Baseball history unpacked, June 5

... 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 - Citing the abolition of the spitball as the reason for the dramatic increase of home runs, Tom Shibe denies the baseballs are livelier this season. The A’s vice president is also a member of the company which makes the baseballs. (1)
• 1948 - In a 6-5 victory at Chicago’s Wrigley Field, Phillies’ outfielder Richie Ashburn extends his consecutive hitting streak to 23 games, tying the major league rookie record. ‘Whitey’ establishes a 20th-century mark, which will be matched this season by Alvin Dark, an infielder with the Braves. (1,2,3)

Box score. Both players would eventually be Cubs.

• 1959 - Pittsburgh’s slugging first baseman Dick Stuart hits a 457-foot homer over the Forbes Field center field wall, making the blast the longest home run in the 50-year history of the ballpark. Dr. Strangeglove’s home run comes in the first inning off Glen Hobbie in the Pirates’ 10-5 loss to Chicago. (1,3)

Box score.

• 2011 - For the second straight game, Albert Pujols hits a walk-off home run in extra innings as the Cardinals defeat the Cubs, 3 - 2. Pujols hits a solo shot off Rodrigo Lopez in the 10th, after doing the same off Jeff Samardzija in the 12th inning of yesterday’s 5 - 4 win. Ryan Theriot sets the stage for Pujols’ heroics by driving in pinch-runner Tony Cruz from first base with a two-out, 9th-inning double off Carlos Marmol, also extending his hitting streak to 19 games in the process. No National Leaguer had hit walk-off homers in consecutive extra-inning games since Ron Santo in 1966. (1,3)

Box score.

• 2012 - Ryan Dempster wins his first game since August 16th of last year, a streak of 18 winless starts, as the struggling Cubs defeat the Brewers, 10 - 0. Dempster retires the first 15 batters of the game and leaves after having given up 3 hits over 7 innings. The Cubs had lost their last 11 road games before the win. (3)

Box score.

• 2016 - Jake Arrieta of the Cubs loses to the Diamondbacks, 3 - 2. It’s his first loss after 20 straight wins dating back to July 25, 2015, when he was on the losing end of Cole Hamels’ no-hitter; it’s the third longest winning streak since 1913, tied with Roger Clemens and trailing only Roy Face (22) and Carl Hubbell (24). (3)

Box score.

• Cubs birthdays: Jim Andrews, Billy Maloney. Also notable: Jack Chesbro (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.