Baseball history unpacked, July 25

A Cubs-centric look at baseball’s past. Here’s a handy Cubs timeline, to help you follow along as we view selected moments gleaned from the rich pageant of Major League Baseball history. No graphs or advanced metrics were harmed during the commission of these articles.

Today in baseball history:

• 1902 - At Chicago, the Reds’ Cy Seymour sets a major-league record by hitting four sacrifice flies in a 6 - 1 win over the Chicago Orphans. Seymour will be tied but never topped. (3)
• 1956 - Roberto Clemente becomes the only player ever to hit a walk-off inside-the-park grand slam, blasting a ninth-inning four-run homer off Jim Brosnan to give the Pirates a dramatic 9-8 walk-off victory over the Cubs at Forbes Field. Last season, the Pittsburgh right fielder’s first-ever career round-tripper, which will be the first of ten IPHRs he will hit during his 18 years with the Bucs, also did not clear the fence. (1)

Box score. Nellie King defeated Brosnan in a battle of bullpens. Dale Long also homered for the Bucs. Ernie Banks went 4-for-5 but didn’t drive anyone in. He did score two runs.

• 1972 - Cubs general manager John Holland announces Whitey Lockman will manage the Cubs, replacing Leo Durocher, who ‘stepped down’ as the team’s skipper after posting a 535-526 (.504) record during his seven years at the helm. ’Leo the Lip’ will be hired by the Astros to replace Harry Walker at the end of August. (1)
• 1980 - The Cubs fire manager Preston Gomez and replace him with Joey Amalfitano. Chicago is 38-52, last in the National League East. (3)
• 1988 - The Cubs test their $5 million lighting system prior to their historic first night game at Wrigley Field scheduled for August 8th against the Phillies. Six banks of lights on 33-foot steel towers along the first-base and third-base baselines illuminate the field during the charity event in which players take batting practice and participate in a home run derby. (1)
• 1998 - Former Yankees P Jim Bouton makes his first appearance at Yankee Stadium since 1970 at Old-Timers Day and is greeted with cheers all around. Bouton had been persona non grata in New York since writing Ball Four, which broke a long-standing taboo in sports by taking readers into the locker room and revealing players’ extracurricular escapades. The Yanks invited the Bulldog back after his son wrote a Father’s Day article in the New York Times suggesting it. (3)
• 2010 - Andre Dawson, an outfielder with the Expos and Cubs, becomes the 203rd player to be inducted into the Hall of Fame. Joining ‘Hawk’ in Cooperstown are former manager Whitey Herzog, major league ump Doug Harvey, broadcaster Jon Miller, and baseball writer Bill Madden. (1)
• 2010 - Chris Coghlan seriously injures himself when he tries to smash a shaving-cream pie in Wes Helms’s face after his teammate hit a single to give the Marlins a 5-4 walk-off victory over Atlanta. The 2009 NL Rookie of the Year will go on the disabled list with a torn meniscus in his left knee, and will miss the remainder of the season. (1)
• 2015 - Cole Hamels of the Phillies no-hits the Cubs, 5-0, at Wrigley Field. It is the first time the Cubs have been victims of a no-hitter since 1965. (3)

Box score. I’m sure we all remember this one, a low point during that fantastic season. Hamels defeated Jake Arrieta 5-0. Ryan Howard swatted a three-run homer and the rest of the Phillies hit doubles, or so it seemed. The Cubs went on to the wild-card, losing to the Mets in the NLDS.

• 2016 - In a rare development, the Yankees are sellers at the trading deadline as they send P Aroldis Chapman to the Cubs in return for a very rich package of prospects that includes OFs Rashad Crawford and Billy McKinney, IF Gleyber Torres and P Adam Warren. The Yankees were dealing from a position of strength, with two other top-class relievers on hand in Andrew Miller and Dellin Betances, while Chapman is headed for free agency after the season. (3)

The controversial trade may have been the linchpin of the Cubs’ world championship effort.

• Cubs birthdays: John Tener, Mick Kelleher, Jose Bautista. (3)

Sources:

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

Please note that quotes may have been corrected for grammarical errata. Thanks for playing along.