The 1981 Chicago Cubs season was the 110th season of the

Chicago Cubs The Chicago Cubs are an American professional baseball team based in Chicago. The Cubs compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as part of the National League (NL) Central division. The club plays its home games at Wrigley Field, which is locate ...

franchise, the 106th in the

National League The National League of Professional Baseball Clubs, known simply as the National League (NL), is the older of two leagues constituting Major League Baseball (MLB) in the United States and Canada, and the world's oldest extant professional team s ...

and the 66th at

Wrigley Field Wrigley Field is a Major League Baseball (MLB) stadium on the North Side of Chicago, Illinois. It is the home of the Chicago Cubs, one of the city's two MLB franchises. It first opened in 1914 as Weeghman Park for Charles Weeghman's Chicago ...

. The Cubs finished the first-half in last place at 15-37, 17½ games behind the Philadelphia Phillies, and the second-half in fifth place at 23-28, six games behind the eventual NL East Champion

Montreal Expos The Montreal Expos (french: link=no, Les Expos de Montréal) were a Canadian professional baseball team based in Montreal, Quebec. The Expos were the first Major League Baseball (MLB) franchise located outside the United States. They played in ...

in the

National League East The National League East is one of Major League Baseball's six divisions. Along with the American League Central it is one of two divisions to have every member win at least one World Series title. The division was created when the National Leag ...

. It was also the final season for the Cubs under the Wrigley family ownership, as the

Tribune Company Tribune Media Company, also known as Tribune Company, was an American multimedia conglomerate headquartered in Chicago, Illinois. Through Tribune Broadcasting, Tribune Media was one of the largest television broadcasting companies, owning 39 ...

took over the club late in the year.

Offseason

* December 9, 1980:

Bruce Sutter Howard Bruce Sutter (; January 8, 1953 – October 13, 2022) was an American professional baseball pitcher who played 12 seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB) between 1976 and 1988. He was one of the sport's dominant relievers in the late 1970 ...

was traded by the Cubs to the

St. Louis Cardinals The St. Louis Cardinals are an American professional baseball team based in St. Louis. The Cardinals compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) Central division. Since the 2006 season, the Cardinals ha ...

for

Leon Durham Leon "Bull" Durham (born July 31, 1957) is an American former first baseman and outfielder in Major League Baseball who played for 10 seasons. Durham was a longtime minor league hitting coach, and most recently served as the assistant hitting coac ...

Ken Reitz Kenneth John Reitz (June 24, 1951March 31, 2021) was an American baseball third baseman who played 11 seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB). Nicknamed " Zamboni", he played for the St. Louis Cardinals, San Francisco Giants, Chicago Cubs, and P ...

, and a player to be named later. The Cardinals completed the deal by sending

Tye Waller Elliott Tyrone Waller (born March 14, 1957) or more commonly known as Tye Waller or Ty Waller, is a former Major League Baseball third baseman. He was also a coach for the Oakland Athletics from 2007 to 2015. Playing career Waller was drafted b ...

to the Cubs on December 22. * December 12, 1980: Jerry Martin,

Jesús Figueroa Jesús Maria Figueroa (born February 20, 1957) is a Dominican former professional baseball player. He appeared in 115 games during the 1980 baseball season with the Chicago Cubs, mostly as a pinch hitter In baseball, a pinch hitter is a subs ...

and a player to be named later was traded by the Cubs to the

San Francisco Giants The San Francisco Giants are an American professional baseball team based in San Francisco, California. The Giants compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) West division. Founded in 1883 as the New Yo ...

for

Joe Strain Joseph Allan Strain (born April 30, 1954) is a former a professional baseball player who was an infielder in the Major Leagues from to for the San Francisco Giants and Chicago Cubs. Strain currently resides in the home rule municipality of Cen ...

and Philip Nastu. The Cubs completed the deal by sending Mike Turgeon (minors) to the Giants on August 11, 1981. * February 26, 1981: George Riley was released by the Cubs. * March 28, 1981:

Dennis Lamp Dennis Patrick Lamp (born September 23, 1952) is a former professional baseball pitcher in Major League Baseball. From 1977 through 1992, the breaking ball specialist played for the Chicago Cubs, Chicago White Sox, Toronto Blue Jays, Oakland Athle ...

was traded by the Cubs to the

Chicago White Sox The Chicago White Sox are an American professional baseball team based in Chicago. The White Sox compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) Central division. The team is owned by Jerry Reinsdorf, and ...

for

Ken Kravec Kenneth Peter Kravec (born July 29, 1951) is an American professional baseball scout and a former Major League pitcher and front office official. The , left-hander appeared in 160 games pitched, 128 as a starter, exclusively for the White Sox ( ...

