Chicago Cubs Trophy Case

Kris Bryant and the San Francisco Giants are visiting the Cubs at Wrigley Field this weekend, marking the first time that Bryant has played against his old teammates. When Bryant in 2016 made the most important assist by a Cub since at least 1908, he was in the midst of a streak that saw him win College Player of the Year, Minor League Player of the Year, National League Rookie of the Year, and National League Most Valuable Player in consecutive seasons. It seems fair to doubt whether anyone will ever equal that particular feat again.

KRIS BRYANT

    

Below are some of the noteworthy honors won by Bryant and other Cubs over the years.

Retired Numbers

10 - Ron Santo

14 - Ernie Banks 

23 - Ryne Sandberg

26 - Billy Williams

31 - Fergie Jenkins

31 - Greg Maddux 

World Championship Managers
1907 - Frank Chance
1908 - Frank Chance
2016 - Joe Maddon

World Series Most Valuable Player
2016 - Ben Zobrist

National League Most Valuable Player
1911 - Frank "Wildfire" Schulte
1929 - Rogers Hornsby
1935 - Gabby Hartnett
1945 - Phil Cavarretta
1952 - Hank Sauer
1958 - Ernie Banks
1959 - Ernie Banks
1984 - Ryne Sandberg
1987 - Andre Dawson
1998 - Sammy Sosa
2016 - Kris Bryant

The Sporting News Major League Player of the Year
1972 - Billy Williams
1984 - Ryne Sandberg
1998 - Sammy Sosa

National League Cy Young Award
1971 - Fergie Jenkins
1979 - Bruce Sutter
1984 - Rick Sutcliffe
1992 - Greg Maddux
2015 - Jake Arrieta

National League Rookie of the Year
1961 - Billy Williams
1962 - Ken Hubbs
1989 - Jerome Walton
1998 - Kerry Wood
2008 - Geovany Soto
2015 - Kris Bryant

National League Batting Champion
1876 - Ross Barnes
1879 - Cap Anson
1880 - George Gore
1881 - Cap Anson
1886 - King Kelly
1887 - Cap Anson
1888 - Cap Anson
1912 - Heinie Zimmerman
1945 - Phil Cavarretta
1975 - Bill Madlock
1976 - Bill Madlock
1980 - Bill Buckner
2005 - Derrek Lee

National League Home Run Leader
1884 - Ned Williamson
1885 - Abner Dalrymple
1888 - Jimmy Ryan
1890 - Walt Wilmot
1910 - Frank "Wildfire" Schulte
1911 - Frank "Wildfire" Schulte
1912 - Heinie Zimmerman
1916 - Cy Williams
1926 - Hack Wilson
1927 - Hack Wilson
1928 - Hack Wilson
1930 - Hack Wilson
1943 - Bill Nicholson
1944 - Bill Nicholson
1952 - Hank Sauer
1958 - Ernie Banks
1960 - Ernie Banks
1979 - Dave Kingman
1987 - Andre Dawson
1990 - Ryne Sandberg
2000 - Sammy Sosa
2002 - Sammy Sosa 

National League Runs Batted In Leader
1876 - Deacon White
1880 - Cap Anson
1881 - Cap Anson
1882 - Cap Anson
1884 - Cap Anson
1885 - Cap Anson
1886 - Cap Anson
1888 - Cap Anson
1891 - Cap Anson
1906 - Harry Steinfeldt
1911 - Frank "Wildfire" Schulte
1912 - Heinie Zimmerman
1929 - Hack Wilson
1930 - Hack Wilson
1943 - Bill Nicholson
1944 - Bill Nicholson
1952 - Hank Sauer
1958 - Ernie Banks
1959 - Ernie Banks
1987 - Andre Dawson
1998 - Sammy Sosa
2018 - Javier Baez

National League Leader in Victories
1876 - Al Spalding
1881 - Larry Corcoran
1885 - John Clarkson
1887 - John Clarkson
1890 - Bill Hutchison
1891 - Bill Hutchison
1892 - Bill Hutchison
1909 - Mordecai Brown
1912 - Larry Cheney
1918 - Hippo Vaughn
1920 - Grover Alexander
1927 - Charlie Root
1929 - Pat Malone
1930 - Pat Malone
1932 - Lon Warneke
1938 - Bill Lee
1964 - Larry Jackson
1971 - Fergie Jenkins
1987 - Rick Sutcliffe
1992 - Greg Maddux
2015 - Jake Arrieta
2018 - Jon Lester
2020 - Yu Darvish

National League Leader in Earned-Run Average
1882 - Larry Corcoran
1898 - Clark Griffith
1902 - Jack Taylor
1906 - Mordecai Brown
1907 - Jack Pfiester
1910 - King Cole
1918 - Hippo Vaughn
1919 - Grover Alexander
1920 - Grover Alexander
1932 - Lon Warneke
1938 - Bill Lee
1945 - Ray Prim
2016 - Kyle Hendricks

