Baseball history unpacked, July 3

We cover the wide wide world of sports better than Sherwin-Williams. We have a Pittsburgh-area native on our team, after all. Let me paint you a picture of yesterday’s game: With so much at steak, the simCubs did not fail to bring home the bacon, and carved out a dramatic tenth-inning victory, courtesy of David Bote, Clutchy McClutchface as he is known sometimes.

Ryan Yarbrough failed to go to eleven, but he will soon, and he’ll leave that disappointment behind and enjoy the warm glow of victory with his teammates. Here are some highlights to feast your eyes upon:

Today, the Cubs face the Tampa Bay Rays, with Tyler Glasnow taking the hill for them and the ageless Jon Lester pushing his rocking chair up on the mound for another shot at eleven wins. Al will have more about the game in the game post at 2:30 p.m. CT, and then I’ll post the actual URL to the stream at 3 p.m. CT. Or you can catch the game at the BCB Media Center and also catch past games and game videos, if you want the full #simCubs experience.

Don’t forget about the Brandon Palmer experience, coming up later today.

... 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 hand-picked scenes from the rich tapestry of Chicago Cubs and Major League Baseball history*.

Today in baseball history:

• 1929 - The Cubs and Reds turn nine double plays, tying the Detroit-Washington 1925 mark. The 7-5 Chicago win is their seventh in a row, giving them a half-game lead over the Pirates. (1,3)
• 1935 - The Cubs drop Kiki Cuyler to cut their payroll. He will sign with the Reds in two days’ time. (3)
• 1945 - At Braves Field in Boston, the Cubs tally the most runs in their post-1900 history to date when they blast the Braves, 24-2. Phil Cavarretta, Don Johnson, and Stan Hack each score five times, tying a major league mark. (1)

• 1960 - A day after his wedding in Chicago, Jim O’Toole pitches and loses, as the Cubs pound him for seven runs and nine hits in less than five innings. Chicago wins, 7-5. An unsympathetic Reds manager Fred Hutchinson says, “It was his turn to pitch. I didn’t tell him to get married.” (3)
• 1966 - Pitcher Tony Cloninger hits two grand slams and drives in nine runs, as the Braves rout the Giants at Candlestick Park, 17-3. Cloninger is the first National League player to slam two in a game, and the first pitcher ever, and his nine RBIs are a major-league record for pitchers, breaking Vic Raschi’s mark of seven. The National League record for pitchers was five, held by several; the last hurler to collect five RBIs in a game was Cloninger himself, who had five on June 16th against the Mets. The Braves’ pitcher is the first National League player to hit two bases-loaded home runs in the same game. (1)
• 1967 - At the launching pad in Atlanta, Billy Williams, Ron Santo and Randy Hundley homer for Chicago, and Rico Carty and Felipe Alou answer for the Braves - all in the first inning, a major league record. Carty adds another homer later, but Glenn Beckert’s three-run shot helps put the game out of reach. Ray Culp emerges the winner, 12-6. (1,3)
• 1970 - At Chicago’s Wrigley Field, Gene Alley and Roberto Clemente each hit two homers to help the visiting Bucs outlast their hosts, 16-14. This slugfest also numbers a game-tying, second-inning grand slam by Chicago’s Billy Williams among its eight homers and 70 total bases. Mother Nature, however, has to get a good deal of credit for the day’s offensive production; clearly, the “Windy City” has earned its sobriquet today. “It blew fourteen miles per hour toward center,” reports The Chicago Tribune, “prompting Clemente to all but apologize for his first homer.” “I just tapped the ball,” Clemente tells The Post-Gazette. “There was no way that ball should have gone out of here. The wind was blowing to left, to center, to right. Everywhere it was blowing, it was for the hitter.” (3)
• 1999 - The Phillies defeat the Cubs, 21-8, scoring eight runs in the first inning and seven more with two outs in the fourth. 2B Marlon Anderson gets five hits for Philadelphia, including a home run off 3B Gary Gaetti, who is forced into mound duty for Chicago. (3)
• Cubs birthdays: Cliff Curtis, Matt Keough, Moises Alou, John Koronka, Tommy Hunter, Casey Coleman. Also notable: Bunny Brief.

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!