Baseball history unpacked, September 9

... 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:

• 1918 - In Game Four of the World Series, which is being played early because of World War I, Babe Ruth bats in two runs on a triple in the fourth and pitches seven scoreless innings before the Cubs tie it in the eighth. But Ruth and the Red Sox get the win when Phil Douglas throws away the game, first by a wild pitch, then an error. (2)

Box score.

• 1958 - The Cardinals beat the Cubs, 8-7, with Jim Brosnan earning the win over his old team. Don Elston takes the loss. Ernie Banks hits his first home run in St. Louis in two years while Eddie Kasko cracks a grand slam. (3)

Box score.

• 1965 - Sandy Koufax of the Los Angeles Dodgers pitched his fourth no-hitter, a perfect game, against the Chicago Cubs. Koufax fanned 14 in the 1-0 victory while Cubs pitcher Bob Hendley allowed only one hit - a double by Lou Johnson. (2)

Box score.

• 1975 - The Cubs’ Bill Madlock suffers an “incomplete fracture” of his right thumb when hit by a Bruce Kison pitch in a 6 - 5 win over the Pirates. (3)

Box score.

• 1989 - The Cubs’ Luis Salazar singles in the tying run in the eighth, then doubles in the winner in the 10th to give Chicago a 3 - 2 win over St. Louis. The Cubs now lead the Cards by 1½ games. Yesterday, the Cubs blew a 7 - 2 lead to lose 9 - 8 to the Cards. Al will have a full article on this game later today, including video. (3)

Box score.

• 1993 - The major leagues vote to divide each league into three divisions, and add another round of playoffs featuring two wild card teams.
• 1997 - Hall of Fame member Richie Ashburn passes away of an apparent heart attack in his New York hotel room following broadcasting a Mets-Phillies game last night. The former Phillies Whiz Kid was an excellent contact hitter who once fouled off 14 pitches in one at-bat.
• 1999 - In the Cubs’ 5 - 3 loss to the Reds, Sammy Sosa hits his 59th homer. Sosa has more homers than the Cubs have wins: 56. They’ve lost 31 of their last 39 games.

Box score.

• 2000 - The Astros kick the Cubs, 14 - 4, hitting a team-record seven home runs in the process. Richard Hidalgo, Lance Berkman, and Tim Bogar each hit a pair, with Daryle Ward adding another.

Box score.

• 2014 - Cubs 3B prospect Kris Bryant is named the Baseball America Minor League Player of the Year after leading the minor leagues with 43 homers and a .661 slugging percentage between the AA Tennessee Smokies and AAA Iowa Cubs.
• Cubs birthdays: Abner Dalrymple, Frank Chance (HoF), Ed Mickelson, Earl Averill, Jerry Mumphrey, Todd Zeile, Michael Bowden, Edwin Jackson. Also notable: Frankie Frisch (HoF), Waite Hoyt (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.
• (6) — This Day in Chicago Cubs history.

Thanks for reading.