Baseball history unpacked, July 2

A Cubs-centric look at baseball’s past. Here’s a handy Cubs timeline.

Today in baseball history:

• 1903 - Pitcher Jack Doscher, making his debut with the Chicago Cubs, is the first son of a former major-league player to also play in the major leagues. His father, Herm, was a third baseman with Troy, Chicago, and Cleveland before the turn of the century. (2)

Unfortunately, Jack wasn’t very good. Herm wasn’t either. But they both played some, and that’s something.

• 1934 - At Wrigley Field, veteran ump Bill Klem’s delayed call of the infield fly rule leads the Cardinals to protest their game with the Cubs. The game is suspended with two out in the bottom of the seventh inning with the Cubs ahead 5-1, and will be completed on the last day of the month with St. Louis losing with the final score of 7-1. (1)

Box score. Those were good teams, with Hall-of-Famers and other well-known players like Paul Dean and both Hermans (Babe and Billy), who were not brothers.

Bill Klem, of course, is a Hall-of-Famer, one of the best-known umps ever. He “is credited with helping upgrade dignity and respect for umpiring during a major-league career that spanned 37 years (1905-1941).” (David Anderson (4)) He is also known for developing the inside chest protector, though he denied that.

• 1967 - After Chicago’s 4-1 victory over Cincinnati at Wrigley Field, many of the 40,464 patrons stay in the ballpark awaiting the outcome of the Cards/Mets game. When the results are posted with a New York win, which puts the Cubs in first place by half of a game, the enthusiastic fans refuse to leave the ‘Friendly Confines’ until the flags above the scoreboard are changed, a task usually done the next day, to reflect the home team’s position at the top of the standings. (1)

Box score. Fergie Jenkins won that game and even helped himself with an RBI triple, beating Sammy Ellis. This was the beginning of the competitive Cubs, a team that won no titles but was good for five years, finishing over .500 every season during that skein. They were 87-74 in 1967 after losing 103 games the year before, Leo Durocher’s first as Cubs manager. Four Hall-of-Famers and a host of recognizable names populated the roster.

• 1979 - Don Kessinger (46-60) is fired mid-season as the player-manager of the White Sox, and will be replaced by rookie skipper Tony La Russa, who had been managing the club’s Triple-A Iowa Oaks in the American Association. (1)
• Cubs birthdays: Len Madden, So Taguchi, Jermaine van Buren, Angel Pagan.

Sources:

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

Thanks for playing along.