Baseball history unpacked, October 12

A wildly popular Cubs-centric look at baseball’s past. Here’s a handy Cubs timeline, to help you follow along as we review select scenes from the rich tapestry of Chicago Cubs and Major League Baseball history. It’s a beautiful day for a ball game — let’s get started!

Today in baseball history:

• 1907 - At Detroit’s Bennett Park, right-hander Mordecai ‘Three Finger’ Brown throws a 2-0 shutout, beating the Tigers to capture the World Championship for the Cubs. Although Game 1 ended in a 3-3, 12-inning tie, Chicago becomes the first club to sweep a Fall Classic when the team wins the next four games. (1)

Box score. Stolen bases were the principal weapon of the day as Brown and the Cubs defeated George Mullin. Third baseman Harry Steinfeldt also tripled for the Cubs.

• 1929 - The A’s, trailing 8-0 during Game 4 of the World Series, erupt for ten runs in the seventh inning off three Cub pitchers en route to a 10-8 victory. Chicago’s Hack Wilson becomes one of the goats of the game when he loses two balls in the sun in center field. (1)

Box score. Charlie Grimm homered, Rogers Hornsby tripled, and Kiki Cuyler drove in two runs, but the seven-run outburst off Charlie Root and two relievers doomed the Cubs. Only one of Wilson’s dropped balls figured in the scoring. Al Simmons homered and Mule Haas had in inside-the-park homer in in the decisive inning as reliever Eddie Rommel collected the win.

• 2003 - With his team having lost three consecutive playoff games and on the brink of elimination in the NLCS, Marlins starter Josh Beckett sends the series back to Chicago when he strikes out 11 Chicago batters and gives up just two hits en route to tossing a 4-0 shutout at Pro Player Stadium. Jose Feliciano sings the National Anthem, 35 years after causing a fuss with his initial rendition. (1)

Box score. Carlos Zambrano shouldered the loss as Moises Alou and Alex Gonzalez had the only hits for Chicago. Ivan Rodriguez, Mike Lowell, and Jeff Conine homered for Miami.

• 2009 - The Cubs file for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in Wilmington, Delaware. The anticipated short-term move will allow the club’s owner, the Tribune Company, to sell the team in an $845 million deal to the family of TD Ameritrade Holding Corp.’s founder, Joe Ricketts. (1)
• 2011 - The Chicago Cubs agree on a five-year contract with Theo Epstein to be their new team President. Epstein built the Boston Red Sox team that won two World Series in 2004 and 2007, but was shaken by the team’s brutal September collapse this season, following manager Terry Francona’s departure by a few days. The deal won’t be made official for another two weeks, and Boston and Chicago will need to agree on compensation as Epstein still has a year to go on his contract. (3)
• 2015 - The Cubs homer six times en route to an 8-6 victory over the Cardinals at Wrigley Field in the Game 3 of the NLDS. Chicago’s sextet of round-trippers, that included long balls from Kris Bryant, Starlin Castro, Dexter Fowler, Anthony Rizzo, Kyle Schwarber, and Jorge Soler, marks first time in postseason history that one team has recorded that many home runs in one game. (1)

Box score. Jake Arrieta defeated Michael Wacha in the contest. Neither starter was around very long.

• 2017 - The woes of the Nationals in the Division Series continue, as they again fail to advance to the next round of the postseason, losing Game 5 at home, 9 - 8, to the Cubs. In a wild and sloppy game, Washington jumps ahead, 4-1 after 2 innings thanks to homers by Daniel Murphy and Michael Taylor off Kyle Hendricks, but Chicago comes back with a pair of runs in the 3rd, and a brutal four-run inning against ace Max Scherzer, pitching in relief in the 4th. Both teams will add a few runs in the later innings, but Chicago’s lead holds to the end as Washington loses at this stage for the fourth time since 2012, and three times in a decisive fifth game in which they held a lead at one point. (3)

Box score. Brian Duensing ended up with the win as the Cubs overwhelmed the Nationals and moved on to the NLCS. Jose Quintana pitched ⅔ of an inning in relief.

• Cubs birthdays: Malachi Kittridge, Dick Cotter, Walter Signer, Lou Novikoff, Glenn Beckert, Jorge Pedre, Derrick White, Tanyon Sturtze, Casey McGehee. Also notable: Rick Ferrell, Joe Cronin (HoF).

Sources:

• (1) — The National Pastime.
• (2) — Today in Baseball History.
• (3) — Baseball Reference.
• (4) — Society for American Baseball Research.

Thanks for reading.