They\u2019ve done it while losing closer Daniel Palencia<\/a> to an oblique injury and then losing his replacement, Caleb Thielbar<\/a>, to a hamstring injury.<\/p>\n And they\u2019ve managed to win while some of their biggest run producers were off to cold starts.<\/p>\n Some of it can be attributed to luck, and some to facing teams in the midst of horrific slumps, such as the New York Mets and Phillies.<\/p>\n \u201cYou can say they\u2019re struggling,\u201d manager Craig Counsell said after Thursday\u2019s win. \u201cHopefully we\u2019re part of (the reason for) that. That\u2019s what I\u2019d like to say. We\u2019ve made it tough on them.\u201d<\/p>\n In the end, it doesn\u2019t really matter how they did it or who they did it against, as long as the Cubs keep stacking up wins like beer-cup snakes in the Wrigley Field bleachers. It\u2019s a tight-knit group that made a decent playoff run in October and should be capable of going further this fall.<\/p>\n But since streaks like these happen so infrequently at the start of a Cubs season, I set the Wayback Machine to 1970 to see if there were any lessons to learn from that mostly forgotten year.<\/p>\n If you\u2019re a Cubs fan, chances are you know all about the 1969 collapse, which has been rehashed by baby boomers for the last 50-plus years to explain their PTSD over every late-season loss. You have to feel sorry for Gen Zers who just want to enjoy the nostalgia of 2016 without boomers constantly reminding them of how long they suffered before the drought ended.<\/p>\n But you almost never hear about that 1970 team, which in today\u2019s terminology would be put in the \u201crun it back\u201d narrative. Manager Leo Durocher was still around, even though he had been blamed for running his position players into the ground by September. Like the \u201926 Cubs, the starting lineup was almost exactly the same, except for newly acquired right fielder Johnny Callison. And the 1970 rotation was led by the three horses: Fergie Jenkins, Ken Holtzman and Bill Hands.<\/p>\n Cubs owner P.K. Wrigley figured if it wasn\u2019t broke<\/a>, don\u2019t fix it, knowing fans loved the team and would forgive and forget the ending of \u201969. He was half-right \u2014 they never forgot.<\/p>\n The \u201970 Cubs started 1-3 before the home opener at Wrigley Field, where Billy Williams snapped an 0-for-19 start and a riot broke out in the grandstands after a 5-4 win over the Phillies.<\/p>\n It didn\u2019t get anywhere near the publicity of the so-called \u201cDisco Demolition riot\u201d at Comiskey Park<\/a> in 1979, which was primarily kids like me running around the field in a haze after Steve Dahl\u2019s antidisco promotion ran amok.<\/p>\n According to a Tribune report, the fans on opening day at Wrigley in 1970 were battling with ushers and security after the game in several sections of the park, though it noted \u201cthe Bleacher Bums<\/a> were not involved.\u201d Police were not allowed to work in Chicago sports arenas at the time, and there were no arrests made.<\/p>\n Cubs general manager John Holland asked for police protection afterward, saying: \u201cI don\u2019t know what was wrong with the opening-day fans. They all seemed to have something on their minds.\u201d Chicago Police Superintendent James Conlisk<\/a> responded by saying the Cubs might welcome a riotous crowd in the summer if the season went astray, blowing off their request.<\/p>\n It was a story made for indignant newspaper columnists, like my old Tribune friend Robert Markus.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019m afraid this is going to be a common phenomenon this year, not just in Chicago but all over the country,\u201d Markus wrote. \u201cThere is no reason to believe the sickness that pervades our society will spare the hitherto sacrosanct world of sports.\u201d<\/p>\n I\u2019m pretty sure no one told Markus to \u201cstick to sports.\u201d It was a different era.<\/p>\n Either way, the blowback was heard at City Hall, and Mayor Richard J. Daley agreed to allow policemen into the ballpark whenever the Cubs requested. The atmosphere was more subdued the next game, when the Cubs played before only 7,120 fans.<\/p>\n \u201cThere ain\u2019t gonna be no rioting in the friendly confines of Wrigley Field today,\u201d first baseman Ernie Banks predicted before the game.<\/p>\n Banks was correct, and the Cubs got back to .500 behind four hits from Williams and a complete game from Hands in a 5-1 win over the Phils. Despite the return to normalcy, the Cubs announced several new policy changes to avoid a recurrence of the opening-day riot.<\/p>\n But most of them were aimed at the Bleacher Bums: reduced bleacher ticket sales from 4,000 to 3,300 and the elimination of standing room; beer vendors prevented from patrolling the bleachers; and the announcement that a \u201c42-inch wire-mesh extension\u201d would be added to the outfield walls to stop anyone from jumping onto the field.<\/p>\n \u201cWe don\u2019t want to change the home run trajectory any more than we have to,\u201d Holland said. \u201cThat\u2019s why we\u2019re going to pitch the screen out into the playing area.\u201d<\/p>\n That was the birth of the \u201cbasket,\u201d which has been the depository of hundreds of wind-aided home runs since. It even became a landing spot for some fans, including former team President Theo Epstein, who \u201cfell\u201d into the left-field basket<\/a> on a dare for a photo op during a going-away party with friends before leaving Chicago in 2022.<\/p>\n The basket was installed during a Cubs trip and was ready for use on May 6, 1970. It remains intact after 56 years, though many fans feel the ballpark was better without the basket.<\/p>\n![\"Cubs'](\"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/CTC-CUBS-04251.jpg\")
The Cubs’ Alex Bregman (3) and Pete Crow-Armstrong celebrate after a 6-4 win against the Dodgers at Dodger Stadium on Friday, April 24, 2026, in Los Angeles. It was the Cubs’ 10th straight victory. (Luke Hales\/Getty)<\/p>\n![\"Mayor](\"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/CTC-L-MAYOR-WRIGLEY.jpg\")
Mayor Richard J. Daley, second from right, attends a Cubs-Cardinals game with his grandson, second from left, and longtime judge Abraham Lincoln Marovitz on April 26, 1975, at Wrigley Field. (Don Casper\/Chicago Tribune)<\/p>\n![\"A](\"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/CTC-L-CUBS-BASKET-e1777150814353.jpg\")
A fan falls into the left-field basket after trying to grab Andre Dawson’s home run ball during a Cubs game on Sept. 17, 1982, at Wrigley Field. (Chicago Tribune historical photo)<\/p>\n