# 1944 Chicago Cubs season

The 1944 Chicago Cubs season was the 73rd season of the Chicago Cubs franchise, the 69th in the National League and the 29th at Wrigley Field. The Cubs finished fourth in the National League with a record of 75–79.

## Offseason

* Prior to 1944 season (exact date unknown)
** Smoky Burgess was signed as an amateur free agent by the Cubs.
** Jim Pearce was signed as an amateur free agent by the Cubs.

## Regular season
### Season standings

vteNational League :
| Team | W | L | Pct. | GB | Home | Road |
| St. Louis Cardinals | 105 | 49 | .682 | — | 54‍–‍22 | 51‍–‍27 |
| Pittsburgh Pirates | 90 | 63 | .588 | 14½ | 49‍–‍28 | 41‍–‍35 |
| Cincinnati Reds | 89 | 65 | .578 | 16 | 45‍–‍33 | 44‍–‍32 |
| Chicago Cubs | 75 | 79 | .487 | 30 | 35‍–‍42 | 40‍–‍37 |
| New York Giants | 67 | 87 | .435 | 38 | 39‍–‍36 | 28‍–‍51 |
| Boston Braves | 65 | 89 | .422 | 40 | 38‍–‍40 | 27‍–‍49 |
| Brooklyn Dodgers | 63 | 91 | .409 | 42 | 37‍–‍39 | 26‍–‍52 |
| Philadelphia Phillies | 61 | 92 | .399 | 43½ | 29‍–‍49 | 32‍–‍43 |

### Record vs. opponents

1944 National League recordvte Sources: :
| Team | BSN | BRO | CHC | CIN | NYG | PHI | PIT | STL |
| Boston | — | 9–13 | 11–11 | 8–14 | 9–13 | 11–11–1 | 9–13 | 8–14 |
| Brooklyn | 13–9 | — | 8–14–1 | 8–14 | 10–12 | 16–6 | 4–18 | 4–18 |
| Chicago | 11–11 | 14–8–1 | — | 9–13–1 | 10–12 | 13–9 | 12–10–1 | 6–16 |
| Cincinnati | 14–8 | 14–8 | 13–9–1 | — | 15–7 | 13–19 | 12–10 | 8–14 |
| New York | 13–9 | 12–10 | 12–10 | 7–15 | — | 10–12 | 7–15–1 | 6–16 |
| Philadelphia | 11–11–1 | 6–16 | 9–13 | 9–13 | 12–10 | — | 9–12 | 5–17 |
| Pittsburgh | 13–9 | 18–4 | 10–12–1 | 10–12 | 15–7–1 | 12–9 | — | 12–10–3 |
| St. Louis | 14–8 | 18–4 | 16–6 | 14–8 | 16–6 | 17–5 | 10–12–3 | — |

### Notable transactions

* June 6, 1944: Eddie Stanky was traded by the Cubs to the Brooklyn Dodgers for Bob Chipman.
* July 5, 1944: Jimmie Foxx was released by the Cubs.

### 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 | Dewey Williams | 79 | 262 | 63 | .240 | 0 | 27 |
| 1B | Phil Cavarretta | 152 | 614 | 197 | .321 | 5 | 82 |
| 2B | Don Johnson | 154 | 608 | 169 | .278 | 2 | 71 |
| SS | Lennie Merullo | 66 | 193 | 41 | .212 | 1 | 16 |
| 3B | Stan Hack | 98 | 383 | 108 | .282 | 3 | 32 |
| OF | Andy Pafko | 128 | 469 | 126 | .269 | 6 | 62 |
| OF | Bill Nicholson | 156 | 582 | 167 | .287 | 33 | 122 |
| OF | Dom Dallessandro | 117 | 381 | 116 | .304 | 8 | 74 |

#### 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 |
| Roy Hughes | 126 | 478 | 137 | .287 | 1 | 28 |
| Bill Schuster | 60 | 154 | 34 | .221 | 1 | 14 |
| Ival Goodman | 62 | 141 | 37 | .262 | 1 | 16 |
| Lou Novikoff | 71 | 139 | 39 | .281 | 3 | 19 |
| Billy Holm | 54 | 132 | 18 | .136 | 0 | 6 |
| Mickey Kreitner | 39 | 85 | 13 | .153 | 0 | 1 |
| Tony York | 28 | 85 | 20 | .235 | 0 | 7 |
| Frank Secory | 22 | 56 | 18 | .321 | 4 | 17 |
| Ed Sauer | 23 | 50 | 11 | .220 | 0 | 5 |
| Charlie Brewster | 10 | 44 | 11 | .250 | 0 | 2 |
| Roy Easterwood | 17 | 33 | 7 | .212 | 1 | 2 |
| Paul Gillespie | 9 | 26 | 7 | .269 | 1 | 2 |
| Eddie Stanky | 13 | 25 | 6 | .240 | 0 | 0 |
| Pete Elko | 7 | 22 | 5 | .227 | 0 | 0 |
| Jimmie Foxx | 15 | 20 | 1 | .050 | 0 | 2 |
| Johnny Ostrowski | 8 | 13 | 2 | .154 | 0 | 2 |
| Joe Stephenson | 4 | 8 | 1 | .125 | 0 | 0 |
| Garth Mann | 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 |
| Hank Wyse | 41 | 257.1 | 16 | 15 | 3.15 | 86 |
| Claude Passeau | 34 | 227.0 | 15 | 9 | 2.89 | 89 |
| Bob Chipman | 26 | 129.0 | 9 | 9 | 3.49 | 41 |
| Charlie Gassaway | 2 | 11.2 | 0 | 1 | 7.71 | 7 |

#### 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 |
| Paul Derringer | 42 | 180.0 | 7 | 13 | 4.15 | 69 |
| Bill Fleming | 39 | 158.1 | 9 | 10 | 3.13 | 42 |
| Hy Vandenberg | 35 | 126.1 | 7 | 4 | 3.63 | 54 |
| Paul Erickson | 33 | 124.1 | 5 | 9 | 3.55 | 82 |
| Red Lynn | 22 | 84.1 | 5 | 4 | 4.06 | 35 |
| Ed Hanyzewski | 14 | 58.1 | 2 | 5 | 4.47 | 19 |

#### 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 |
| Dale Alderson | 12 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6.65 | 7 |
| Mack Stewart | 8 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1.46 | 3 |
| John Burrows | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 18.00 | 1 |
| Hank Miklos | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 7.71 | 0 |

## Farm system

| Level | Team | League | Manager |
| AA | Los Angeles Angels | Pacific Coast League | Bill Sweeney |
| A1 | Nashville Vols | Southern Association | Larry Gilbert |
| B | Portsmouth Cubs | Piedmont League | Bill Steinecke and Jimmie Foxx |
| D | Erwin Cubs | Appalachian League | Jim Poole |
| D | Marion Diggers | Ohio State League | Grover Hartley |
| D | Lockport Cubs | PONY League | Greg Mulleavy |
LEAGUE CHAMPIONS: Nashville