CHICAGO -- One season can change the course of a career. It can lead to history or a place in a franchise lore or baseball legend status. The statistics can be held up as facts, and the players and their stories may eventually veer closer to myth.
For the Cubs, who have a history that traces back to the 19th century, there are plenty of examples that fit all the descriptions above and then some. MLB.com is examining each team and compiling lists of the best single-season performances of all time.
Here are five of the greatest one-year showings by position players in Cubs history:
1. Rogers Hornsby, 1929
The Cubs acquired Hornsby from the Boston Braves in the midst of his prime for five players and $200,000. Then the Hall of Famer turned in a performance in 1929 that remains the single-season club record for WAR by a position player both via Fangraphs (11.1) and Baseball Reference (10.4).
In 156 games, Hornsby racked up 229 hits and scored 156 runs -- both single-season franchise records to this day. The second baseman logged a .380/.459/.679 slash line to go along with 39 home runs, 47 doubles, eight triples and 149 RBIs. Hornsby drew 87 walks and struck out just 65 times.
Hornsby took home the National League's Most Valuable Player Award (called the League Award at the time) after helping power the 1929 Cubs to the World Series. Alas, the Philadelphia Athletics held him to a 5-for-21 (.238) showing and defeated Chicago in five games.
2. Sammy Sosa, 2001
Sosa's 1998 season is the one that will be remembered most ages from now. In that magical and historic summer, Slammin' Sammy engaged in a season-long slugfest against Mark McGwire of the Cardinals. They captivated the nation as they chased down Roger Maris' single-season record of 61 homers. McGwire won with 70, while Sosa finished with 66 and took home the NL MVP Award.
Really, though, the 1998 campaign was not even Sosa's best work over a single year.
Three seasons later, the right fielder hit .328/.437/.737 with 64 home runs and 160 RBIs. He set single-season club records for slugging percentage, total bases (425) and intentional walks (37 out of his 116 free passes that year). In 160 games, Sosa scored 146 runs and ended up with 10.3 bWAR and 9.9 fWAR (both second to Hornsby's 1929 tour in team history).
3. Pete Crow-Armstrong, 2026
The campaign compiled by Crow-Armstrong in '26 may go down as one of the best all-around seasons in MLB history. The center fielder took home the National League MVP in unanimous fashion (a first in Cubs history), but also earned the NL's Hank Aaron Award as the top hitter and the NL's Platinum Glove as the best defender.
The single-season 10.6 WAR (Fangraphs) turned in by Crow-Armstrong was second only to Hornsby's 1929 showing (11.0) in Cubs history. His incredible defense in center played a key role, but Crow-Armstrong also found a new level offensively. He hit 45 homers and stole 41 bases, giving him the seventh 40-40 season in MLB history. He led the Majors in extra-base hits (84), runs (119) and total bases (357), while pacing the NL in slugging (.570) and OPS (.943).
Crow-Armstrong's 45 homers shattered Hall-of-Famer Billy Williams' single-season club record for blasts by a left-handed hitter. The 3.6-WAR gap between Crow-Armstrong and the second-ranked Bobby Witt Jr. (7.0) represented the first time since 1956 (Mickey Mantle over Duke Snider) that the Nos. 1-2 players in baseball were separated by at least 3.0 WAR.
4. Ernie Banks, 1958
Banks won the NL MVP Award in 1958 and '59, becoming the first player to win it in consecutive seasons in the Senior Circuit. According to WAR, his '59 season was slightly better than his '58 campaign mostly due to the defensive metrics.
Offensively, both seasons were incredibly close. Banks hit .313/.366/.614 in 1958 and then .304/.374/.596 in '59. He had 47 homers, 23 doubles, 11 triples, 119 runs and 129 RBIs in '58. Then he had 45 homers, 25 doubles, six triples, 97 runs and 143 RBIs in '59. He had more walks (64) and fewer strikeouts (72) in '59, when compared to '58 (52 walks and 87 strikeouts).
So how do you choose between two masterpieces? For this list, we'll go with 1958, since it was the year Mr. Cub picked up his first of back-to-back MVP Awards.
5. Hack Wilson, 1930
For the WAR disciples out there, there are other single-season showings in Cubs history that could top Wilson's production in 1930. For this list, though, history wins out. That was the year Wilson -- the stocky, powerful slugger -- set a Major League record with 191 RBIs.
In 155 games, Wilson hit .356/.454/.723 with 56 homers, 146 runs, 208 hits and 105 walks (compared to 84 strikeouts). His 423 total bases were a Cubs record until Sosa topped it in 2001. A few players in the 1930s approached Wilson's all-time RBI mark, but since 1940 the closest anyone has come is Manny Ramirez's 165 RBIs for the Indians in 1999.
Honorable mentions
There are plenty of other individual seasons in Cubs history that could have cracked this list. Some that were debated included performances from: Cap Anson (1881, '86), Banks (1955, '59), Kris Bryant (2016), Phil Cavarretta (1945), Andre Dawson (1987), Gabby Hartnett (1930), King Kelly (1886), Bill Lange (1895), Derrek Lee (2005), Ryne Sandberg (1984), Santo (1964, '66, '67), Billy Williams (1965, '72) and Heinie Zimmerman (1912).