–0 (7)Gooden (8–2)Sanderson (6–5)Aguilera (5)27,27835–28
64June 15@ Mets4–3 (12)Aguilera (3–1)Perry (0–1)24,68935–29
65June 16@ Expos8–5B. Smith (7–2)Kilgus (5–6)Burke (14)26,26435–30
66June 17@ Expos3–2Sutcliffe (8–4)Pérez (3–8)Williams (16)35,09536–30
67June 18@ Expos5–4Bielecki (6–2)Langston (2–2)Williams (17)35,96837–30
68June 20@ Pirates5–4 (11)Schiraldi (2–4)Garcia (0–1)Kilgus (1)11,71338–30
69June 21@ Pirates1–0 (11)Maddux (6–6)Bair (0–1)Williams (18)23,97039–30
70June 22@ Pirates8–0Sutcliffe (9–4)Kramer (1–4)16,43040–30
71June 23Expos5–1Langston (3–2)Bielecki (6–3)Burke (15)36,23940–31
72June 24Expos5–0Gross (7–6)Kilgus (5–7)36,06840–32
73June 25Expos5–0Den. Martinez (7–1)Sanderson (6–6)34,49140–33
74June 26Pirates2–1Drabek (5–5)Maddux (6–7)35,40740–34
75June 27Pirates5–4Kramer (2–4)Sutcliffe (9–5)Landrum (7)35,64640–35
76June 28Pirates3–1Robinson (4–6)Bielecki (6–4)Landrum (8)34,11440–36
77June 29@ Giants12–2Brantley (1–0)Kilgus (5–8)12,33940–37
78June 30@ Giants6–4Sanderson (7–6)Wilson (0–1)Williams (19)49,24141–37 :
July: 18–9 (.667)
#DateOpponentScoreWinLossSaveAttendanceRecordOther Info
79July 1@ Giants3–2Maddux (7–7)Reuschel (12–3)Williams (20)29,01942–37
80July 2@ Giants4–3Brantley (2–0)Sutcliffe (9–6)Bedrosian (12)41,35042–38
81July 4Padres5–1Bielecki (7–4)Whitson (10–6)Wilson (2)32,92043–38
82July 5Padres5–3Sanderson (8–6)Rasmussen (3–6)Kilgus (2)33,46444–38
83July 6Padres7–3Maddux (8–7)Terrell (4–12)Williams (21)34,81445–38
84July 7Dodgers6–4Sutcliffe (10–6)Wetteland (2–2)Williams (22)35,43446–38
85July 8Dodgers8–2Morgan (6–8)Pico (2–1)37,09646–39
86July 9Dodgers11–4Bielecki (8–4)Valenzuela (4–8)35,53347–39
87July 13@ Padres7–3Maddux (9–7)Hurst (7–7)Lancaster (1)23,48148–39
88July 14@ Padres7–4Whitson (12–6)Bielecki (8–5)Davis (23)27,64948–40
89July 15@ Padres3–2Terrell (5–12)Kilgus (5–9)54,71748–41
90July 16@ Padres4–3Rasmussen (4–6)Sutcliffe (10–7)Davis (24)30,54948–42
91July 17@ Dodgers6–3Lancaster (1–0)Leary (6–7)Williams (23)39,91449–42
92July 18@ Dodgers4–1Hershiser (11–7)Maddux (9–8)37,54349–43
93July 19@ Dodgers4–0Bielecki (9–5)Morgan (6–10)40,05050–43
94July 20Giants4–3 (11)Lancaster (2–0)McCament (1–1)32,30651–43
95July 21Giants4–3Garrelts (8–3)Sutcliffe (10–8)Lefferts (17)34,72551–44
96July 22Giants5–2Sanderson (9–6)Hammaker (6–5)Lancaster (2)35,53052–44
97July 23Giants9–5Maddux (10–8)Robinson (8–7)35,70753–44
98July 24@ Cardinals3–2Bielecki (10–5)Terry (7–9)Williams (24)45,18354–44
99July 25@ Cardinals4–2Kilgus (6–9)Magrane (11–7)Williams (25)46,62155–44
100July 26@ Cardinals2–0DeLeón (10–9)Sutcliffe (10–9)Worrell (13)43,00055–45
101July 28Mets6–5Schiraldi (3–4)Aguilera (6–5)Williams (26)37,55456–45
102July 29Mets10–3Maddux (11–8)Whitehurst (0–1)38,01257–45
103July 30Mets6–4Lancaster (3–0)Aguilera (6–6)36,83758–45
104July 31@ Phillies10–2Sutcliffe (11–9)Mulholland (1–5)59–45
105July 31@ Phillies7–4Carman (3–11)Kilgus (6–10)Parrett (4)22,16059–46 :
August: 16–8 (.667)
#DateOpponentScoreWinLossSaveAttendanceRecordOther Info
106August 1@ Phillies4–1Wilson (4–0)McWilliams (2–11)Williams (27)23,61460–46
107August 2@ Phillies6–0Howell (9–7)Sanderson (9–7)21,68860–47
108August 3@ Phillies2–0Maddux (12–8)Ruffin (3–5)Lancaster (3)21,98361–47
109August 4@ Pirates3–2Bielecki (11–5)Drabek (8–8)Williams (28)29,16962–47
110August 5@ Pirates4–2Wilson (5–0)Landrum (2–2)Lancaster (4)23,26263–47
111August 6@ Pirates5–4 (18)Drabek (9–8)Sanderson (9–8)24,71663–48
112August 7Expos5–2Maddux (13–8)Pérez (6–11)39,00264–48
113August 8Expos4–2Bielecki (12–5)Den. Martinez (12–2)Lancaster (5)38,12665–48
