Cubs primed for a major milestone

It's amazing how a team that seems like it's been around since time began can still find ways to sneak up on you.

With a win Wednesday night in Colorado, the Cubs will cross the threshold to 10,000 wins, dating back to their days as the Chicago White Stockings in 1876. The Cubs and Braves are the only two franchises that trace their roots back to the National Association which predated 1876, however those stats are not counted when tallying MLB records.

Ryan Dempster answered questions about the milestone, well, by acting like Dempster:

"I remember when we won 5,000," Cubs pitcher Ryan Dempster said Tuesday. "What an emotional day that was. We were so excited -- we realized we still had an uphill climb to 10,000.

"To be on the verge of that -- I've been here since the first one, and to get to 10,000, it's a long, hard struggle, and I'm looking forward to it."

No word on whether or not Jamie Moyer was on the team back then, but I'm pretty sure Julio Franco was at least a bat boy for the Brooklyn Atlantics.

For the record, the Cubs won the first game they played, a 4-0 victory over Louisville (it appears to be the Louisville Grays) on April 25, 1876. For a little extra history on the side, piggybacking on the 10,000th win will be Lou Piniella's 100th win as Cubs manager.

At the end of the day Tuesday, the Giants are still at the top of the heap, with the teams you'd expect filling in the rest of those team with at least 9,000 all-time wins, just maybe in a different order:

San Francisco Giants - 10,192
Chicago Cubs - 9,999
Los Angeles Dodgers - 9,894
St. Louis Cardinals - 9,856
Atlanta Braves - 9,706
Cincinnati Reds - 9,681
Pittsburgh Pirates - 9,631
New York Yankees - 9,394

Sorry, Phillies fans, your team is still the only one to lose more than 10,000.

(Image from: SportsEcyclopedia.com)