National League Leader in Strikeouts
1880 - Larry Corcoran
1885 - John Clarkson
1887 - John Clarkson
1892 - Bill Hutchison
1909 - Orval Overall
1918 - Hippo Vaughn
1919 - Hippo Vaughn
1920 - Grover Alexander
1929 - Pat Malone
1938 - Clay Bryant
1955 - Sam Jones
1956 - Sam Jones
1969 - Fergie Jenkins
2003 - Kerry Wood

National League Manager of the Year
1984 - Jim Frey
1989 - Don Zimmer
2008 - Lou Piniella
2015 - Joe Maddon

 

Check out our book Heydays: Great Stories in Chicago Sports on Amazon.  

Jerry Harkness, 1940 - 2021

Jerry Harkness, who passed away last week at the age of 81, was captain of the 1963 Loyola Ramblers, the only Illinois team (so far) to win the NCAA Division I Men's Basketball Tournament. He was also a first-team All-American, a member of the College Basketball Hall of Fame, a successful businessman, and a civil-rights activist. He and the other starters on the 1963 Ramblers team—John Egan, Les Hunter, Ron Miller, and Vic Rouse—earned eleven college degrees among them.

  

JERRY HARKNESS

The Ramblers’ march through the 1963 tournament included a win over the Fighting Illini in the Elite Eight, followed by victories over No. 2-ranked Duke and No. 1 Cincinnati in the Final Four. But it was their defeat of Mississippi State in the Sweet Sixteen that has gone down in history.

Not only was Mississippi State an all-white institution at the time, but its athletic teams were forbidden by tradition to even play against integrated teams. Accordingly, the Maroons had declined invitations to the tournament in 1961 and 1962. 

“I think that Mississippi State wants to play us,” Harkness said when the matchup was set. “If they don’t, they’ll never know how good they are.” Harkness was right. Coach Babe McCarthy and the Maroons kept their date with Loyola on March 15 in East Lansing, Michigan, even though they literally had to sneak out of Mississippi to do so.

The Maroons were scheduled to fly from Starkville, Mississippi, to East Lansing on Thursday morning, March 14. On Wednesday, a state legislator obtained an injunction prohibiting the team from leaving the state. That night, coach McCarthy and several other officials drove from Starkville to Memphis, then flew to Nashville. On Thursday morning, the Hinds County sheriff showed up at the Starkville airport to enforce the injunction. The injunction was duly served—to the Maroons’ freshman team, which had been sent to the airport as a decoy. The varsity team had already left from a small private airport. They met up with McCarthy and the others in Nashville, then continued on to East Lansing.

“We wanted to play,” Mississippi State guard Leland Mitchell said. “We had just won the SEC championship for the third year in a row and we hadn’t been allowed to play in the NCAA tournament the past two years. For us, the biggest thing was getting the opportunity to play in the tournament because it was something we felt we deserved.”

THE PRE-GAME HANDSHAKE.

The game attracted an overflow crowd of 12,143 at Michigan State’s Jenison Fieldhouse. When Harkness and his counterpart Joe Dan Gold shook hands at center court before the game, they created a sensation. “The flashbulbs just went off unbelievably,” Harkness said, “and at that time, boy, I knew this was more than just a game. This was history being made.”

Mississippi State came in with a record of 21-5. The Maroons were a methodical, disciplined team whose tallest starter was only six-foot-five. The Ramblers also were undersized (the lithe, six-foot-seven Hunter was their tallest starter), but their athleticism made up for what they lacked in height and heft.

From the opening tip, Mississippi State did everything but deflate the basketball in order to slow the pace. The Maroons held Loyola off the scoreboard for almost six minutes as they crept out to a 7-0 lead. A pair of three-point plays by Harkness jump-started the Ramblers, and strong rebounding by Hunter and Rouse carried them to a 26-19 edge at halftime. In the second half, the Maroons patiently stuck to their plan on offense, allowing 90 seconds or so to elapse in each possession before taking a shot (there was no shot clock in those days) and not attempting any shot that was closely contested.

Mississippi State was poised and determined throughout, but ultimately Loyola’s relentlessness proved too much to overcome. “We don’t let up,” said coach George Ireland. The Ramblers won 61-51. Harkness tallied 20 points, Rouse 16 points and 19 rebounds, and Hunter 12 points and 10 rebounds. 

 In later years, as the Ramblers looked back across the decades to the dream season of 1963, their stirring comeback victory over Cincinnati in the title game was a fond memory, of course. But the game against Mississippi State was probably more meaningful in the long run. “In a game like that you have two winners,” Harkness said. “Mississippi State made a statement to the community that broke down some of the barriers, and we played a part in it.”

 

 

Check out our book Heydays: Great Stories in Chicago Sports on Amazon.