Baseball history unpacked, August 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:

• 1907 - Senators rookie Walter Johnson makes his major league debut, losing to the Tigers, 3-2. Ty Cobb gets the first hit off the future Hall of Famer with a bunt single. (2,3)
• 1932 - Rogers Hornsby is fired as manager of the Chicago Cubs and 1B Charlie Grimm is put in charge.
• 1947 - At Wrigley Field, the Cubs pummel seven Dodgers hurlers to win a second straight from the Dodgers, 12-7. Peanuts Lowrey and Eddie Waitkus, the first two hitters for Chicago, have five hits apiece. (3)

Box score.

• 1950 - Andy Pafko of the Cubs hits three home runs in the second game of a doubleheader, but the Cubs lose both to the Giants, 11-1 and 8-6. (3)

Box scores. Game one. Game two.

• 1955 - ”Mr. Cub” Ernie Banks hits his 4th grand slam of the season, tying the major league record, as Bob Rush bests the Pirates, 12-4. (3)

Box score.

• 1957 - Gil Hodges, in a 12-3 win over the Cubs, hits his 13th and last career grand slam in Brooklyn Dodger history. The first baseman’s bases-loaded shot off Dick Littlefield establishes a new National League record, previously shared by Rogers Hornsby and Ralph Kiner. (1)

Box score.

• 1979 - Yankees catcher Thurman Munson, 32, perishes at Canton, Ohio, in a crash of the plane he was piloting. A crowd of 51,151 will attend the memorial tribute at Yankee Stadium the following day. (1)
• 1993 - The Cubs defeat the Pirates, 12 - 10, in a game marked by seven home runs. (3)

Box score.

• 2010 - The Brewers bang out 26 hits in beating the Cubs, 18 - 1, at Wrigley Field. Prince Fielder drives in 5 runs on 5 hits, Ryan Braun also collects 5 hits and Corey Hart has 4 in support of Yovani Gallardo’s 12 strikeouts; Casey McGehee hits a three-run homer in the rout. “Nothing worked”, comments Cubs acting manager Alan Trammell, filling in for Lou Piniella, who is in Florida to attend a funeral. It ties the Cubs’ franchise record for hits allowed, set back in the 1950s. (3)

Box score.

• 2011 - The Cubs hit 6 homers, including 2 by Alfonso Soriano, as they beat the Pirates, 11 - 6, in Pittsburgh. Briefly in first place in the NL Central in late July, Pittsburgh has now lost 5 straight and 10 of 13 and risks falling out of the playoff race entirely. Also homering for the Cubbies are Aramis Ramirez, Geovany Soto, Marlon Byrd and Tyler Colvin; Garrett Jones goes deep twice for the Pirates, and Brandon Wood once. (3)

Box score.

• Cubs birthdays: Lloyd Merriman, Derek Botelho, Matt Guerrier, Brett Jackson.

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.