An irreverent, 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. Only the very coolest kids read this series.
Today in baseball history:
- 1904 - Christy Mathewson takes 4 - 0 lead into the ninth against the Cubs, but after an out, he is rattled for four hits, and a error to make the margin, 4 - 3. Shad Barry, on first base with two out, then tries to steal and is gunned down by Frank Bowerman to end the match. (3)
- 1929 - The Cubs complain about the ragged shirt sleeve on Robin Dazzy Vance’s pitching arm, an age-old trick to distract a batter. A rule will be passed enforcing neater dressing habits by pitchers. For the second day in a row, Vance has not much more than a sleeve as the Cubs pound Brooklyn, 12 - 2, behind Hal Carlson. (3)
Box score. Interesting in that the box score shows that Doug McWeeny was the losing pitcher.
- 1959 - For the first time in major league history, a second All-Star Game is played in the same season. The American League goes on to post a 5-3 victory at the Los Angeles Coliseum when White Sox second baseman Nellie Fox singles in Tony Kubek with the decisive run in the top of the seventh inning. (1)
Box score. Lots of action. Don Drysdale took it on the chin.
- 1967 - The Braves set a club mark by hitting seven home runs in a 10-3 victory over the Cubs with Tito Francona, Joe Torre (2), Clete Boyer (2), Denis Menke, and Hank Aaron all contributing to the record. All of Atlanta’s round-trippers come during the first five frames of the Wrigley Field contest, and all are solo shots except for Boyer’s two-run blast in the third inning. (1)
Box score. Clay Carroll defeated Joe Niekro.
- 1972 - Cubs pitcher Bill Hands allows one hit, by Ken Singleton, in beating the Expos, 3 - 0, in the nitecap. The Cubs lose the opener, 2 - 1, as Jack Aker absorbs his 3rd loss in his last 5 save opportunities. (3)
- 2017 - A pair of ninth-inning homers off closer Wade Davis lead the Diamondbacks to a 10 - 8 win over the Cubs at Wrigley Field. Paul Goldschmidt connects for his third long ball of the game with one out, and J.D. Martinez follows with another dinger. Goldschmidt has 6 RBIs on the day, and his performance is almost matched by Cubs C Willson Contreras, who also drives in 6, but with only two home runs. The back-and-forth game starts 90 minutes late because of rain and is interrupted twice, for 35 minutes in the 2nd and another 30 minutes in the 9th. (3)
- Cubs birthdays: Silver Flint, Al Kaiser, Jim Hegan, Rod Beck, Roosevelt Brown, Felix Sanchez.
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 spelling and/or grammarical errata. Thanks for playing along.