A M-W-F digest, replete with #Cubs, #MLB, and #MiLB content. Larry Biittner* spells relief, and other stories.
On Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays, Bleed Cubbie Blue is pleased to present a light-hearted, Cubs-centric look at baseball’s colorful past, with plenty of the lore and various narratives to follow as they unfold over the course of time. Here’s a handy Cubs timeline, to help you follow along.
“Maybe I called it wrong, but it’s official.” — Tom Connolly.
Today in baseball history:
- 1900 – In Chicago, the Colts sweep Philadelphia, winning 10-4 and 5-4, in 12 innings. A number of fans fire pistols to celebrate the holiday but no injuries occur. ( 2)
- 1904 – In Pittsburgh, the Cubs and Pirates celebrate the holiday by racking up record nine triples in the afternoon end of a doubleheader. Pittsburgh has six of the triples and wins, 11-6. Chicago wins the morning game, 7-2. (2)
- 1906 – The visiting Cubs and Pirates deal aces today with Chicago coming out on top in both games. Three Finger Brown beats Lefty Leifield, 1-0, in the lidlifter with both pitchers allowing just one hit. It is just the second double one-hitter in history, the first occurring on August 20, 1886. Lefty collects the only Buc shot while holding Chicago hitless until Jimmy Slagle’s safety in the ninth inning. Slagle scores on a sacrifice, error, and ground out. Brown will toss nine shutouts this year. In the second game, Carl Lundgren tosses another 1-0 shutout for Chicago, beating Vic Willis. When Brown and Leifield face off on September 6th, Brown will again allow just one hit. (2)
- 1908 – In Pittsburgh, an A.M.-P.M. doubleheader with the Cubs draws 50,000 fans. Mordecai “Three Finger” Brown wins the morning game, 2-0, for his fourth straight shutout. Ed Reulbach takes the afternoon affair, 9-3. The Cubs and Bucs play five games in three days with the Cubs winning three: Brown cops two, tossing two shutouts – a six-hitter and a two-hitter. (2)
- 1911 – In the first game of two in Chicago, Wildfire Schulte, hits a 3rd-inning grand slam off Bobby Keefe to lead the Cubs to an 8-3 win over the Reds. Reggie Richter is the victor. The second game ends at 2-2 after 10 innings. (2)
- 1939 – A tearful Lou Gehrig tells 61,808 fans at Yankee Stadium, ‘I consider myself the luckiest man on the face of the earth.’ Gehrig’s uniform number four is retired, the first Major League player so honored. (1,2)
- 1961 – At Chicago, the Giants roll to a 19-3 win in the first game, collecting 22 hits including a homer by Orlando Cepeda that is one of the longest in Wrigley Field history. The Cubs come back in the nightcap to win, 3-2, overcoming Willie Mays’s 300th homer. (2)
- 1966 – Ron Santo sets a modern-day Cubs record when he hits in his 28th straight game, as the Cubs lose the opener to the Pirates, 7-5. The Cubs win the nightcap 6-4, but Santo is held hitless. In between the first and second game of the streak, the opener of a twinbill on June 1st, Santo had no official at-bats. He received four walks and was hit by a pitch. The day before, however, he was 1 for 3, which counts as the actual start of the streak. (2)
- 1967 – Atlanta’s Phil Niekro gets the best of rookie brother Joe as the Braves beat the Cubs, 8-3. It is the first decision between the pair. (2)
- 1970 – In the opener of a twin bill between Pittsburgh and Chicago, Roberto Clemente hits his third and fourth Wrigley Field round-trippers in two games. The first blast puts Pittsburgh up, 2-1, in the third, and the last provides the Pirates’ final two runs in the 10-6 win. With Clemente resting in the second game, the Cubs salvage the split, 7-2, behind Milt Pappas, with Pittsburgh falling half a game behind division-leading New York.
- 1977 – In the first game of a doubleheader, Chicago outfielder Larry Biittner pitches the last 1 1/3 innings for the Cubs, striking out three. That’s the good news. The bad news is he allows six earned runs on five hits and a walk as the Expos crush the Cubs, 19-3. Two of the three K’s are of the opposing pitcher, Jackie Brown, and the last is Larry Parrish, who had earlier homered on a 1-2 pitch from his former teammate. Biittner also serves up homers to Ellis Valentine and Andre Dawson, each of whom have five RBI. Biittner is later fined $50 by the National League for throwing a “brush-back” pitch after surrendering the three home runs, but a collection is taken up to pay for his shave. Further bad news for the Cubs in the nitecap is that Bruce Sutter is knocked out for the first time this year, and a massive knot beneath his right shoulder will keep him out of the All-Star Game. The Cubs also lose that game, 7-6. (2)
- 1992 – In Atlanta’s 4-2 win over the Cubs, Braves SS Jeff Blauser hits a two-run home run in the 1st inning to start the scoring. It is the 1,776th big league homer hit on the holiday. Brian Hunter adds a solo shot to back Charlie Leibrandt (7-3). (2)
- 2004 – The selection of Barry Bonds, Ken Griffey Jr. and Sammy Sosa as starters in the NL All-Stars’ line-up marks the first time in history three players with 500 career home runs have appeared on the same team. The trio will form the starting outfield in the 75th All-Star Game in Houston’s Minute Maid Park. (2)
- 2010 – Drew Stubbs hits three of the Reds’ seven home runs in a wind-aided 14-3 demolition of the Cubs at Wrigley Field. Four of Cincinnati’s long balls come after two outs in the eight-run seventh inning. Rookie Tyler Colvin bangs two homers of his own in a losing cause. For the Reds, 1B Joey Votto is ejected in the 1st inning for arguing balls and strikes, but his replacement, Paul Janish, goes 4 for 4 with one of the homers. (2)
Cubs birthdays: Bill Sullivan, Bill Tremel, Wayne Nordhagen, Johnny Abrego, Matt Dermody, Ethan Roberts. Also notable: Mickey Welch HOF.
Today in history:
- 1054 – Brightest known supernova SN 1054 (creates the Crab Nebula) 1st reported by Chinese astronomers.
- 1634 – The city of Trois-Rivières is founded in New France, later to become the Canadian province of Quebec.
- 1776 – US Congress proclaims the Declaration of Independence and independence from Great Britain.
- 1934 – Hungarian physicist Leó Szilárd patents the chain-reaction design for the atomic bomb.
- 1997 – US space probe Pathfinder lands on Ares Vallis Mars.
Common sources:
- (1) — Today in Baseball History.
- (2) — Baseball Reference.
- (3) — Society for American Baseball Research.
- (4) — Baseball Hall of Fame.
- (5) — This Day in Chicago Cubs history.
- (6) — Wikipedia.
- (7) — The British Museum.
- For world history.
*pictured.
Some of these items spread from site to site without being verified. That is exactly why we ask for reputable sources if you have differences with a posted factoid. We are trying to set the record as straight as possible, but it isn’t brain surgery. We take it seriously, but there are limits