A M-W-F digest, replete with #Cubs, #MLB, and #MiLB content. Adam Greenberg’s fateful at-bat 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:
- 1912 – Christy Mathewson tops Three-Finger Brown, 5-2, despite allowing 11 hits and not striking out one Chicago batter. (2)
- 1951 – At a joint meeting between players and owners, agreement is reached on night curfews and the retention of the reserve clause. (2)
- 1955 – Chicago newspaperman Arch Ward, the originator of the All-Star Game, dies at age 58 as he is leaving to cover his 22nd midseason classic. (2)
- 1956 – The BBWAA, by a narrow margin of 14-12, votes to establish the Cy Young Award to honor the major leagues’ most outstanding pitcher. Commissioner Ford Frick initiated the idea because he felt hurlers were not recognized in the MVP voting, but ironically the first recipient of the Cy Young Award, Dodger Don Newcombe, will also win the Most Valuable Player Award. (2)
- 1958 – On Capitol Hill, Casey Stengel and Mickey Mantle appear in front of the Senate Anti-Trust and Monopoly Subcommittee which is investigating the baseball monopoly power in regards to sport’s antitrust exemption. After ‘The Old Perfessor’ gives 45 minutes of rambling and confusing testimony, Senator Estes Kefauver laughs when Mickey Mantle answers his inquiry about the topic with, “My views are just about the same as Casey’s.” (2)
- 1962 – At a meeting held in conjunction with the first All-Star Game, the major league players request a reduced schedule for the 1963 season. They also vote unanimously to continue playing two All-Star Games each year, but the practice will be dropped after this season. (1,2)
- 1976 – In Houston, the Astros’ Larry Dierker no-hits the Montreal Expos, 6-0, to even his record at 8-8. Dierker, who had previously thrown two one-hitters, strikes out eight, including the first two in the ninth. (1,2)
- 1998 – Brewers owner Bud Selig, who has served as acting commissioner for nearly the last six years, is named by the owners to be baseball’s ninth commissioner. To avoid conflicts of interest, his ownership of the Milwaukee franchise will be placed in trust. (2)
- 2001 – Arizona OF Luis Gonzalez beats Chicago OF Sammy Sosa in the Home Run Derby during the All-Star festivities. (2)
- 2005 – In his first big league at-bat, Cubs pinch hitter Adam Greenberg* is struck in the back of the head by the first pitch he sees from Marlins hurler Valerio de los Santos. The 24-year old Guilford, Connecticut native is forced to leave the game, but will be okay after the dizziness and headaches caused by a mild concussion wear off. The at-bat will remain his only taste of major league action until the Marlins give him a chance to have the “at-bat he never completed” on the last day of the 2012 season. (2)
- 2017 – Jon Lester has the worst start of his career for the Cubs as he allows ten runs on six hits and three walks in only two-thirds of an inning as the Pirates jump to a 10-0 lead in the 1st inning, on their way to a 14-3 win. Francisco Cervelli has the key hit, a grand slam as the Cubs finish the first half two games below .500, one year after ending their long World Series drought. (2)
Cubs birthdays: Jimmy Cooney, Dave Shean, Buck Herzog, Turner Barber, Gene Fodge, Willie Wilson, Guy Hoffman, Miguel Montero, Jared Young.
Today in history:
- 1401 – Turko-Mongol ruler Tamerlane (Timur) destroys Baghdad, killing 20,000.
- 1815 – Charles Maurice de Talleyrand-Périgord takes office as the first Prime Minister of France.
- 1893 – Surgeon Daniel Hale Williams performs the first successful open-heart surgery when he repairs the torn pericardium of knife wound patient James Cornish, without the use of penicillin or blood transfusion.
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