The Chicago Cubs went 83-78 in 2009, a .516 winning percentage — 16th of 30 record in baseball. They scored 707 runs and allowed 672, a run differential of +35. The offence ranked 22nd of 30 in MLB for runs scored, while their 3.90 staff ERA was 5th of 30. Their 93 team wRC+ was 7% below league average — 23rd of 30 in MLB. Derrek Lee led the position players at 5.0 WAR, and Ted Lilly the rotation at a 3.10 ERA.
The 2009 season
Month by month, the streaks, and the record in the games that are argued about.
They finished 2nd in the NL Central, 7.5 games back. They spent 16 of 184 days in first place, led by as many as 0.5 games on April 9 and were as far as 11.5 games back on September 4. Their best month was July at 18-9, their worst August at 11-17. The longest runs were a 5-game winning streak from May 10 to May 16 and an 8-game losing streak from May 17 to May 25. They were 46-34 at home and 37-44 on the road, 16-22 in one-run games and 23-38 against clubs that finished .500 or better. The most lopsided win was 17-2 against the Pirates on August 14; the heaviest defeat, 10-0 at the Diamondbacks on April 29.
Record by month. March games count toward April, October’s toward September.
Month
W
L
Pct
RS
RA
Diff
March/April
10
11
.476
97
104
-7
May
15
13
.536
121
109
+12
June
11
14
.440
89
95
-6
July
18
9
.667
141
105
+36
August
11
17
.393
124
140
-16
Sept/Oct
18
14
.563
135
119
+16
Splits. Extra innings are blank for a season whose games predate the innings count.
Games
W-L
Pct
Home
46-34
.575
Road
37-44
.457
One-run games
16-22
.421
Extra innings
9-7
.563
Within the division
47-32
.595
Against .500+ clubs
23-38
.377
Decided by 5+ runs
24-22
.522
Last 10
5-5
.500
National League Central standings, 2009
Final standings. The division page has the rest of its season.
National League Central, 2009. Games back of the best record in the division.
The players whose season belongs to this club, by position and then by dbWAR. A player traded mid-season is listed with the club he played most of his games for, so a deadline arrival may appear on his other club’s page instead.
Each rectangle is a player, sized by his share of the team's hits; darker means a larger share. Top 30 contributors. Select a different statistic above, or click a player for his page.
Day and night divide the home schedule, and so do weekend and weekday. The road line is a different question.
Split
Games
Avg
Med
Low
High
All home
80
39,611
40,090
33,299
41,619
Night
27
38,796
38,942
33,299
41,477
Day
53
40,026
40,444
33,786
41,619
Weekend
37
40,339
40,549
33,786
41,619
Weekday
43
38,984
39,192
33,299
41,538
On the road
81
34,931
35,885
10,899
51,575
Through the season
Average home crowd by month.
Month
Games
Average
Apr
9
39,401
May
17
39,597
Jun
8
40,770
Jul
18
40,886
Aug
12
39,391
Sep
13
38,017
Oct
3
37,359
By season
Announced gate — tickets distributed, which is the figure every reference publishes and is not the same as people through the turnstile. A game the feed reports no gate for is left out rather than counted as empty. Seasons before attendance was carried into the lake are absent from the trend rather than shown as zero.
Game time
First pitch to final out across 159 completed games, 2009.
Regulation
2:47
143 games
All games
2:53
Extra innings
3:46
16 of them
Longest
4:27
2009-06-20, 13 inn
Shortest
2:11
2009-10-03
By situation
Regulation and extra innings divide the season, and so do home and road. Day and night overlap both.
Split
Games
Avg
Med
Fastest
Longest
All
159
2:53
2:47
1:56
5:13
Regulation
143
2:47
2:46
1:56
3:47
Extra innings
16
3:46
3:39
3:05
5:13
Home
78
2:50
2:46
2:11
4:27
Road
81
2:55
2:50
1:56
5:13
Day
77
2:52
2:46
2:11
5:13
Night
82
2:53
2:49
1:56
4:11
Through the season
Average completed game by month.
Month
Games
Average
Apr
9
3:01
May
15
2:53
Jun
8
3:00
Jul
18
2:51
Aug
12
2:44
Sep
13
2:44
Oct
3
2:25
By season
Regulation games only, in minutes. 167 minutes this season.
Elapsed time from first pitch to final out. The feed does not itemise delays, so a rain delay is inside these numbers with no way to subtract it. Games called early are excluded — five innings in ninety-three minutes is not a short game — but they still count in attendance, because the crowd turned up.
Record versus run differential
Chicago Cubs are 83-78, a .516 win rate, while their +35 run differential implies .523. That is essentially in line — the record reflects the run scoring.