114August 9Expos3–0Sutcliffe (12–9)B. Smith (9–6)Williams (29)39,00966–48
115August 10Phillies16–13Parrett (9–4)Wilson (5–1)36,74566–49
116August 11Phillies9–2Maddux (14–8)Carman (3–12)36,44067–49
117August 12Phillies9–7Bielecki (13–5)Howell (9–8)Williams (30)37,75268–49
118August 13Phillies5–3Parrett (10–4)Wilson (5–2)37,05468–50
119August 15@ Reds5–2 (12)Williams (2–2)Roesler (0–1)31,69469–50
120August 16@ Reds5–1Bielecki (14–5)Leary (8–10)29,76470–50
121August 17@ Reds3–2Sutcliffe (13–9)Franco (3–6)Williams (31)29,27871–50
122August 18@ Astros6–5Smith (3–3)Schiraldi (3–5)31,98771–51
123August 19@ Astros8–4Portugal (3–1)Maddux (14–9)41,66171–52
124August 20@ Astros8–4Darwin (11–3)Lancaster (3–1)38,62471–53
125August 21Reds6–5 (10)Charlton (6–1)Schiraldi (3–6)Franco (26)37,62671–54
126August 22Reds7–2Browning (13–10)Kraemer (0–1)35,17971–55
127August 23Reds8–5Scudder (3–5)Maddux (14–10)33,05471–56
128August 25Braves4–3 (12)Williams (3–2)Eichhorn (4–4)35,45672–56
129August 26Braves5–3Valdez (1–2)Sutcliffe (13–10)Boever (21)35,75272–57
130August 27Braves3–2 (10)Williams (4–2)Eichhorn (4–5)35,10773–57
131August 28Astros6–1Maddux (15–10)Cano (0–1)23,03974–57
132August 29Astros10–9 (10)Assenmacher (2–3)Smith (3–4)25,82975–57Cubs come back from 9–0 deficit
133August 30Astros8–4Scott (18–7)Sutcliffe (13–11)37,21875–58 :
September: 17–11 (.607)
#DateOpponentScoreWinLossSaveAttendanceRecordOther Info
134September 1@ Braves5–1Lilliquist (8–8)Wilson (5–3)Stanton (2)14,25575–59
135September 2@ Braves10–3Maddux (16–10)Clary (4–3)41,02076–59
136September 3@ Braves8–5P. Smith (5–13)Bielecki (14–6)Stanton (3)25,18976–60
137September 4@ Mets7–3Sutcliffe (14–11)Cone (12–7)Lancaster (6)46,04977–60
138September 5@ Mets3–2Fernandez (11–3)Williams (4–3)39,35277–61
139September 6@ Phillies9–1Ruffin (5–8)Maddux (16–11)17,27277–62
140September 7@ Phillies6–2Bielecki (15–6)Howell (11–11)13,05878–62
141September 8Cardinals11–8Carpenter (3–4)Williams (4–4)Quisenberry (6)35,23178–63
142September 9Cardinals3–2 (10)Assenmacher (3–3)Dayley (3–2)37,63379–63
143September 10Cardinals4–1Sanderson (10–8)Hill (7–12)Williams (32)37,28180–63
144September 11Expos4–3Maddux (17–11)Langston (11–7)Williams (33)29,19081–63
145September 12Expos2–0Bielecki (16–6)B. Smith (10–9)36,33382–63
146September 13Expos3–1Sanderson (11–8)Gross (11–11)Lancaster (7)34,87083–63
147September 15@ Pirates7–2Sutcliffe (15–11)Belinda (0–1)12,60784–63
148September 16@ Pirates8–6Smiley (12–7)Maddux (17–12)15,66884–64
149September 17@ Pirates2–0Drabek (13–11)Bielecki (16–7)21,08184–65
150September 18Mets10–6Wilkins (1–0)Viola (3–5)Williams (34)38,13885–65
151September 19Mets5–2Ojeda (13–10)Wilson (5–4)Gooden (1)35,93785–66
152September 20Phillies9–8Carman (5–15)Lancaster (3–2)McDowell (19)21,62085–67
153September 21Phillies9–1Maddux (18–12)Mulholland (4–7)22,88586–67
154September 22Pirates4–2Bielecki (17–7)Drabek (13–12)Williams (35)34,04087–67
155September 23Pirates3–2Lancaster (4–2)Bair (2–3)36,84988–67
156September 24Pirates4–2Wilson (6–4)Robinson (7–12)Pico (1)37,90489–67
157September 25@ Expos4–3 (10)Burke (9–3)Sanderson (11–9)10,30589–68
158September 26@ Expos3–2Maddux (19–12)Den. Martinez (16–7)Williams (36)11,61590–68Cubs clinch NL East title
159September 27@ Expos7–2Bielecki (18–7)Thompson (0–2)Pico (2)12,44291–68
160September 29@ Cardinals7–5Dayley (4–3)Assenmacher (3–4)Terry (2)41,59991–69
161September 30@ Cardinals6–4Pico (3–1)Costello (5–4)Lancaster (8)43,57092–69 :
October: 1–0 (1.000)
#DateOpponentScoreWinLossSaveAttendanceRecordOther Info
162October 1@ Cardinals5–1Sutcliffe (16–11)Hill (7–15)37,84693–69 :

