Baseball history unpacked, September 14

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.

Today in baseball history:

• 1905 - Joe Tinker and Johnny Evers engage in a fistfight on the field during an exhibition game in Washington, Indiana, because Evers took a taxi to the park, leaving his teammates in the hotel lobby. The pair will not speak to each other again for thirty-three years. (2)
• 1907 - At the West Side Grounds, Chicago beats the visiting Reds, 12 - 5. The Cubs collect 19 hits to the Reds 10 hits - all 29 are singles.
• 1913 - Cubs’ pitcher Larry Cheney, despite giving up fourteen hits, blanks the Giants, 7-0. The contest marks the first time a team has been shut out after collecting that many hits. (1)
• 1961 - The Cardinals and Cubs set a National League record by using 72 players in a doubleheader (more than 18 innings). St. Louis leads the way with 37 players and wins twice, 8-7 and then 6-5 in 11 innings. Ken Boyer climaxes a 7 for 11 day by cycling in the nitecap, completing it by belting his 22nd home run of the year in the 11th inning. The Cards have won all 11 games with the Cubs at Busch Stadium this year. (3)

Box score, game one. Game two. St. Louis reliever Ed Bauta got the win for the first over Cub reliever Barney Schultz as pinch hitter Bob Lillis scored an unearned run. In the second contest, Don Elston took the loss when Boyer went deep.

• 1986 - Bob Brenly, usually a catcher, ties a major league record by making four errors in one inning playing third base. The Giants infielder makes amends by hitting two homers, including the ninth inning game-winner that gives San Francisco a 7-6 walk-off victory over the Atlanta at Candlestick Park. (1)
• 1994 - Due to the strike, 26 of the 28 MLB team owners vote to cancel the remainder of the season, making baseball the first major professional sport to lose an entire postseason due to a labor strife. The 232-day work stoppage will result in 948 games being cancelled, shortening both the 1994 and 1995 seasons. (1)
• 2008 - Carlos Zambrano becomes the first Cubs pitcher to throw a no-hitter since Milt Pappas accomplished the feat against the Padres in 1972. The Chicago right-hander’s 5-0 hitless gem comes at the expense of the displaced Astros, who are playing a relocated ‘home game’ in Milwaukee’s Miller Park as a result of Hurricane Ike. (1)

Box score. Alfonso Soriano homered to lead off the game and Derrek Lee drove in two runs with a third-inning double. Aramis Ramirez and Geovany Soto followed with run-scoring singles as Zambrano cruised.

• 2014 - With Cub runners on first and second in the fourth inning of the team’s 7-3 victory over Chicago, the Pirates turn an 5-4-3 around-the-horn triple play when third baseman Josh Harrison fields Matt Szczur’s hard grounder, stepping on the bag to force Chris Valaika before firing the ball to second to Neil Walker to retire Mike Olt. The second baseman’s relay to first sacker Andrew Lambo completes the first triple killing in the 14-year history of PNC Park. (2)
• Cubs birthdays: Nick Allen, Reggie Richter, John Bottarini, Jim Fanning, . Also notable: Kid Nichols (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. Thanks for playing along.