page_title: History of the Chicago Cubs
section_title: 1990–2002: Ryno, Gracie, and Sammy
hierarchical_section_title: History of the Chicago Cubs / 1981-2008: Tribune Company era / 1990–2002: Ryno, Gracie, and Sammy
caption_attribution_description: Kerry Wood
context_page_description: The following is a franchise history of the Chicago Cubs of Major League Baseball, a charter member of the National League who started play in the National Association in 1870 as the Chicago White Stockings. The Chicago National League Ball Club is the only franchise to play continuously in the same city since the formation of the National League in 1876. They are the earliest formed active professional sports club in North America, predating the team now known as the Atlanta Braves by one year. In their early history, they were called in the press the White Stockings, Orphans, Infants, Remnants and Colts before officially becoming "Cubs" in 1907.
context_section_description: Between 1990 and 1997, a time-frame which coincided with the 6 championship dynasty of the NBA's Chicago Bulls, Cubs took a back seat in the headlines and also fell back into the doldrums of mediocrity. Most seasons in this period were basically over by the beginning of June. Despite their promise, Walton and Smith never regained the form they displayed as rookies in '89. Rick Sutcliffe retired and Greg Maddux, who won his first Cy Young Award in a Cub uniform, left for Atlanta via free-agency, which greatly frustrated the fan base. Their replacements came and went as GM Larry Himes struggled to find a proper mix. Slugger George Bell was signed in 1991 and after a mediocre season was traded to the White Sox for Sammy Sosa. Pitchers Danny Jackson, Jaime Navarro, Randy Myers and Mike Morgan brought initial hope to the Friendly Confines faithful but ultimately spawned no playoff berths.
  Himes was fired and replaced with Ed Lynch in 1995, but the club's much beleaguered farm system was unable to help produce any help on the mound as minor league products such as Jim Bullinger, Kevin Foster, Mike Harkey, Jeff Pico, and Frank Castillo were unable to establish themselves in any significant fashion in the post-strike years. Steve Trachsel, a career journeyman, was the only pitcher the system produced during this period that had any longevity. On the offensive side, things were a little better. Although much hyped prospects such as Gary Scott and Drew Hall eventually did not pan out, there was some success. Mark Grace, known for his glove and his bat, along with rifle-armed SS Shawon Dunston and reliable catcher Joe Girardi became fan-favorites as Dawson and Sandberg solidified themselves as annual starters in the All-Star game with Ryno eventually becoming the highest paid player in baseball, retiring and then making a Jordanesque comeback.
  Brian McRae, José Hernández and Glenallen Hill all found temporary homes in Chicago during the mid-1990s, (Hill is the only player to ever hit a home run to the rooftops across Waveland Ave) and Sammy Sosa started to establish himself as a power hitter, slugging 36 homers three times, but the teams themselves were quite poor. During the seven-year period following the '89 season they had just two winning seasons, an 84–78 mark in 1993 and a 73–71 mark in the strike-shortened 1995 season. In 1997, the team signed lefty Terry Mulholland, but still hit rock bottom, losing their first 14 games to start the season and finishing in last place again with 94 losses. Near the end of the season Dunston was traded to Pittsburgh and Sandberg retired (this time for good) at season's end, so most figured 1998 would be another season of tempered expectations on the Windy City's north side.
  The departure of many fan favorites, combined with what would be the sixth and final championship run of the Bulls as well as the death of popular WGN broadcaster Harry Caray just before the season dominated much of the media coverage, so the Cubs on-field expectations were uncharacteristically out of the headlines heading into the season.  This changed with the signing of left fielder Henry Rodríguez to complement Grace and Sosa in the lineup and inking closer Rod Beck and starter Kevin Tapani to bolster the pitching staff. The team also acquired infielders Mickey "The Dandy Little Glove Man" Morandini and Jeff Blauser. With the season dedicated to Caray (whose grandson Chip Caray took over his duties alongside Steve Stone in the Cub's TV booth) the Cubs found themselves involved in an intense Wild Card race with the Giants and Mets.  The Cubs became media-darlings once again, paced by Sosa's amazing 66 HR, MVP season and Kerry Wood's dominating Rookie of the Year pitching, which included an MLB record-tying 20 strikeout game versus the Houston Astros. On the last day of the season, the Cubs fell 4–3 to Houston after a throwing error by Mulholland, but the team's playoff hopes were saved when Colorado's Neifi Pérez hit a walk-off home run to beat San Francisco later that night, and the Giants and Cubs finished tied for t
caption: Kerry Wood owns a share of the MLB single-game strikeout record
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