The Cubs’ 10 walk-off wins have come in 43 home games, just a bit more than half the home season. That means nearly a quarter of the home wins in 2026 have ended in a pile-up around a Cubs player and an excited crowd at Wrigley Field.
The franchise record for walk-offs in a season is 14, set in 1930. Walk-offs aren’t something you can necessarily predict or shoot for, but there’s a real chance that record is broken this year. The MLB record is 17, set by the Pirates in 1959, and tied by them in 1977.
There have been 13 seasons in the Modern Era (since 1900) when the Cubs have had more than 10 walk-off wins. I thought I’d take a brief stroll through that history on today’s off day, look at each of the years and how the Cubs finished that season, and pick one game from each year that I think was the most memorable.
1930: 14 walk-offs
The Cubs nearly won a second straight NL pennant in 1930. They held first place from Aug. 11 to Sept. 12, and won 90 games. They only missed out on the pennant because the Cardinals went 21-4 in September. That resulted in team owner William Wrigley, incensed because the Cubs didn’t win, firing manager Joe McCarthy, a colossal blunder.
All 14 of the walk-offs happened by Aug. 29. In those days teams had long homestands and long road trips and the Cubs played 21 of their last 26 games on the road.
The best of the 14 has to be the game of June 25, a 13-12 win over the Phillies. The Cubs trailed 8-4 going to the bottom of the seventh, but led 12-10 before the Phillies tied it in the top of the ninth. The Cubs got the tying run to third on a dropped pop-up, a sacrifice bunt and a passed ball, and then Gabby Hartnett singled in the game-winner.
1932: 13 walk-offs
This time, the Cubs took first place in the league Aug. 11 and held on to it, winning the pennant by four games.
Again, all the walk-offs were done early, by Sept. 5, mainly because they had another long road trip in September, 18 games.
The best walk-off in ‘32 was one I’ve written about here many times, most recently last November. Here’s how it went down:
Kiki Cuyler pretty much singlehandedly won this game, 10-9 over the Giants in 10 innings. He had five hits in six at-bats. His single in a four-run Cubs ninth tied the game 5-5. The Giants scored four in the top of the 10th, taking a 9-5 lead. In the last of the 10th, after the first two men were out, the Cubs scored two and have two on for Cuyler, who hit a walkoff home run for a 10-9 win, their 12th straight.
In addition to all of that, there was a total eclipse of the sun that day, which, though not 100 percent total in Chicago, did darken the sky somewhat an hour or so before game time. Also, during the game the Cubs batted out of order at one point, but no one noticed, so they got away with it.
Fun times. It was the Cubs’ 12th consecutive win, in a streak that eventually reached 14.
2015: 13 walk-offs
There were lots of fun walk-offs in this 97-win season, but I think the one I remember most was one over Cleveland, in a game rescheduled to Aug. 24 because of an earlier rainout.
The Cubs took a 1-0 lead to the ninth, when Jon Lester ran out of gas and allowed the tying run.
With two out in the bottom of the inning, Kris Bryant launched Zach McAllister’s first pitch into the right-field bleachers for the walk-off 2-1 win. That led to what was termed the “Strop Strut”:
Watch Pedro Strop “strut” the final 60 or so feet home alongside Bryant. Fun times.
1915: 12 walk-offs
Despite all the walk-off wins, the 1915 Cubs, playing in their final season at West Side Grounds, finished 73-80 and in fourth place in the National League.
This is a very long time ago and so I just picked a game that looked fun – 14-13 over the Cardinals on June 24. The Cubs led 7-3 after five, then gave up a five-spot to St. Louis in the sixth. The Cubs led 10-9 going to the ninth, but the Cardinals scored four in the ninth to go up 13-10. The Cubs then matched those four runs, winning the game on a steal of home by Heinie Zimmerman.
1923: 11 walk-offs
Again, this is over a century ago. The team finished fourth, 12.5 games out of first, but had some memorable wins.
On July 26, they trailed the Giants 10-6 going to the bottom of the eighth. A run in that inning made it 10-7, then in the ninth the Cubs had five straight hits – single, single, double, single, single – and the last single scored the fourth run of the inning for an 11-10 win.
1927: 11 walk-offs
Ninety-nine years ago, the Cubs finally returned to contention, nine years after their last pennant. They held first place for much of July and August before fading in September.
