Talk:List of Chicago Cubs seasons

World series?

why does this article refer to World Series in 1885 and 1886 when the World Series itself did not start until 1903? Cottonshirtτ 20:55, 14 November 2012 (UTC)

The modern World Series is considered to have begun in 1903 (although arguably it was 1905). The 19th century version of the World Series was long considered on an equal par with the modern Series, but that recognition faded over time. ←Baseball Bugs ^{What's up, Doc?} carrots→ 00:00, 15 November 2012 (UTC)

I guess the point is that it either is the World Series or it isn't. Wikipedia needs to be consistent with itself, and if the page on the World Series says it started in 1903 then it started in 1903 and a competition in 1885 is not the World Series. By all means have a post-season inter-league tournament in 1885, but you can't call it the World Series unless you have previously done two things: 1) found a reliable source that says it is the World Series, and 2) edited the page on World Series to include this 1880s tournament. If you can't do both of those then it should not be called the World Series. One baseball website I looked at called it a Championship, and I would agree that it resembles the World Series in that it is the top teams from two different leagues going head-to-head, but it is not the World Series. I have therefore deleted references to pre-1903 World Series from this article. Cottonshirtτ 05:39, 15 November 2012 (UTC)

The last time I looked, it said the modern World Series began in 1903. And the 1880s series were, in fact, called "World's Championship Series", just as 1903 was - the term eventually shortening to "World's Series" and then "World Series". There are plenty of sources. ←Baseball Bugs ^{What's up, Doc?} carrots→ 05:57, 15 November 2012 (UTC)

There are plenty of sources. Agreed. However, the salient points are, I think, as follows:
1) When does "eventually" refer to? If it was not called "The World Series" until 1903 and was called "World Championship Series" before that date then that useage should be reflected in Wikipedia. I have looked at a number of sources and they all say what you said, "...eventually came to be called the World Series" or words to that effect. None of the sources I looked at dated this "eventually". If the sources can't or don't date it then neither can we. Maybe I'm just looking at the wrong sources.
2) Wikipedia should be consistent with itself. If the page on World Series says, as it does, that it began in 1903 then any other page referring to the World Series should say the same. If you, or any other editor, goes to the page on World Series and edits that, with sources, to say that the World Series started in 1865 (or whatever) then any other page referring to the World Series can say the same thing. I don't have a bias against saying the World Series started in 1417 if you want; all I'm interested in is intellectual honesty and encyclopedic consistency.
3) Wikipedia articles are aimed, or at least I think of them as being aimed, at the non-specialist who comes here to learn something. I think non-specialist users would find it very confusing to have one article say the World Series started in 1903 and another article claiming that a club won this tournament almost twenty years earlier.
4) You say, "The last time I looked, it said the modern World Series began in 1903". I'm sorry, what does the "it" in your sentence refer to? The only time I have ever seen it referred to as the modern World Series is on the wikipedia article World Series where the term "Modern World Series" is used specifically to differentiate one tournament from the other in the way I am suggesting we should do and where the specific words you quote appear in the notes at the bottom. This means that Wikipedia is essentially quoting itself by saying that the "modern World Series began in 1903". That hardly supports a case for your point.
5) One suggestion might be to have an actual article called World Championship Series, and explain in there the evolution of the tournament, the uncertainty over dating, and the assumptions being made by stating that the World Series starts in 1903, all with relevant sources, of course. Then any reference in other articles to pre-1903 World Series-type tournaments can be called World Championship Series and link to that article where the issues and uncertainties are explained. Alternatively, you could re-name the section in the existing article from, "Precursors to the modern World Series (1857–1902)" or "The original World Series" to "World Championship Series" and proceed from there. There are more encyclopedic alternatives to simply calling any tournament between two league leaders "World Series" and hoping your reader will understand your intentions.
6) It might be worth noting that where baseball is concerned THE reliable source is MLB.com. They set the rules, they organise the tournaments and they determine what is or is not Major League Baseball. If you go to their website and choose stats, and select World Series, you can see the teams broken down by player with individual stats for each year going back to and including 1903. If you select any year earlier than that the selection <World Series> resets to <Regular Season>. Colour me green if you like, but I think that means the World Series starts in 1903 and anything anyone else has to say on the issue might be interesting, amusing or educational but it isn't either definitive or encyclopedic.
But that's just the way I look at it and I'm just as humanly fallible as anyone else. I certainly will not be engaging in edit wars if you want to revert my edit. Cottonshirtτ 06:27, 19 November 2012 (UTC)

All of this used to be explained in the World Series article. I haven't looked at it lately - maybe it's been edited out. But it at least used to say that when "World Series" is used by itself it is understood to mean the modern World Series and not the 1880s version or the 1890s version or whatever else; hence there's no reason to say anything other than "World Series". That's why we have a separate page for those earlier Series, the "19th Century World Series". Also, historians have retrofitted the term. It was originally "World's Championship Series", shortened to "World's Series" and then to "World Series". The shortened versions were adopted as conventions at different times by different media. In fact, some newspapers had shortened it to "World's Series" as early as 1887. Meanwhile, the scorecards for 1903 said "World's Championship Series", and it was some time before that practice faded out. It's the same situation as trying to figure out when "base ball" became "base-ball" and then "baseball". ←Baseball Bugs ^{What's up, Doc?} carrots→ 06:48, 19 November 2012 (UTC)

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The Chicago Cubs played as the White Stockings in the National Association in 1871, 1874, and 1875. The team also played in the National Association of Base Ball Players in 1870. These seasons ought to be listed in any accurate history and description of the Cubs by season. The comparable page for the Atlanta Braves lists their campaigns in those years and associations.

The statistics and win-loss records from these years ought to count as well. Both of these associations were the top layer of baseball for those seasons. — Preceding unsigned comment added by Arkansas Editor (talk • contribs) 00:12, 6 November 2016 (UTC)

Chicago Cubs' Seasons

The name of this article is misleading. It refers to Chicago Cubs' seasons but only discusses their major league seasons. This ignores their 1870-71, 1874-1875 seasons which MLB classifies as minor league seasons. Either the title has to be changed or all the seasons have to be included. (Though the minor league seasons would be segregated from the major league ones). — Preceding unsigned comment added by Tripodas (talk • contribs) 16:48, 30 October 2016 (UTC)