How many victories is 116, the all-time record total reached by the Chicago Cubs in 1906? If the 1927 New York Yankees (110-44) had been in the same league, they would have finished seven games behind those Cubs. The Toronto Blue Jays, the 1993 world champions (95-67), would have trailed by 26 games. If the St. Louis Browns could have combined all of their wins for 1950 (58) and 1951 (52) together, they still would have fallen six victories short of matching the Cubs' total.
In fact, since the expanded 162-game schedule was adopted in the early 1960s, no team has come within a week's worth of wins of matching the number of victories the Cubs accumulated in just 152 decisions during that remarkable season.
There was no secret to Chicago's unprecedented domination; the Cubs were superior at everything. They led the National League in batting average, runs scored, fewest runs allowed, slugging, earned run average, fewest hits per game, shutouts, fielding average, and fewest errors. In August and September, with the race already decided, they won 50 of their final 57 games. Three-Finger Brown won 26 times, lost only six and -- at .813 -- didn't even lead the league in winning percentage because his teammate, Ed Reulbach (19-4) beat him with .826. Joe Tinker and Johnny Evers refined the concept of teamwork in the middle infield; they, along with Brown and Frank Chance, eventually all were enshrined in Cooperstown.
How such an aggregation could lose the World Series to thecross-town White Sox, the "Hitless Wonders" who batted only .230 for the season, remains one of the enduring mysteries that give baseball its charm.
The National League requires clubs to provide locker rooms for visiting teams so they do not have to dress at their hotels.
Umpires are given sole control of games once they are begun.
The San Francisco Earthquake kills 700 on April 18.