## 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 | Damon Berryhill | 91 | 334 | 86 | .257 | 5 | 41 |
| 1B | Mark Grace | 142 | 510 | 160 | .314 | 13 | 79 |
| 2B | Ryne Sandberg | 157 | 606 | 176 | .290 | 30 | 76 |
| 3B | Vance Law | 130 | 408 | 96 | .235 | 7 | 42 |
| SS | Shawon Dunston | 138 | 471 | 131 | .278 | 9 | 60 |
| LF | Dwight Smith | 109 | 343 | 111 | .324 | 9 | 52 |
| CF | Jerome Walton | 116 | 475 | 139 | .293 | 5 | 46 |
| RF | Andre Dawson | 118 | 416 | 105 | .252 | 21 | 77 |

#### 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 | 98 | 272 | 70 | .257 | 3 | 19 |
| Lloyd McClendon | 92 | 259 | 74 | .286 | 12 | 40 |
| Domingo Ramos | 85 | 179 | 47 | .263 | 1 | 19 |
| Curt Wilkerson | 77 | 160 | 39 | .244 | 1 | 10 |
| Joe Girardi | 59 | 157 | 39 | .248 | 1 | 14 |
| Doug Dascenzo | 47 | 139 | 23 | .165 | 1 | 12 |
| Rick Wrona | 38 | 92 | 26 | .283 | 2 | 14 |
| Gary Varsho | 61 | 87 | 16 | .184 | 0 | 6 |
| Darrin Jackson | 45 | 83 | 19 | .229 | 1 | 8 |
| Luis Salazar | 26 | 80 | 26 | .325 | 1 | 12 |
| Marvell Wynne | 20 | 48 | 9 | .188 | 1 | 4 |
| Phil Stephenson | 17 | 21 | 3 | .143 | 0 | 0 |
| Greg Smith | 4 | 5 | 2 | .400 | 0 | 2 |

### 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 | 35 | 238.0 | 19 | 12 | 2.95 | 135 |
| Rick Sutcliffe | 35 | 229.0 | 16 | 11 | 3.66 | 153 |
| Mike Bielecki | 33 | 212.1 | 18 | 7 | 3.14 | 147 |
| Joe Kraemer | 1 | 3.2 | 0 | 1 | 4.91 | 5 |

#### 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 |
| Scott Sanderson | 37 | 146.0 | 11 | 9 | 3.94 | 86 |
| Paul Kilgus | 35 | 145.2 | 6 | 10 | 4.39 | 61 |
| Jeff Pico | 53 | 90.2 | 3 | 1 | 3.77 | 38 |
| Steve Wilson | 53 | 85.2 | 6 | 4 | 4.20 | 65 |

#### 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 |
| Mitch Williams | 76 | 4 | 4 | 36 | 2.76 | 67 |
| Calvin Schiraldi | 54 | 3 | 6 | 4 | 3.78 | 54 |
| Les Lancaster | 42 | 4 | 2 | 8 | 1.36 | 56 |
| Pat Perry | 19 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1.77 | 20 |
| Paul Assenmacher | 14 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 5.21 | 15 |
| Dean Wilkins | 11 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 4.60 | 14 |
| Kevin Blankenship | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1.69 | 2 |

