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| title | chunk | source | category | tags | date_saved | instance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ex-Cubs Factor | 3/3 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ex-Cubs_Factor | reference | science, encyclopedia | 2026-05-05T09:59:30.051451+00:00 | kb-cron |
== Cases against the Ex-Cubs Factor hypothesis == Berler's study of the ex-Cub factor since 1945 revealed only one exception since 1945: the 1960 Pittsburgh Pirates, who won the World Series with three ex-Cubs on their roster. Berler contends that one of those ex-Cubs, Don Hoak, spent so little time in Chicago (121 games in one season), that he did not fully develop what Berler called his "Cubness". Berler quoted pitcher Jim Brosnan, a teammate of Hoak's on the 1956 Cubs, as saying that "Hoak is quite possibly the only man who ever conquered his Cubness". The Society for American Baseball Research researched the rosters of each World Series roster from 1946 to 2013 through records and noted each Series that had at least one former Cub while noting the distinct conjectures between Berler's and Royko's theories. Perhaps predictably, the Berler rate was found to be more effective (17/22 as compared to 32/56), although there are a few evident cases against each conjecture. Most notably, the 1973 Oakland A's had three ex-Cubs in Pat Bourque, Ken Holtzman, and Bill North all on the roster during their run to the World Series, although North did not play in the Series due to injury. This also applies to the 1979 Pittsburgh Pirates, who won the World Series with three former Cub players in Matt Alexander, Bill Madlock, and Dave Roberts, although Roberts didn't play in the Series itself. The 2001 Arizona Diamondbacks similarly had four ex-Cubs on their roster—Miguel Batista, Mark Grace, Mike Morgan, and Luis Gonzalez—but defeated the New York Yankees in the 2001 World Series. Mark Grace declared in a post-game interview that "We beat the ex-Cub Factor!" The sympathy many fans felt for New York City following the September 11 attacks, topped off by the four ex-Cubs on the Arizona roster, seemed to stack up against the Diamondbacks. But Arizona won Game 6 in a lopsided score, and then won Game 7 in a come-from-behind finish, scoring a pair of runs in the ninth inning to win the Series. In fact, two of the four former Cubs played prominent roles in that ninth inning: Grace got a lead-off single and Gonzalez drove in the winning run with a single. The 1960 Pittsburgh Pirates and the 2001 Arizona Diamondbacks (both with victories over the New York Yankees) are among the few instances of teams ever having won the World Series in Game 7 walk-off victories. The former was a home run hit by Bill Mazeroski to end the 1960 World Series. The 2008 Philadelphia Phillies team was declared prior to the post-season by Berler as "doomed this year by the Ex-Cub Factor", with three ex-Cubs—Scott Eyre, Jamie Moyer, and Matt Stairs—on their roster. However, the Phillies defeated the Los Angeles Dodgers (a team also with three ex-Cubs) in the National League Championship Series and the Tampa Bay Rays (one ex-Cub) in the 2008 World Series.
== Applied to other teams == The Ex-Cubs Factor hypothesis has been applied to other professional baseball teams in both positive and negative references. For example, sportswriter Jeff Blair has argued there exists an "ex-Expos factor" where the number of former Montreal Expos players correlates with post-season success, owing to several careers starting in Montreal that ranged from Randy Johnson (the winning pitcher of the final game in 2001) to Pedro Martínez (part of the Red Sox team who made the epic comeback over the Yankees in 2004) to Gary Carter (who played on the Mets team that won in 1986), each of which whom won a World Series after leaving the Expos. Jim Caple for ESPN.com has similarly proposed an ex-Mariners factor (or XMF) which explores the excellent play by ex-Mariners for other teams in postseason baseball.
== See also == Redskins Rule
== References ==
== External links == Mike Royko column examples including 1993 explanation of Ex-Cubs Factor Ex-Cubs Factor through the years