1981 Chicago Cubs

38-65 • .369 Win% • 6th in NL E

The 1981 Chicago Cubs went 38-65 (.369) finishing 6th in the NL E division. The club scored 370 runs, allowed 483, and played home games at Wrigley Field. Team leaders included Bill Buckner (10 HR, 75 RBI) and Mike Krukow (9-9, 3.68 ERA).

W (Wins):
Games credited to a pitcher whose team took a lead it never surrendered while he was the pitcher of record.
L (Losses):
Games charged to the pitcher of record when the opposing team took a lead it never surrendered.
RS (Runs Scored (team)):
Total runs a team scored across the season.
RA (Runs Allowed):
Total runs a team allowed across the season.

Data updated

📊 Season Record

38 Wins
65 Losses
.369 Win %
6th Rank
370 R 483 RA
Diff -113

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⚡ Quick Stats

370 Runs Scored
483 Runs Allowed
-113 Run Diff
565K Attendance

📈 vs. 1981 NL Average

Batting Avg .236 7% below the 1981 league average (.255)
OBP .303 5% below the 1981 league average (.319)
SLG .339 7% below the 1981 league average (.363)
Team ERA 4.01 15% worse than the 1981 league average (3.49)
Runs Scored 370 12% below the 1981 league average (420 R)

🏟️ Home Ballpark

🏟️
StadiumWrigley Field
📅
Home Games 58
👥
Total Attendance 565,615
📊
Avg per Game 9,751

⚾ Batting Leaders

Team HR Leaders — 1981

Batting Avg

1 Bill Buckner 0.311 2 Steve Henderson 0.293 3 Leon Durham 0.290 4 Jerry Morales 0.286 5 Ty Waller 0.268

Home Runs

1 Bill Buckner 10 2 Leon Durham 10 3 Hector Cruz 7 4 Bobby Bonds 6 5 Steve Henderson 5

RBI

1 Bill Buckner 75 2 Leon Durham 35 3 Steve Henderson 35 4 Ken Reitz 28 5 Jerry Morales 25
1981 Chicago Cubs — RBI
Player G AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI BB SO SB AVG
Bill Buckner 106 421 45 131 35 3 10 75 26 16 5 0.311
Ivan de Jesus 106 403 49 78 8 4 0 13 46 61 21 0.194
Leon Durham 87 328 42 95 14 6 10 35 27 53 25 0.290
Steve Henderson 82 287 32 84 9 5 5 35 42 61 5 0.293
Ken Reitz 82 260 10 56 9 1 2 28 15 56 0 0.215
Jerry Morales 84 245 27 70 6 2 1 25 22 29 1 0.286
Jody Davis 56 180 14 46 5 1 4 21 21 28 0 0.256
Bobby Bonds 45 163 26 35 7 1 6 19 24 44 5 0.215
Tim Blackwell 58 158 21 37 10 2 1 11 23 23 2 0.234
Steve Dillard 53 119 18 26 7 1 2 11 8 20 0 0.218
Scot Thompson 57 115 8 19 5 0 0 8 7 8 2 0.165
Hector Cruz 53 109 15 25 5 0 7 15 17 24 2 0.229
Pat Tabler 35 101 11 19 3 1 1 5 13 26 0 0.188
Mike Tyson 50 92 6 17 2 0 2 8 7 15 1 0.185
Joe Strain 25 74 7 14 1 0 0 1 5 7 0 0.189
Ty Waller 30 71 10 19 2 1 3 13 4 18 2 0.268
Jim Tracy 45 63 6 15 2 1 0 5 12 14 1 0.238
Mike Lum 41 58 5 14 1 0 2 7 5 5 0 0.241
Mike Krukow 25 50 5 9 2 0 0 3 0 13 0 0.180
Scott Fletcher 19 46 6 10 4 0 0 1 2 4 0 0.217
Randy Martz 34 28 0 6 0 0 0 2 3 13 0 0.214
Rick Reuschel 16 25 1 2 0 0 0 1 1 7 0 0.080
Barry Foote 9 22 0 0 0 0 0 1 3 7 0 0.000
Doug Bird 12 20 0 2 0 0 0 0 1 11 0 0.100
Ken Kravec 25 15 1 0 0 0 0 0 2 8 0 0.000
Bill Caudill 30 14 0 2 0 0 0 1 2 6 0 0.143
Carlos Lezcano 7 14 1 1 0 0 0 2 0 4 0 0.071
Mike Griffin 16 13 0 2 0 0 0 0 0 8 0 0.154
Lynn McGlothen 20 12 1 1 1 0 0 0 0 3 0 0.083
Mel Hall 10 11 1 1 0 0 1 2 1 4 0 0.091
Lee Smith 40 9 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 7 0 0.000
Gene Krug 7 5 0 2 0 0 0 0 1 1 0 0.400
Dick Tidrow 51 5 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 0 0.000
Doug Capilla 42 3 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0.000
Dave Geisel 11 3 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 2 0 0.000
Rawly Eastwick 30 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 0 0.000
Jay Howell 10 2 2 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0.000
Bill Hayes 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0.000
Willie Hernandez 13 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0.000

