A M-W-F digest, replete with #Cubs, #MLB, and #MiLB content. It is the natal day of Lee Elia*, 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:
- 1853 – The New York Clipper publishes what is believed to be the first tabulated boxscore of a baseball game. The Knickerbocker Base Ball Club of New York defeated the Gotham Club, 21-12, on July 5th. (2)
- 1897 – At the age of 45, Chicago’s Cap Anson becomes the first major leaguer to amass 3,000 hits when he singles off Baltimore’s George Blackburn. (2)
- 1902 – John McGraw was named manager of the New York Giants, a job he would hold for thirty years. (1,2)
- 1908 – At Chicago, manager Frank Chance figures to rattle Giants rookie Otis “Doc” Crandall and elects to bat the Cubs first (this option for the home team will only be stricken from the rules in 1951). But Crandall is a rock and nurses a 4-1 lead into the last of the 9th. After one out, Christy Mathewson, warming in the bullpen, decides the game is well in hand and goes into the clubhouse to shower. Crandall promptly walks three straight, wherein John McGraw looks in vain for Matty. The Giants’ ace quickly dries off, throws on a uniform, and puts his street shoes on. By the time he arrives on the mound, reliever Joe McGinnity has walked in a run. Matty gets a ground out, then a strikeout, and the Giants win, 4-3. Ed Reulbach takes the loss for Chicago. (2)
- 1909 – At Bennett Park, the Tigers and Senators play the longest scoreless game in American League history. Ed Summers pitches the complete game, holding the Nationals to seven hits, two walks (one intentional), while fanning ten. The Nationals’ 30-year-old rookie, Bill “Dolly” Gray, allows only one hit before leaving with an injury after eight innings. He is replaced by Bob Groom. Gray will put another entry in the record books next month when he walks seven straight batters. The 0-0 contest is called after the 18th inning. (1,2)
- 1913 – In a game against the Cubs, Superbas second baseman George Cutshaw handles 14 chances without an error. (2)
- 1916 – At Chicago, the Cubs and Brooklyn play a 16-inning, 7-7 tie, called on account of darkness. In the 10th inning, the Cubs’ George Cutshaw swipes home to knot the score. (2)
- 1950 – The Cubs knock the Phillies out of a tie for first place, sweeping a doubleheder, 8-0 and 10-3. The Cubs lose Phil Cavarretta when he is hit by a Ken Johnson pitch in the first game, fracturing his forearm. Hank Sauer takes over at 1B. Walt Dubiel fires the shutout and Doyle Lade is the complete game winner in the second game. The loss in the second contest goes to Bob Miller, the first defeat for the rookie after eight straight wins. Ex-Bruin Russ Meyer loses the first game after defeating the Cubs five straight times. The Mad Monk, the greatest ever Cubs killer, will win his next 17 decisions against Chicago before losing on May 11, 1955. (2)
- 1970 – Chicago’s Ken Holtzman gives up two hits and two Astro runs – both unearned – and drops a 2-1 decision at Houston. Billy Williams makes a bid for a game-tying homer in the 9th but his long fly hits an Astrodome speaker and drops foul. (2)
- 1975 – Commissioner Bowie Kuhn is reelected for a seven-year term. (2)
- 1992 – At a press conference in Pittsburgh, Greg Maddux announces that he has broken off negotiations with Cubs management and will become a free agent after the season. Maddux is playing on a one-year contract. “I’ve given them two opportunities to sign me. I really think it should have been taken care of.” Tomorrow, Maddux will beat the first-place Pirates and he will move to the Atlanta Braves after the season. (2)
- 1997 – At Shea Stadium, RF Sammy Sosa’s running catch with the bases loaded in the 7th, and catcher Scott Servais’s pickoff in the 8th, key Chicago to a 6-5 win over the Mets. Before the game, New York reassigns general manager Joe McIlvaine and replaces him with his assistant, Steve Phillips. (2)
Cubs birthdays: Dad Clark, Lee Elia*, Ildemaro Vargas.
Today in history:
- 1054 – The Great Schism between Western and Eastern churches begins when Roman Cardinal Humbert issues a bull of excommunication against Cerularius, Patriarch of Constantinople, on the altar of the Hagia Sophia in Constantinople.
- 1548 – La Paz, Bolivia, is founded.
- 1661 – First banknotes in Europe are issued by the Bank of Stockholm.
- 1790 – Congress declares the city of Washington in the District of Columbia, the permanent capital of the United States.
- 1945 – First test detonation of an atomic bomb, Trinity Site, Alamogordo, New Mexico as part of the US Manhattan Project.
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