Baseball history unpacked, May 8

... 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:

• 1878 - Providence Grays centerfielder Paul Hines catches a fly by Jack Burdock and starts a triple play, racing in to touch third base before Jack Manning can return, then throwing to second to nab Ezra Sutton. Some eyewitnesses contend that Sutton had passed third and was out when Hines touched the base, making it the only unassisted triple play by an outfielder. This contradicts the version by Manning, Jim O’Rourke and others present, which has been accepted generally as the correct account. (3)
• 1926 - A three-alarm blaze burns down Fenway Park’s grandstand roof and left field bleachers. The Boston Red Sox, desperately in need of cash, use most of the insurance proceeds to pay for operations and leave a vacant lot where the bleachers once stood. (3)
• 1939 - In a 4 - 2 Cubs win at the Polo Grounds, Cubs first sacker Phil Cavarretta breaks his leg sliding into a base. He’ll be out of action until July 25th, and will appear in just seven more games this year, all as a pinch hitter. (3)

At least the Cubs won the game, behind the original Bill Lee, who went the distance for his third win against three defeats. Bill Lohrman and Carl Hubbell pitched scoreless relief for the Giants, but starter Hal Schumacher had already lost the game by then. Lee also homered in the fourth inning, that clout being the only extra-base hit by either club.

• 1958 - At Wrigley Field, the Reds score eight runs in the 9th inning to overcome an 8 - 2 deficit and beat the Cubs, 10-8. Cincy’s last three runs come on a homer by Smoky Burgess. (3)

Cubs starter Dick Drott hit couple of Redlegs and walked two more, setting the pattern for Cubs pitchers on that day. The Reds’ hurlers weren’t much better but they were just enough better that they prevailed.

• 1971 - Willie Mays (634) and Hank Aaron (604) both hit round-trippers in the Braves’ 5-2 victory over the Giants at Candlestick Park. It is the first time in baseball history two players with 600 career homers go deep in the same game. (1)

Box score. The Cubs also won that day, behind a 3-hit shutout authored by Ken Holtzman. Joe Pepitone homered for two runs and Holtzman himself doubled in the third. Ron Hunt was 2 for 3 and was hit by a pitch but his team failed to bring him around.

• 1973 - Cubs manager Whitey Lockman is ejected during a 12-inning, 3 - 2 win over the Padres. Coach Ernie Banks fills in for the last few innings, technically becoming the major leagues’ first black manager. Cub Bob Locker pitches in his 500th game: all have been in relief, a major league record. (3)

Bill Bonham got the save in this strange affair. Locker got the win as Fergie Jenkins left with his team a run behind. Rick Monday swatted the game-winner in the top of the 8th, with Carmen Fanzone, who had drawn a walk as a pinch-hitter, aboard. Cleo James started instead of Billy Williams, who struck out as a pinch hitter.

• 1985 - Ryne Sandberg’s homer off Mike Krukow in the first inning is the only score as Rick Sutcliffe and the Cubs beat the Giants, 1-0.

Box score. Sandberg also tripled in the top of the 8th but was stranded. Leon Durham doubled as a leadoff man in the top of the seventh, but two groundouts (by Keith Moreland and Jody Davis, and a pop fly to third by Thad Bosley (after Ron Cey received an intentional walk) killed that rally.

• Cubs birthdays: Ross Barnes, Bill Powell. Also notable: Dan Brouthers (HoF), Edd Roush (HoF).

Sources:

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

Thanks for reading.