1906 Chicago Cubs Won 116 Games

Published on March 26th, 2026 6:09 pm EST
Written By: Dave Manuel


There are two teams - the 1906 Chicago Cubs and 2001 Seattle Mariners - who have posted 116 win seasons.

The 1906 Chicago Cubs, however, won 116 games over a 152-game season, while the Mariners did it in 162 games.

The 1906 Chicago Cubs, who would lose in the World Series to the Chicago White Sox, had everything.

To start, the Cubs had one of the greatest pitching staffs ever to be assembled, as the team finished the season with a club ERA of 1.75, nearly a full run lower than the league average.

The pitching staff had three 20+ game winners, including Mordecai "Three Finger" Brown, who finished the season with a record of 26-6 and an ERA of just 1.04 over 277 innings.

"Three Finger" was practically unhittable and threw a curveball that was enhanced by the fact that he had just three fingers (he lost two in a childhood farming accident).

The 1906 Chicago Cubs had a tremendous defense as well, led by the trio of Joe Tinker, Johnny Evers and Frank Chance. Whenever an opposing team would get some momentum going, the Tinker to Evers to Chance double-play would usually shut them down. This trio was ahead of their time.

The team was relentless when it came to manufacturing runs as well. The Cubs stole a ridiculous 283 bases in 1906 and were constantly putting pressure on their opponents. And, on top of all of that, third baseman Harry Steinfeldt would often bust the games open at the plate, as he finished the regular season with 176 hits and 83 RBIs.

The 1906 Chicago Cubs scored 704 runs in 1906 while allowing just 381, giving them a +323 run differential, which is one of the best of all time. You are not going to lose too many games when you are outscoring your opponents by over 2 runs per game.

The 1906 Cubs enjoyed winning streaks of 11, 12 and 14 games over the course of the season, and went on a 50-8 run to end the season. The New York Giants finished the regular season with 96 wins, a truly respectable number, but they still finished 20 games behind the Cubs.

Just like with the 2001 Seattle Mariners, the 1906 Chicago Cubs were unable to win it all, as they would lose in six games in the 1906 World Series.

Source: The 50 Greatest Regular Seasons in MLB History