Baseball history unpacked, September 21

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. We do our best to verify the accuracy of the contents. Please let us know if an item is inaccurate (but be nice).

Today in baseball history:

• 1901 - Tom Hughes of Chicago and Boston Beaneater Bill Dinneen pitch 16 scoreless innings before the Orphans score in the 17th on an error, hit batter, force out, and a single by Clarence Childs. Each pitcher gives up eight singles. This will stand as the longest shutout ever by a Cub pitcher. Hughes fans 13 in 17 frames. The 17 innings sets the major-league record for the longest game (at 60’ 6”). The record will be broken a number of times. (3)
• 1919 - The Cubs beat the Braves, 3-0, in 58 minutes. It takes the Robins 55 minutes to beat the Reds, 3 - 1. Slim Sallee throws 65 pitches, topping Christy Mathewson’s 69-pitch complete game. One week later the Giants will close the season beating the Phillies, 6 - 1, in a record 51 minutes. (3)

Box score. Pete Alexander won his 15th over Red Causey, who lost his 7th. Three Cubs hit doubles. Fred Merkle committed an error. The Cubs went to 73-60.

• 1949 - At Wrigley Field, the Phillies beat Chicago, 3-1, for their 78th victory of the season. The win guarantees the club its first winning season since 1932, snapping a 16-year streak of futility. (1)

Box score. Philly hurler Russ Meyer pitched his Super-Vixens team to victory as Richie Ashburn tripled, Dick Sisler doubled, and Granny Hamner sacrificed successfully. Phil Cavaretta homered for the Cubs’ only run.

• 1951 - In his major league debut, Cardinals hurler Jack Collum throws a two-hit shutout against the Cubs at Sportsman’s Park, 6-0. The rookie southpaw developed a natural screwball due to losing part of his index finger in a farm accident. (1)

Box score. Frank Hiller got bombed by the Cardinals, who rode triples by Solly Hemus and Enos Slaughter to victory behind Collum.

• 1958 - The Cubs’ 1B Dale Long, a lefty, catches in the 9th inning in a 2-1 loss to the Dodgers. This time he wears a lefty catcher’s mitt, not a first baseman’s glove. The Cubs strand 15 runners as Sandy Koufax tops Bob Anderson; each pitch seven innings before being relieved. (3)

Box score. The game was won in the top of the seventh as Gino Cimoli and Carl Furillo singled to drive in runs. Ernie Banks drove in one run in the bottom of the ninth after pinch-hitter Bobby Adams tripled, but runners were stranded on second and third to end the game. Chuck Tanner and Bob Will walked, but consecutive flyouts didn’t get the job done.

• 1966 - The smallest crowd in the 46-year history of Chicago’s Wrigley Field watches the Cubs beat Cincinnati, 9-3. The 530 fans in attendance at the ballpark for the Wednesday afternoon contest see Billy Williams and Adolfo Philips go deep in a game that takes only two hours and twenty-four minutes to complete. (1)

Box score. Ken Holtzman won his 10th against 15 losses and Ron Santo tripled in the Cubs victory.

• 1968 - The Braves trade veteran Hoyt Wilhelm to the Cubs. In December the Cubs will trade him back to Atlanta. (3)
• 1987 - Darryl Strawberry and Howard Johnson become the first teammates to hit 30 homers and steal 30 bases in the same season when the ‘Straw’ steals two bases in the Mets’ 7-1 victory over Chicago at Wrigley Field. The southpaw swinger is only the tenth member of the 30-30 club, but is the fourth player, along with HoJo, Indians’ right fielder Joe Carter, and Reds center fielder Eric Davis, to accomplish the feat this season. (1)

Box score. Dwight Gooden pitched a complete game for his 15th win over Les Lancaster. Rafael Palmeiro took Gooden deep for the Cubs’ only run.

• 1997 - The Cubs beat the Phils, 11-3, but Curt Schilling racks up eight strikeouts to match J.R. Richard for the most Ks by a National League righty (313). He’ll finish with 319 strikeouts. Ryne Sandberg, in his final game at Wrigley Field, is 2 for 3 before leaving for a pinch runner in the 5th. He makes a curtain call in the 7th when Harry Caray sings. Kevin Tapani wins his 6th straight start. (3)

Box score. The Cubs banged out four homers, a triple, and a double while Tapani and two relievers stymied the Philly attack.

• 2001 - Ranger infielder Alex Rodriguez hit his 47th home run, tying the major league record for home runs in a season by a shortstop. The Cubs’ legend Ernie Banks established the record in 1958. (1)
• Cubs birthdays: Jim Todd, Doug Davis.

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.