Regular season

Season standings

Record vs. opponents

Notable transactions

* April 6, 1981:

Butch Benton Alfred Lee "Butch" Benton (born August 24, 1957) is a former Major League Baseball right-handed catcher. He was selected sixth overall in the 1975 Major League Baseball Draft by the New York Mets. Early years Benton played both football and base ...

was acquired by the Cubs from the

New York Mets The New York Mets are an American professional baseball team based in the New York City borough of Queens. The Mets compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member of the National League (NL) East division. They are one of two major lea ...

as part of a conditional deal. * June 8, 1981:

Joe Carter Joseph Chris Carter (born March 7, 1960) is an American former professional baseball player. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) as an outfielder and first baseman for the Chicago Cubs, Cleveland Indians, San Diego Padres, Toronto Blue ...

was drafted by the Cubs in the 1st round (2nd pick) of the

1981 Major League Baseball draft First round selections The following are the first round picks in the 1981 Major League Baseball draft. Compensation Picks Other notable players * Darrin Jackson, 2nd round, 28th overall by the Chicago Cubs *Mike Gallego, 2nd round, 33 ...

. Player signed June 12, 1981. * June 12, 1981:

Rick Reuschel Rick may refer to: People *Rick (given name), a list of people with the given name *Alan Rick (born 1976), Brazilian politician, journalist, pastor and television personality *Johannes Rick (1869–1946), Austrian-born Brazilian priest and mycol ...

was traded by the Cubs to the

New York Yankees The New York Yankees are an American professional baseball team based in the New York City borough of the Bronx. The Yankees compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) East division. They are one ...

for Doug Bird, a player to be named later, and $400,000. The Yankees completed the trade by sending

Mike Griffin Mike may refer to: Animals * Mike (cat), cat and guardian of the British Museum * Mike the Headless Chicken, chicken that lived for 18 months after his head had been cut off * Mike (chimpanzee), a chimpanzee featured in several books and document ...

on August 5. * August 19, 1981: The Cubs traded players to be named later to the New York Yankees for

Pat Tabler Patrick Sean Tabler (born February 2, 1958) is an American former Major League Baseball player. After retiring professional baseball, he became a color analyst for the Toronto Blue Jays on the Canadian sports television networks TSN and Sports ...

. The Cubs completed the trade by sending

Bill Caudill William Holland Caudill (born July 13, 1956) is an American former professional baseball pitcher. Caudill was one of the top closers in Major League Baseball (MLB) from to . Early years Caudill attended Aviation High School in Redondo Beach, C ...

to the Yankees on April 1, 1982, and

Jay Howell Jay Canfield Howell (born November 26, 1955) is a former Major League Baseball relief pitcher for the Cincinnati Reds (1980), Chicago Cubs (1981), New York Yankees (1982–1984), Oakland Athletics (1985–1987), Los Angeles Dodgers (1988–1992), ...

to the Yankees on August 2, 1982.Pat Tabler
at ''Baseball Reference''

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''

Other batters

''Note: G = Games played; AB = At bats; H = Hits; Avg. = Batting average; HR = Home runs; RBI = Runs batted in''

Pitching

Starting pitchers

''Note: G = Games pitched; IP = Innings pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts''

Other pitchers

''Note: G = Games pitched; IP = Innings pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts''

Relief pitchers

''Note: G = Games pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; SV = Saves; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts''

Farm system

Notes

References

*
1981 Chicago Cubs season
at ''Baseball Reference'' {{Chicago Cubs Chicago Cubs seasons Chicago Cubs season