## NLCS
### Game 1

October 4 at Wrigley Field in Chicago
| Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | R | H | E |
| San Francisco | 3 | 0 | 1 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 11 | 13 | 0 |
| Chicago | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 8 | 1 |
| W: Scott Garrelts (1–0) L: Greg Maddux (0–1) S: None |||||||||||||
| HR: SF – Will Clark (1), (2), Kevin Mitchell (1) CHC – Mark Grace (1), Ryne Sandberg (1) |||||||||||||
| Pitchers: SF – Garrelts, Brantley (8), Hammaker (9) CHC – Maddux, Kilgus (5), Wilson (8) |||||||||||||
| Attendance: 39,195 |||||||||||||

### Game 2

October 5 at Wrigley Field in Chicago
| Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | R | H | E |
| San Francisco | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 5 | 10 | 0 |
| Chicago | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | X | 9 | 11 | 0 |
| W: Les Lancaster (1–0) L: Rick Reuschel (0–1) S: None |||||||||||||
| HR: SF – Kevin Mitchell (2), Matt Williams (1), Robby Thompson (1) CHC – None |||||||||||||
| Pitchers: SF – Reuschel, Downs (1), Lefferts (6), Brantley (7), Bedrosian (8) CHC – Bielecki, Assenmacher (5), Lancaster (6) |||||||||||||
| Attendance: 39,195 |||||||||||||

### Game 3

October 7 at Candlestick Park in San Francisco
| Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | R | H | E |
| Chicago | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 10 | 0 |
| San Francisco | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | X | 5 | 8 | 3 |
| W: Don Robinson (1–0) L: Les Lancaster (1–1) S: Steve Bedrosian (1) |||||||||||||
| HR: CHC – None SF – Robby Thompson (2) |||||||||||||
| Pitchers: CHC – Sutcliffe, Assenmacher (7), Lancaster (7) SF – LaCoss, Brantley (4), Robinson (7), Lefferts (8), Bedrosian (9) |||||||||||||
| Attendance: 62,065 |||||||||||||

### Game 4

October 8 at Candlestick Park in San Francisco
| Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | R | H | E |
| Chicago | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 12 | 1 |
| San Francisco | 1 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | X | 6 | 9 | 1 |
| W: Kelly Downs (1–0) L: Steve Wilson (1–1) S: Steve Bedrosian (2) |||||||||||||
| HR: CHC – Luis Salazar (1) SF – Matt Williams (2) |||||||||||||
| Pitchers: CHC – Maddux, Wilson (4), Sanderson (6), Williams (8) SF – Garrelts, Downs (5), Bedrosian (9) |||||||||||||
| Attendance: 62,078 |||||||||||||

### Game 5

October 9 at Candlestick Park in San Francisco
| Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | R | H | E |
| Chicago | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 10 | 1 |
| San Francisco | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 | X | 3 | 4 | 1 |
| W: Rick Reuschel (1–1) L: Mike Bielecki (0–1) S: Steve Bedrosian (3) |||||||||||||
| HR: CHC – None SF – None |||||||||||||
| Pitchers: CHC – Bielecki, Williams (8), Lancaster (8) SF – Reuschel, Bedrosian (9) |||||||||||||
| Attendance: 62,084 |||||||||||||
The Giants made it to their first World Series since 1962 with a 3–2 win over the Cubs to win the 1989 National League pennant, four games to one. The final game pitted Mike Bielecki against a well-rested (due to his quick exit from Game 2) Rick Reuschel. Reuschel made amends for his poor start in Game 2 by giving up only one run over eight innings. The one run Reuschel gave up was an unearned run the Cubs scored when Walton reached on an error by Mitchell and then scored on Sandberg's double. The Cubs held the 1–0 lead until the seventh inning when Will Clark tripled and scored on Mitchell's sacrifice fly.
The Cubs did rally, however, in the ninth with three straight singles that made it 3–2. But Sandberg grounded out sending the Giants to their first World Series since 1962.

## Awards and honors

* Ryne Sandberg, National League Leader, Runs (104)
All-Star Game
* Ryne Sandberg, second base, starter
* Andre Dawson, outfield, reserve
* Rick Sutcliffe, pitcher, reserve
* Mitch Williams, relief pitcher, reserve

## Farm system

| Level | Team | League | Manager |
| AAA | Iowa Cubs | American Association | Pete Mackanin |
| AA | Charlotte Knights | Southern League | Jim Essian |
| A | Winston-Salem Spirits | Carolina League | Jay Loviglio |
| A | Peoria Chiefs | Midwest League | Brad Mills |
| A | Charleston Wheelers | South Atlantic League | Greg Mahlberg |
| A-Short Season | Geneva Cubs | New York–Penn League | Bill Hayes |
| Rookie | Wytheville Cubs | Appalachian League | Steve Roadcap |