Baseball history unpacked, October 22

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. We’re winding down to the end of the season, and there’s not much to choose from — but we have video! It’s a beautiful day for a ball game — let’s get started!

Today in Cubs history:

• 1910 - The Cubs, after three straight defeats and trailing Philadelphia in the ninth by a run, tie the score and then win 4-3 in 10 innings for their only victory in this World Series. (1) Three Finger Brown, in relief, is the winning pitcher over Chief Bender, who throws a complete game. (3)
• 2016 - A magnificent performance by pitchers Kyle Hendricks and Aroldis Chapman, who face the minimum 27 batters over nine scoreless innings, drives the Cubs into the World Series for the first time since 1945 thanks to a 5-0 win over the Dodgers in Game 6 of the 2016 NLCS. Chicago scores twice against Clayton Kershaw in the bottom of the 1st, and Willson Contreras and Anthony Rizzo also homer off the ace lefty who leaves after five innings. The NLCS MVP Award is shared by Jon Lester and Javier Baez. (3)

Box score. Watch it here:

• Cubs birthdays: Jimmie Foxx (HoF), Frank DiPino, Eli Whiteside, Chris Rusin.

Jimmie Foxx was a Cub for 85 games over two years, toward the end of his career. He hit three homers and drove in 22 runs in what was by far the worst period of his career — his last year with Philly was better. Poor health was his nemesis. Foxx had a variety of maladies, as this article from SABR will attest... a 1934 beaning being a possible cause of some of them. His power was legendary even among his peers...and he could possibly have surpassed Ruth, given better health, as he had 534 homers and didn’t do as well for the first four (he was a backup catcher) and the last six years of his career. Hall of Famer Bill Dickey said “If I were catching blindfolded, I’d always know when it was (Jimmie) Foxx who connected. He hit the ball harder than anyone else”. He had twelve 30 home run seasons and thirteen 100 RBI seasons, captured three American League MVP Awards, was selected to nine All-Star teams and took home the American League Triple Crown in 1933. (5)

Sources:

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

Thanks for reading.