Baseball history unpacked, June 3

... 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:

• 1888 - The first publication of Ernest L. Thayer’s poem Casey at the Bat appears in the San Francisco Examiner. The work is originally published under the pen name ‘Phin’, because the poet feels embarrassed by what he considers to be bad verse and decides to keep his identity a secret, until others come forward to claim the work to be their own. (1)
• 1911 - Chicago Cubs slugger Frank Schulte hits a grand slam off Rube Marquard to beat the New York Giants, 8 - 4. Schulte will slam four this season, a record tied by Babe Ruth in 1919 and topped by Ernie Banks’ five in 1955. (3)
• 1914 - The court of appeals awards $3,500 to Charles A. Edling, a lawyer who was hit in the nose with a foul ball that broke through a wire netting while he was attending a Kansas City Blues game at Association Park in 1911. The legal ruling states if the American Association team “had kept their eye on the ball with the accuracy that they contend Edling should have exhibited, they would have attained a higher place in the pennant race”. (1)
• 1953 - Congress cites the research of New York City librarian Robert Henderson in proving that Alexander Cartwright founded baseball and not Abner Doubleday. His 1947 book Bat, Ball and Bishop documents Cartwright’s contributions to the origins of the game of baseball. (2)
• 1971 - Cubs southpaw Ken Holtzman tosses the second no-hitter of his career, victimizing the Reds 1-0. Holtzman scores the only run, in the third inning.

Box score.

• 1978 - The Braves and the Cubs tie a major league record, using 14 hurlers in a single game. Each team uses seven pitchers when Chicago beats Atlanta at Wrigley Field, 8-6. (1)

Box score.

• 1987 - Three grand slams are hit at Wrigley Field in the Cubs’ 22-7 rout of the Astros. Chicago’s Keith Moreland and Brian Dayett go deep with the bases loaded, and Billy Hatcher adds one for Houston. (1)

Box score.

• 2003 - Slugger Sammy Sosa is ejected from the game during the first inning after he shatters his bat and the broken remains expose cork. The Cub outfielder will be suspended by major league baseball for eight games (reduced to 7 after an appeal) for his offense. (1)

Box score.

• Cubs birthdays: John Dobbs, Robert Machado, Steve Smyth, Munenori Kawasaki.

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.