After Scheffing and his successors, Charlie Grimm and Lou Boudreau, could not rouse the club from its doldrums, owner Philip K. Wrigley decided on a radical departure after the 1960 season: the Cubs became the only team in the history of Major League Baseball to dispense with the position of field manager.

He traded talented young outfielder Lou Brock to the St. Louis Cardinals for righthanded pitcher Ernie Broglio in June 1964.

But beginning in 1967, the Cubs jumped into contention in the NL with a series of first division ballclubs and six straight above .500 campaigns, led by four Baseball Hall of Famers — Billy Williams, Ferguson Jenkins, Ernie Banks and Ron Santo — and featuring other stars like Glenn Beckert, Don Kessinger and Randy Hundley.

The 1969 Cubs broke from the gate quickly and appeared headed for the National League East Division championship but were overtaken by the "Miracle" New York Mets.

That team, which finished at 92–70 and eight games out of the division lead, proved to be the most successful outfit of the Holland era, as the Cubs gradually sank back in the NL East standings, reverting to their losing ways in 1973.