They had fallen into second place in early August when a 6-5 walk-off win over the Phillies put them back on top.
The Cubs led that game 4-0 going to the eighth but the Phillies scored five to take the lead. A home run by Earl Webb in that inning tied the game 5-5 and three ninth-inning singles, the last by Webb, won the game.
1931: 11 walk-offs
The Cubs were never really in contention in 1931, finishing third, 17 games out of first place.
In the first game of a doubleheader Sept. 13 against the Braves, the Cubs led 7-5 going to the ninth, when Charlie Root gave up two runs to tie the game. No one scored in the 10th. In the bottom of the 11th, a one-out double was followed by an intentional walk, then a ground out moved the runners up a base. Another intentional pass loaded the bases, and Rogers Hornsby hit a pinch-hit walk-off grand slam for an 11-7 win. It was one of 11 slams Hornsby hit in his career, but the only one as a pinch-hitter.
1936: 11 walk-offs
The Cubs again held first place in ‘36 for much of July and early August, but went 29-31 in August and September to finish second at 87-67, five games behind the pennant-winning Giants.
On May 6, the Cubs trailed the Braves 8-6 going to the bottom of the ninth. RBI hits by Chuck Klein and Frank Demaree tied the game at 8. In the bottom of the 10th a walk and sac bunt was followed by another intentional walk. Augie Galan struck out, but Billy Herman singled in the game-winner and the Cubs won 9-8.
1946: 11 walk-offs
The year after the ‘45 pennant, the Cubs finished third at 82-71, but still gave 1.3 million fans – the largest total since 1930 – some thrills with a lot of walk-off wins.
On June 6, the Cubs led the Giants 6-0 going to the top of the eighth, but allowed a pair of three-run innings in the eighth and ninth and the game was tied. It wound up in extras. No one scored in the 10th or 11th. In the bottom of the 12th with one out, the Cubs loaded the bases on a single, forceout that allowed the runner at first to advance, intentional walk and another single.
Frank Secory, who played three years for the Cubs from 1944-46 and who later served as a National League umpire from 1952-70, pinch-hit for pitcher Hank Wyse. He hit a walk-off grand slam, one of just seven home runs he hit in his MLB career. The Cubs won 10-6.
1967: 11 walk-offs
Now we’re getting into more “modern” times. The Cubs had only one winning season between 1947 and 1966, but suddenly were in contention by mid-1967.
On July 22, the Cubs trailed the Giants 5-3 going to the bottom of the eighth. Randy Hundley’s RBI double in that inning made it 5-4. In the ninth, Billy Williams homered with one out to tie the game and Ron Santo followed with a triple. The Giants intentionally walked the next two hitters to load the bases with one out, and Hundley singled in the game-winner for a 6-5 win.
The Cubs had been tied for first briefly earlier that month, but fell behind the Cardinals. This walk-off win tied them for first again, the first time they’d been in first place that late in the season since 1945. They faded and finished third, but it was still their best season in 22 years.
1969: 11 walk-offs
Much has been written about this star-crossed season, so I’ll just say that the best walk-off win of this year was a game that’s one of the most famous in Cubs history, the Opening Day walk-off home run by Willie Smith that gave the Cubs a 7-6 win and kind of turbocharged that whole summer.
Here it is:
1984: 11 walk-offs
This time, the Cubs did make the postseason (and we won’t talk about that) with a 96-win season, their most wins since 1945.
No question, we have another top walk-off in Cubs history, perhaps the single most famous game in Cubs history, the Sandberg Game.
While Ryno had his amazing game that pushed him into fame that afternoon, the walk-off hit was delivered by backup infielder Dave Owen (with Harry Caray’s radio call) [VIDEO].
1996: 11 walk-offs
This season did not end well. With the Cubs five games out of first with 16 left, they went 2-14 (and started 1997 0-14, so… a pretty bad run).
But ‘96 was fun up to mid-September, anyway.
On Opening Day at Wrigley Field, April 1, the Cubs had a 4-3 lead in the eighth but the Padres tied the game off Doug Jones, yet another former Astros reliever who had a bad year with the Cubs.
In the 10th, the Cubs loaded the bases off future Hall of Famer Trevor Hoffman on two singles and a walk.
Mark Grace singled in the winning run for a 5-4 win. Here’s that game-winning hit:
