The Chicago Cubs peaked as a franchise, winning a whopping 116 games, still a single season record. But they were embarrassed in the World Series, losing to their cross-town rivals, the White Sox. Still, these were good times for the Cubbies. They continued to play well, and won back-to-back World Series in 1907 and 1908, their only two championships of the century.

         You would expect a team that wins 116 games to be loaded with pitching, and the Cubs had lots of it. Their ace was a man named Mordecai Brown, better known as "Three-Finger". Three-Finger Brown debuted for the Cubs in 1903, and had his first great season this year. He had, as you would expect, only three fingers on his pitching hand, having lost his index finger in a corn shredder. But his deformity made him a great pitcher; Brown was able to put an unusually tight spin on the ball, and threw what was acknowledged to be the best curve ball of the era.
         This was the first of six consecutive 20+ win seasons for Brown; he was the Cubs' greatest pitcher in their greatest era, and his duels with Giants' ace Christy Mathewson are legendary. He was a true one-of-a-kind; when a player achieves success by being different, there is usually a rush to copy what he is doing. But as far as I know, Brown is baseball's only three-fingered pitcher. Brown won 239 games in his career, losing only 130, and ranks as one of baseball's greatest and most unique pitchers.
        The Cubs also had Jack Pfiester, a 28-year-old rookie. This was Pfiester's best season, though he remained a solid pitcher for a few more years, and earned the nickname "Jack the Giant Killer". Ed Reulbach was in his sophomore season, and he too had a great year. Reulbach had a string of seasons just like this one, winning a bunch of games while hardly ever losing, and he held batters to just a .175 batting average.
        The fourth outstanding Chicago pitcher was Jake Weimer. "Tornado Jake" didn't reach the majors until he was 29; this was his fourth straight good season, but also his last one. As good as Weimer was, I think Vic Willis was better. Willis had hit some hard times with the Boston Braves, losing 54 games in two seasons. This year he joined the Pirates, and had four straight good years, capped by a World Series victory in 1909.