A M-W-F digest, replete with #Cubs, #MLB, and #MiLB content. Happy birthday to Carmelo Martinez*, the Chicago blackout, Kingman’s clouts, 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:
- 1875 – Philadelphia’s Joe Borden, also known by the name Josephs, pitches the first no-hitter in Major League history, beating the Chicago White Stockings 4-0. The game takes one hour and 35 minutes to play. (1,3)
- 1936 – Dolph Camilli’s ninth-inning homer, his second of the game, caps a four-run rally as the Phillies top the visiting Cubs, 5-3. Reliever Larry French, who replaces Roy Henshaw in the 9th, loses after he gives up a single to Johnny Moore off the RF wall to tie, strikes out Chuck Klein and serves up the dinger to Dolph. (2)
- 1951 – P Russ Meyer hurls a 1-0 shutout over the Cubs, the fourth shutout in a row for the Phillies staff. Robin Roberts, Ken Johnson and Bubba Church pitched the earlier whitewashings. (2)
- 1963 – Chicago’s Dick Ellsworth strikes out ten Cardinals, including Stan Musial three times, in a 5-1 win. (2)
- 1968 – Ken Holtzman and the Cubs beat the Dodgers’ Don Sutton, 1-0. It is Sutton’s second straight 1-0 loss to Chicago; he is now 0-10 against the Cubs, and Holtzman will top him the next three times they face each other. (2)
- 1977 – In a wild one at Wrigley Field, the first-place Cubs (6) and Reds (5) combine for 11 home runs to tie the major league record. The Cubs come back four times to win, 16-15, in 13 innings in a contest that goes 4 hours and 50 minutes. The Reds lead 6-0 to start, beginning with Pete Rose’s leadoff home run, and lead, 15-14, near the finish, but Dave Rosello’s RBI single off Jack Billingham wins the game. Rick Reuschel wins his 15th game, and second in two days, pitching just two-thirds of an inning. Going deep are Bill Buckner (2), Bobby Murcer, George Mitterwald (2, including one in the 12th inning) and Jerry Morales for Chicago; Rose, Johnny Bench, Ken Griffey, Mike Lum and Cesar Geronimo homer for the Reds. (2)
- 1979 – Dave Kingman of the Chicago Cubs hit three home runs in a game for the second time in the season and became the sixth player in Major League history to accomplish the feat. Kingman’s homers weren’t enough as the Cubs lost to the New York Mets 6-4. (1,2)
- 1983 – American League president Lee MacPhail decides that George Brett’s ”Pine Tar” home run should count. The remainder of the game will played on August 18th with the Royals beating the Yankees, 5-4. (1,2)
- 1985 – Lou Brock, Enos Slaughter, Arky Vaughan and Hoyt Wilhelm are inducted into the Hall of Fame in a ceremony in Cooperstown, New York. Wilhelm is the first pitcher to be inducted because of his role as a reliever. (1,2)
- 1990 – Shawon Dunston tied a Major League record with three triples and led the Chicago Cubs to a 10-7 win over the Montreal Expos, driving in half of the teams runs. (1,2)
- 1991 – Dennis Martinez of the Expos tosses the 13th perfect game in major league history (excluding those of Harvey Haddix and Ernie Shore), setting down all 27 Dodgers to face him in a 2-0 win. Martinez strikes out five in the contest. C Ron Hassey becomes the first receiver to catch two perfectos, having been behind the plate for the Indians’ Len Barker’s masterpiece in 1981. Dodger infielder Alfredo Griffin goes 0 for 3 against Martinez, to go along with his 0 for 3 performance in Tom Browning’s perfect game in 1988, and 0 for 2 in Barker’s perfecto in 1981. (1,2)
- 1994 – On the night the baseball players set an Aug. 12 strike date, Texas P Kenny Rogers hurls a perfect game, defeating the Angels, 4-0. Rogers fans eight in the 11th regular season perfect game of the 20th Century. He becomes the first left-hander in American League history to toss a perfecto and the 14th pitcher in history. (1,2)
- 1995 – With baseball’s new speed-up rules in place, the Cubs dispose of the Phillies, 4-0, in a brisk 2:29. Cubs’ P Frank Castillo says, “It wasn’t the rule about throwing a pitch in 12 seconds since I usually throw in five seconds.” (2)
- 1998 – I like it so much, I’ll do it again. After setting the record yesterday for hitting the most home runs before getting a grand slam, Sammy Sosa hits his second in four at bats in the Cubs’ 7-5 loss to the Diamondbacks. Sosa is the first Cub to hit grand slams in consecutive games, and just the 18th player in history. (2)
- 2011 – Cleveland acquires Japanese OF Kosuke Fukudome from the Cubs for two minor leaguers, P Carlton Smith and OF Abner Abreu. (2)
- 2013 – The Cubs beat the Giants, 2-1. The only players with more than one hit are opposing starters Travis Wood (2 for 3, HR) and Tim Lincecum (2 for 2). That feat last happened on June 21, 1963. (2)
- 2024 – Tampa trades 3B Isaac Paredes to the Cubs in return for 3B Christopher Morel and two prospects (Hunter Bigge and Ty Johnson). (2)
Cubs birthdays: Carmelo Martínez*. Also notable: Bullet Rogan HOF.
Today in History:
- 1148 – Crusaders abandon their siege of Damascus after only four days leading to the disintegration of the Second Crusade.
- 1586 – Sir Thomas Harriot introduces potatoes to Europe on return to England.
- 1794 – French Revolutionary figure Maximilien Robespierre and 22 other leaders of “the Terror” are guillotined to thunderous cheers in Paris.
- 1851 – First photograph of a total solar eclipse is captured on a daguerreotype by Johann Julius Friedrich Berkowski at the Royal Observatory in Königsberg, Prussia
- 1858 – First use of fingerprints as a means of identification is made by Sir William James Herschel of the Indian Civil Service.
- 1990 – Blackout hits Chicago.
- 1994 – Baseball players decide to strike on August 12, 1994.
- 2061 – 31st predicted perihelion passage of Halley’s Comet.
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.
Things are as near to the truth as we can get them. Some of these items spread from site to site without being fact-checked, and that is why we ask for verifiable sources, so that we can correct the record, if need be.
That said, this is for fun, and there are limits. Thanks for reading.