🎯 Pitching Leaders

Team K Leaders — 1981

ERA

1 Rawly Eastwick 2.28 2 Doug Capilla 3.18 3 Rick Reuschel 3.47 4 Lee Smith 3.51 5 Doug Bird 3.58

Wins

1 Mike Krukow 9 2 Randy Martz 5 3 Doug Bird 4 4 Rick Reuschel 4 5 Lee Smith 3

Strikeouts

1 Mike Krukow 101 2 Rick Reuschel 53 3 Ken Kravec 50 4 Lee Smith 50 5 Bill Caudill 45
1981 Chicago Cubs — Strikeouts
Player W L ERA G GS SV IP H ER BB SO
Mike Krukow 9 9 3.68 25 25 0 144.1 146 59 55 101
Randy Martz 5 7 3.68 33 14 6 107.2 103 44 49 32
Rick Reuschel 4 7 3.47 13 13 0 85.2 87 33 23 53
Ken Kravec 1 6 5.06 24 12 0 78.1 80 44 39 50
Doug Bird 4 5 3.58 12 12 0 75.1 72 30 16 34
Dick Tidrow 3 10 5.06 51 0 9 74.2 73 42 30 39
Bill Caudill 1 5 5.83 30 10 0 71.0 87 46 31 45
Lee Smith 3 6 3.51 40 1 1 66.2 57 26 31 50
Lynn McGlothen 1 4 4.77 20 6 0 54.2 71 29 28 26
Mike Griffin 2 5 4.50 16 9 1 52.0 64 26 9 20
Doug Capilla 1 0 3.18 42 0 0 51.0 52 18 34 28
Rawly Eastwick 0 1 2.28 30 0 1 43.1 43 11 15 24
Jay Howell 2 0 4.84 10 2 0 22.1 23 12 10 10
Dave Geisel 2 0 0.56 11 2 0 16.0 11 1 10 7
Willie Hernandez 0 0 3.95 12 0 2 13.2 14 6 8 13

👥 Roster (39)

Doug Bird Tim Blackwell Bobby Bonds Bill Buckner Doug Capilla Bill Caudill Hector Cruz Jody Davis Steve Dillard Leon Durham Rawly Eastwick Scott Fletcher +27 more

39 players

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The 1981 Chicago Cubs in brief

The 1981 Chicago Cubs finished 38-65, a .369 winning percentage, placing 6th in the NL East. The Chicago Cubs scored 370 runs and allowed 483, a run differential of -113. At the plate the Chicago Cubs hit .236, 7% worse than the league's .255. Pitchers allowed 4.01 earned runs per nine innings, against a league figure of 3.49. Measured against the 420-run league average, the offense was 12% behind.

Attendance at Wrigley Field totaled 565,615 for the year. For power, Bill Buckner led the way with 10 homers. On the mound, Mike Krukow won 9 games to lead the staff. The roster section lists 39 players who appeared for the club. For the seasons either side, see the 1980 season and the 1982 season.

Frequently Asked Questions about the 1981 Chicago Cubs

What was the 1981 Chicago Cubs record?
The 1981 Chicago Cubs finished 38-65 (.369 win pct).
Who led the 1981 Chicago Cubs in home runs?
Bill Buckner led the 1981 Chicago Cubs with 10 home runs.
What was the 1981 Chicago Cubs team ERA?
The 1981 Chicago Cubs posted a team ERA of 4.01.
Did the 1981 Chicago Cubs win the World Series?
No. The 1981 Chicago Cubs did not win the World Series.
Where did the 1981 Chicago Cubs play?
The 1981 Chicago Cubs played home games at Wrigley Field.
Who led the 1981 Chicago Cubs in hitting and pitching?
Team leaders were Bill Buckner (10 HR, 75 RBI) and Mike Krukow (9-9, 3.68 ERA).
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