Baseball history unpacked, July 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:

• 1907 - Bombarded by pop bottles in Brooklyn, irate Cubs manager Frank Chance throws one back into the stands where it cuts a boy’s leg. Chance is mobbed and leaves the park in an armored car with a police escort after the Cubs’ 5 - 0 victory. Three-Finger Brown emerges with the shutout win. (3)
• 1912 - At Chicago’s West Side Grounds, Giants hurler Rube Marquard’s consecutive game winning streak is stopped at 19 as the Cubs defeat New York, 7 - 2. (1,3)
• 1945 - The Cubs take the National League lead by winning two from the Phillies, 12-6 and 9-2. They never relinquish first place, despite losing 16 of 22 games to the Cards. (3)

Box scores: Game one. Game two.

• 1947 - Clutch pinch hits by Luke Appling and Stan Spence lead the American League to a 2 - 1 win over the National League in the All-Star Game at Wrigley Field. Schoolboy Rowe pinch-hits for Johnny Sain, becoming the first player to appear for each side. Rowe pitched three innings for the American League in 1936. Spec Shea is the first winning rookie pitcher in All-Star history. (2,3)

Box score.

• 1952 - The National League defeats the American League, 3 - 2, in the 1952 All-Star Game behind the pitching of Philadelphia’s Curt Simmons and Cub Bob Rush in Philadelphia. The game is ended after five innings because of rain. Cub Hank Sauer’s homer with Stan Musial aboard in the 4th proves to be the deciding run. (3)

Box score.

• 1969 - At Shea Stadium, Don Young is roundly criticized by Cubs’ teammate Ron Santo for his two misplays in center field that help the Mets score three ninth-inning runs, resulting in a 4-3 walk-off victory and cutting Chicago’s division lead to four games over the surging New York team. The emotional third baseman will apologize for his remarks tomorrow but will be soundly booed by the hometown fans in his first game back at Wrigley Field. Al will have a complete article on this game coming up later today, including video. (1)

Box score.

• 1976 - At Wrigley Field, Randy Jones wins his 16th game of the year for the Padres, a National League record for wins at the All-Star break. He beats the Cubs, 6 - 3. In the second half of the season, the Padres lefty will lose seven games by one run, two of them by 1 - 0 scores. (2,3)

Box score.

• 2008 - The Cubs bolster their pitching staff, obtaining starter Rich Harden and reliever Chad Gaudin from the A’s in exchange for right-hander Sean Gallagher, second baseman/outfielder Eric Patterson, outfielder Matt Murton, and minor league backstop prospect Josh Donaldson. Chicago’s dealing may be in anticipation of the trade rumors of the Brewers getting Indians’ ace, CC Sabathia. (1)
• Cubs birthdays: Buttons Briggs, Rowdy Elliott, Charlie Gilbert, Al Spangler, Ken Patterson, Jerome Walton, Bobby Ayala, Jaime Garcia. Also notable: Hank O’Day (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.