Baseball history unpacked, October 2

... on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays, Bleed Cubbie Blue brings a you 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. The embedded links often point to articles that pertain to the scenes, such as reproductions of period newspapers, images, and/or other such material as is often found in the wild.

Today in baseball history:

• 1920 - With the last two games rained out, fans get their money’s worth in Pittsburgh as the Pirates and Reds, battling to determine 3rd place, play the century’s only tripleheader. Starting at noon, the Reds win the first, 13-4, to clinch 3rd place. The Reds win game two as well, 7-3, with a number of players at odd positions: the Reds put catcher Ivey Wingo at 2B, with pitchers Rube Bressler, Dutch Ruether, Fritz Coumbe, and Hod Eller at field positions. The Pirates take the finale, 6-0, called after six innings because of darkness. The only “tribill” played this century is played in five hours. Clyde Barnhart, who made his major league debut ten days earlier, doubles in the first two games, and singles in the 3rd, the only player to hit in all three games. (1)

Box scores. Game one. Game two. Game three.

• 1932 - The Yankees win their 12th consecutive World Series game and sweep the Fall Classic for the third time. The Bronx Bombers bang out 19 hits, clubbing the Cubs at Wrigley Field, 13-6. (1)

Box score.

• 1984 - In the first LCS game played with replacement umpires, the Cubs clobber the Padres 13-0 in the opener of the National League series. Chicago hits five home runs at Wrigley Field, including one by winning pitcher Rick Sutcliffe.

Box score.

• 2001 - Slugging Sammy Sosa becomes the first player in baseball history to slug 60 home runs in three seasons. The Cubs’ outfielder connects off Lance Davis in the first inning of the team’s 5-4 loss to Cincinnati at Wrigley Field to reach the milestone. (1)

Box score.

• 2006 - Chicago’s veep and GM Jim Hendry announces that the Cubs have declined to renew Dusty Baker’s contract to return as the team’s manager. During his four-year reign in the northside dugout, the 57-year-old skipper compiled a 322-326 record, including a 66-96 campaign last season. (1)
• 2008 - Game 2 Wrigley: Dodgers 10, Cubs 3. In Game 2 of the NLDS, it was the defense that let the team down. In the 2nd inning, two Dodgers reached on singles against Carlos Zambrano and later in the inning, both Mark DeRosa and Derrek Lee committed errors that led to one run. With two out, Rafael Furcal drove in a run with a single. Than with the bases loaded, Russell Martin got the big hit, with a double that rolled all the way to the left-center field wall, driving in three runs for a five-run Dodger inning. (6)

Box score.

• 2012 - In a matchup of 100-loss teams, only the second occurrence in major league history, the Astros (55-105) beat the Cubs (60-100) at Wrigley Field, 3-0. In 1962, the woeful 58-101 Chicago club played host to the expansion Mets, sporting a 39-118 record en route to setting the all-time modern era record for futility. Bud Norris and four relievers hold Chicago to four hits (two by Starlin Castro) in the contest of sad-sack clubs.(1)

Box score.

• 2018 - The Rockies defeat the Cubs, 2-1, in 13 innings in the Wild Card Game. After scoring off Jon Lester in the first, the Rockies’ bats go quiet, while the Cubs tie it with two outs in the eighth when Javier Baez doubles off Adam Ottavino, scoring pinch-runner Terrance Gore. However, the Cubs, whose bat have gone stone cold of late, waste a number of other chances. Tony Wolters, the Rockies’ third catcher of the game, drives in Trevor Story with a two-out single off Kyle Hendricks in the 13th for the go-ahead run, and Scott Oberg preserves the win. (3)

Box score.

• Cubs birthdays: Scott Stratton, Tom Angley, Bill Serena, Dave Beard, Hector Villanueva, Matt Walbeck, Rafael Lopez,

*Assuming that game seven, 2016, is the single greatest Cubs playoff game ever.

Sources:

• (1) — The National Pastime.
• (2) — Today in Baseball History.
• (3) — Baseball Reference.
• (4) — Society for American Baseball Research.
• (5) — Baseball Hall of Fame.
• (6) — This Day in Chicago Cubs history.

Thanks for reading.