Chicago Cubs, Wrigley Field and baseball history

Baseball history unpacked, September 16

Bob Gibson, Rennie Stennett, Sammy Sammy Sammy, and other stories

By Duane Pesice@moderan13 Sep 16, 2019, 6:00am CDT

The black cat thing should have been today. Just sayin’.

... 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:

1909 - President Taft attends a Cubs-Giants game in Chicago and players are introduced to him before the game. Giants ace Christy Mathewson then outdeals Chicago ace Three Finger Brown, 2 - 1, with each allowing seven hits. Taft downs popcorn and lemonade during the match, according to the Chicago Tribune. (3)
1914 - At the age of 23, Yankees shortstop Roger Peckinpaugh is hired to replace Frank Chance as the skipper of the team. During his 20-game tenure as the player-manager, the young infielder will finish the season with a 10-10 record for the sixth-place club. (1)
1923 - The Cubs lose, 10 - 6, to the Giants in Chicago, despite the hitting of Hack Miller who collects three doubles and a triple. A riot occurs in the 8th inning when umpire Charlie Moran makes an out call at second base on Sparky Adams, Moran is pelted by hundreds of pop bottles. Judge Landis, in attendance at the game, shakes his cane at the angry mob, and play is held up for 15 minutes. John McGraw and the umpires need a police escort at the conclusion. (3)

Box score.

1942 - The Phillies, bowing to the Cubs in the nightcap of a twin bill, 4-1, become the first major league team to have five consecutive 100 loss seasons. From 1938 to the end of this season, the team will compile a 227-532 (.299) record under three different managers. (1)
1966 - Bob Gibson notches his 20th victory of the season when he goes the distance to beat Chicago at Wrigley Field, 3-1. The Cardinal right-hander will become the first pitcher in more than forty years to have consecutive 20-win seasons for a second-division team. (1)

Box score. Game two.

1972 - Glenn Beckert goes 0-for-6 in the Cubs’ 18-5 victory over the Mets at Wrigley Field, leaving 12 men on base to set a new major league mark. The Chicago second baseman leaves the bases loaded in the first and seventh, strands two runners twice when he bats two times in the team’s seven-run third, and fails to plate other teammates in the fifth and seventh, the first of his two plate appearances in the frame. (1,3)

Box score.

1975 - Rennie Stennett ties a major league mark established in 1892 with his 7-for-7 performance in a nine-inning game. The Pirates’ second baseman gets two hits in one inning twice, the first and fifth frames, in the Bucs’ 22-0 rout of the Cubs at Wrigley Field, the most one-sided shutout since 1900. (1)

Box score.

1997 - At Wrigley Field, Kevin Tapani pitches a one-hitter for his first National League shutout and Sammy Sosa breaks a scoreless tie with a two-run, 6th-inning homer as Chicago beats Cincinnati, 5 - 0. Bret Boone’s leadoff single in the 6th is the only Reds hit.

Box score.

1998 - Sammy Sosa’s grand slam in the 8th inning, his 63rd home run of the year, leads the Cubs to a 6 - 3 win over San Diego. He now has 154 RBIs for the season.

Box score.

2000 - With a sixth-inning blast in a 7-6 loss to the hometown Cardinals, Cub outfielder Sammy Sosa joins Mark McGwire (1997-99) as the only major leaguer to hit 50 home runs three straight seasons. Babe Ruth had three 50+ homer seasons, but did not accomplish the feat in consecutive years. (1)

Box score.

bonus:

2014 - The Cubs’ Jake Arrieta throws a one-hitter in shutting out the Reds, 7 - 0. Brandon Phillips’ two-out double in the 8th is the only blemish as Arrieta strikes out 13.

Box score.