Chicago Cubs

The Chicago Cubs play in the Central Division of Major League Baseball's National League. In its franchise history, the Cubs won one Wild Card, two East Division titles, two Central Division titles, sixteen National League Championships, and two World Series Championships.http://www.baseball-reference.com/teams/CHC/

One story in baseball lore involves the Cubs franchise's Curse of the Billy Goat. During the World Series of 1945, tavern owner William Sianis attended game four with his billy goat. Allegedly, P.K. Wrigley ejected Sianis and the goat due to the unpleasant odor of the goat. Reportedly Sianis stated upon his ejection that the Cubs, they ain't gonna win no more, and the Cubs would go on to lose the World Series and have not won a World Series sincehttp://www.billygoattavern.com/history.html

In 2010, the Cubs would finish the year 75-87,finishing in fifth place in the NL Central. The season would be highlighted, however, with the retirement of manager Lou Piniella. Piniella, who began managing in 1986 with the New York Yankees, managed his final game on August 22, 2010, against the Atlanta Braves. After losing his final game, 16-5, Piniella said he was retiring to help care for his sick mother at home.http://sports.espn.go.com/chicago/mlb/news/story?id=5483775 The Cubs named Mike Quade as the team's new manager following Piniella's retirement.http://msn.foxsports.com/mlb/story/Mike-Quade-Chicago-Cubs-manager-101910

In the 2003 National League Championship series, the Cubs were one victory away from reaching the World Series against the Florida Marlins. In Game Six, in the eighth inning, the Cubs held a 3-0 lead. A foul ball was hit by Luis Castillo, a Cubs fan named Steve Bartman reached out and deflected it, attempting to catch the ball, which is a custom at Major League games. But due to the close proximity of outfielder Moises Alou at the time, many felt that he could have caught the ball, including Alou, who would react by screaming and flailing his arms in frustration after the play. Bartman was forced to leave the stadium under threat from other fans, while the Marlins mounted a comeback to win the game, than eventually the series.http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/playoffs2003/news/story?id=1638975

• 1876: Cubs Established
• 1916: First game at Wrigley Field
• 1907: World Series Champions
• 1908: World Series Champions
• 1945: World Series Appearancehttp://mlb.mlb.com/chc/history/timeline10.jsp