Baseball history unpacked, April 10

Oh yeah, that was a good road trip. And we seem to have picked up a few followers...

10-4, good buddy. The simCubs swept the simPirates and now head back to simWrigley Field for a weekend tiff with the simCardinals. That’s their seventh in a row and they are now 11-2 and comfortably resting atop the NL Central.

Anthony Rizzo was the big star, doubling in the 11th. Kris Bryant and Willson Contreras continued hitting streaks. Craig Kimbrel pitched to one batter for the save.

Al will have more information about today’s game, in the game post, at 2:30 pm CT for our 3 p.m. start. I’ll drop the specific URL to the contest in the game thread, but you can lurk at the BCB Media Center and catch it there as well. All past games, events, and highlights reels are available there as well.

... on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays, Bleed Cubbie Blue brings a you a lighthearted 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*. Beware of rabbit holes.

Today in baseball history:

• 1947 - During the sixth inning of an exhibition game against their minor league team at Ebbets Field, the Montreal Royals, Dodgers’ president Branch Rickey issues a brief statement to the press. The two sentences will forever change the game when the team announces “The Brooklyn Dodgers today purchased the contract of Jackie Roosevelt Robinson from the Montreal Royals. He will report immediately.” (1,2,3)
• 1962 - At Colt Stadium, the Houston Colt .45s make their major league debut with an 11-2 victory over the Chicago Cubs. Houston right fielder Roman Mejias hits a pair of three-run home runs before a crowd of 25,271 fans. Bobby Shantz pitches a complete-game five-hitter and Don Cardwell is the loser. The Colt .45s and New York Mets join the National League as expansion teams this year. (1,3)
• 1997 - The Chicago Cubs fall to 0-8, the worst start in the club’s 122-year history, following a 1-0 loss to the Florida Marlins at frigid Wrigley Field. Florida pitcher Alex Fernandez, making his first appearance in Chicago since he left the White Sox over the winter as a free agent, is two outs away from a no-hitter when pinch-hitter Dave Hansen legs out an infield hit off the pitcher’s glove. Fernandez settles for the one-hitter. (2,3)
• 2012 - Vin Scully misses the Dodgers’ home opener for the first time in 35 years when doctors order the 84-year-old Hall of Fame broadcaster to rest as he recovers from a bad cold. The last time the team’s play-by-play announcer was absent from the season’s first home game he was calling the first round of the Masters in 1977. (1)
• 2013 - Cubs minor league prospect Jorge Soler is ejected from a game in the Florida State League for charging the opposite dugout with a bat in the seventh inning. Soler had been spiked while sliding into second base the previous inning. He received a five-game suspension for his outburst. (3)
• 2015 - Mound opponents Cubs Travis Wood and Tyler Matzek of the Rockies each hit eighth in their team’s lineup, marking just the 12th time in major league history that both pitchers have not batted ninth in the same game. The last time this occurred was in 2008 when the Cardinals, led by Tony La Russa, who frequently employed his hurler in that slot, played the Pirates. (1)
• 2017 - After a wait of 108 years, a two-hour rain delay pushes back the ceremony to raise the Cubs’ 2016 World Championship banner at Wrigley Field a little bit more, but a boisterous sellout crowd is on hand to see 1B Anthony Rizzo being the first player to raise the flag and to take the World Series Trophy on the field. Rizzo is then the hero of the home opener, as his ninth-inning single off Kenley Jansen of the Dodgers drives in the winning run in a 3 - 2 win. (3)
• Cubs birthdays: Tom Parrott, Chuck Connors, Tom Lundstedt. Also notable: Ross Youngs 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.

*We try to vet each item. Please let us know if an item is in error, especially if you have a source.

Thanks for reading