Baseball history unpacked, October 3

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:

• 1897 - Cap Anson closes out a remarkable 27-year career that started in the National Association in 1871. He hits two home runs against St. Louis. At age 46, he becomes the oldest player to homer in the majors. (3)

The Browns won that game 10-9.

• 1909 - Tigers outfielder Ty Cobb becomes the first player in baseball history to win the Triple Crown, leading the Junior Circuit in batting average, home runs, and RBIs. The ‘Georgia Peach’ accomplishes the feat batting .377, driving in 107 runs, and hitting 9 homers, all of which are inside-the-park round-trippers, for the American League champs. (1)

Box score. The Tigers beat the White Sox that day. Cobb didn’t play.

• 1919 - Cuban native Adolfo Luque becomes the first player from Latin America to appear in a World Series. In Game 3 of the Fall Classic, ‘the Pride Of Havana’ pitches a scoreless eighth inning for the Reds in a 3-0 loss to the White Sox at Comiskey Park. (1)

Box score, such as it is.

• 1945 - The Detroit Tigers and Chicago Cubs face each other in the World Series for the fourth time. Hank Borowy pitches a six-hitter and Hal Newhouser is demolished with eight runs in three innings as the Cubs win, 9-0. (3)

Box score. Phil Cavarretta homered, Bill Nicholson tripled, Don Johnson doubled, and the Cubs won the opening game of the 1945 World Series.

• 1951 - In Game 3 of National League playoff series at the Polo Grounds, Bobby Thomson’s one-out three-run homer beats the Dodgers in the bottom of the ninth, 5-4, and the Giants win the pennant, the Giants win the pennant. The round-tripper, better known as the ‘shot heard around the world’, becomes one of the famous home runs in baseball history. (1)

Box score. Brooklyn had no extra-base hits that day. Reliever Larry Jansen was the pitcher of record for the Giants.

• 1974 - Frank Robinson becomes the first black manager in the major leagues, as the Cleveland Indians name him to replace Ken Aspromonte for the 1975 season. (3) The former Reds and Oriole superstar signs a $175,000 contract to manage and play for the Indians. (1)
• 1976 - Appearing as the designated hitter, Brewer Hank Aaron gets an infield single in his last major league at-bat, off Tiger hurler Dave Roberts, and drives in his 2,297th run as the sixth-place Brewers lose to the Tigers, 5-2. (1, 3)

Box score. Rick Reuschel won his 14th as the Cubs won that day also. He even doubled to drive in two runs.

• 1999 - On the final day of the season, Mark McGwire of the St. Louis Cardinals hits his 65th home run, moving past Ted Williams and Willie McCovey into 10th place on the career list with 522. McGwire finishes with a two-homer edge over Chicago’s Sammy Sosa, who hits his 63rd on the same day. (3)

Box score. Steve Trachsel lost his 18th as the cardinals battered the Cubs behind Larry Luebbers and Rick Ankiel. Those homers were the only extra-base hits for either team, and there was no scoring after the 5th inning.

• 2012 - Miguel Cabrera clinches the AL Triple Crown, becoming the first player to do so since 1967, when Carl Yastzemski accomplished the feat with Boston. The Tigers third baseman and eventual MVP led the circuit in average (.330), home runs (44), and RBIs (139), playing with the American League champs. (2)
• Cubs birthdays: Bob Bowman, Dom Dalessandro, Dennis Eckersley (HoF), Matt Murton, Jen-Ho Tseng. Also notable: Fred Clarke, Dave Winfield (HoF).

Sources:

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

Please note that individual lines may have been corrected for spelling and/or grammarical errata. We do our best to verify the accuracy of the contents — if you have a correction, please let us know. Thanks for playing along.

A special edition of Cub Tracks will follow early this afternoon.