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  • September Streak: The 1935 Chicago Cubs Chase the Pennant
  • David A. Goss (bio)
Doug Feldman. September Streak: The 1935 Chicago Cubs Chase the Pennant. Jefferson NC: McFarland, 2003. 239 pp. Paper, $28.50.

This book chronicles the 1935 season of the Chicago Cubs, who used a 21-game winning streak in the month of September to capture the National League pennant. The first chapter provides a background for the 1935 season. It discusses such items as the declining attendance during the Depression and the 1934 National League race, in which the St. Louis Cardinals edged out the New York Giants by 2 games with the Cubs 8 games back in third place. The second chapter discusses the prospects for the 1935 season and introduces Charlie Grimm, the Cubs manager, and some of the Cubs players. Chapters3 to 8 cover the Cubs regular season from beginning to end, with the eighth chapter concentrating on the September streak. Chapter9, on the 4 games to 2 loss in the World Series to the Detroit Tigers, is followed by an eight-page epilogue noting some of the baseball events of 1936 and how some of the 1935 Cubs would close out their careers. Throughout the book the author sprinkles in some anecdotes about such baseball figures as Babe Ruth, whose 1935 season was his last, and Dizzy Dean, who followed up 30 wins in 1934 with 28 in 1935. The author also mentions events involving famous contemporaries such as boxer Joe Louis.

The Cubs spent most of the first half of the season in third place behind the Giants and Cardinals. By mid-June they had slipped to fourth place, 81/2 games behind the Giants, and on July 4th, they were 10 1/2 games back. The Cubs would then win 23 of 26 to pull within a game of the Giants after the games of July 30. The Cubs were 15-15 in August. After play on August 29 they were in third place, 2 games behind the Cardinals and half a game behind the Giants. The 21-game winning streak began in early September and continued through September27, when they swept a doubleheader from the Cardinals [End Page 178] in Sportsman's Park. The Cubs won the first game of the doubleheader 6-2, with Bill Lee defeating Dizzy Dean, to clinch the National League pennant. At various points in the coverage of the regular season, the author presents the full National League standings. The box scores for each of the World Series games are included in chapter9.

The Cubs had a balanced attack of good hitting, good pitching, and good fielding. As a team they led the National League in batting average, on-base percentage, and earned run average. Gabby Hartnett, with the team-leading batting average (.344) and runs batted in (91), won the National League Most Valuable Player award. Chuck Klein led the team in home runs with 21. Billy Herman led the league in hits (227) and doubles (57). Augie Galan led the league in runs scored (133) and stolen bases (22). Bill Lee and Lon Warneke each won 20 games.

Each reader approaches a book with his or her own expectations. The author did an excellent job noting the key plays, the big rallies, the stellar pitching performances, the big hitting days, and the important games throughout the season. I would have liked to learn more about the strengths, weaknesses, and personalities of the Cubs players. The author also did a good job describing the performance of the Cubs in terms of the statistics of 1935. Using some of the newer statistics of today may have helped in analyzing the abilities of the players. For example, in consulting the sixth edition of Total Baseball, I found that Stan Hack and Augie Galan were third and fourth in the league in on-base percentage, Gabby Hartnett was fifth in slugging average, and Billy Jurges, Billy Herman, and Gabby Hartnett were first, second, and fourth, respectively, in fielding runs.

These minor quibbles aside, I found the book to be quite enjoyable. I recommend it to anyone interested in the history of the Chicago Cubs or in...

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