A M-W-F digest, replete with #Cubs, #MLB, and #MiLB content. Santo’s great feet and other heroics. Happy birthday to Steve Stone and Carson Kelly, among others!
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:
- 1914 – The Chicago Cubs pound New York Giants reliever Christy Mathewson for six runs in six innings, but New York does worse damage to Larry Cheney and Jimmy Lavender, and wins, 12-8. Bob Bescher has a home run, the 1,000th Giant home run. New York leads the National League by 4½ games. (2)
- 1916 – St. Louis Browns hurler Ernie Koob pitches a complete game going all 17 innings in 0 -0 tie. Boston Red Sox Carl Mays pitches the first 15 innings with Dutch Leonard finishing the game. (1,2)
- 1940 – In the aftermath of the beanball wars, Spalding advertises a batting helmet with ear flaps in The Sporting News. Players express no interest, but next year the Brooklyn Dodgers will introduce a cap liner, which some batters start to use. (1,2)
- 1956 – Boston Red Sox lefty Mel Parnell pitches a no-hitter against the Chicago White Sox at Fenway Park, winning 4-0. It is only Parnell’s third win against two losses and is the sixth straight loss for second-place Chicago. The no-hitter is the first for the Red Sox since 1923. Parnell will go 4-4 before a torn muscle in his pitching arm ends his career as the Red Sox’s winningest southpaw. (2)
- 1967 – Against Juan Marichal at Candlestick Park, Eddie Mathews hits home run #500 while playing for the Houston Astros. The former Milwaukee Braves third baseman, who hit 493 homers playing for the franchise in Boston, Milwaukee and Atlanta, becomes the seventh major leaguer to reach this plateau. (2)
- 1968 – Hank Aaron hits home run #500 off Mike McCormick, becoming the eighth major leaguer to reach this milestone. “Hammerin’ Hank”’s three-run homer over the left center field fence proves to be the difference as the Atlanta Braves beat the San Francisco Giants at Atlanta-Fulton County Stadium, 4-2. (2)
- 1969 – At Wrigley Field, the Chicago Cubs top the New York Mets, 1-0, to give Bill Hands (11-7) the win over Tom Seaver (14-4). Billy Williams singles home the winner, boosting the Cubs’ lead to 5½ games. After the last out, Ron Santo* jumps up and clicks his heels, igniting a roar from the crowd. The Mets think it’s bush. (2)
- 1972 – In a major league first, the plate umpire and the catcher in a game are brothers. Bill Haller is the ump and Tom Haller is the Detroit Tigers catcher during a game with the Kansas City Royals. Kansas City wins, 1-0. (1,2)
- 1992 – Seattle Mariners outfielder Ken Griffey, Jr. homers off Chicago Cubs hurler Greg Maddux, making it the first time in history a father and a son have hit All-Star home runs. His dad hit one off the New York Yankees’ Tommy John in the 1980 All-Star Game. The American League pounds out a record 19 hits in defeating the National League by a score of 13-6 in the 1992 All-Star Game. It’s the AL’s fifth straight win. Griffey Jr., who strokes a single, double, and home run, is named the game’s MVP, 12 years after his dad won the same honor. (2)
- 1995 – Ramon Martinez no-hits the Florida Marlins, 7-0. The Los Angeles Dodgers’ hurler was perfect before walking Tommy Gregg after getting the first out in the seventh inning. (2)
- 1997 – In the longest night game at Wrigley Field, 5 hours, 19 minutes, Ricky Gutierrez singles home the go-ahead run in the 15th to give the Houston Astros a 9-7 win over the Chicago Cubs. (2)
- 2000 – Major League Baseball owners decide to return to playing an unbalanced schedule (teams play more games against teams in their own division) rather than the presently-used balanced schedule in which they play approximately the same number of games against all teams within the league. The American League has used a balanced schedule since 1977 and the National League started in 1993. (2)
- 2012 – Ryan Dempster ties the Cubs’ franchise record by extending his scoreless streak to 33 innings in defeating the Diamondbacks, 4-1. Dempster tosses six scoreless frames before leaving, matching the record set by Ken Holtzman in 1969. (2)
Cubs birthdays: Art Nichols, Jiggs Parrott, Julio Bonetti, Steve Stone, Chuck Rainey, Derrick May, José Hernández, Jack Leathersich, Carson Kelly
Today in history:
- 1077 – Bayeux Tapestry likely first goes on display to decorate the nave during the consecration of Notre-Dame of Bayeux Cathedral in Bayeux, Normandy.
- 1698 – The Darien scheme begins with five ships, bearing about 1,200 people, departing Leith for the Isthmus of Panama.
- 1789 – Bastille Day – the French Revolution begins with the storming of the Bastille prison in Paris, now celebrated as France’s national day.
- 1853 – US President Franklin Pierce opens the “Exhibition of the Industry of All Nations” (a World’s Fair) at the Crystal Palace in New York City (now site of Bryant Park).
- 1914 – American engineer Robert Goddard is granted the first patent for liquid-fueled rocket design.
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