Baseball history unpacked, August 5

... 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-threaded seams from the rich tapestry of Chicago Cubs and Major League Baseball history*.

Today in baseball history:

• 1911 - Cubs manager Frank Chance suspends Joe Tinker and fines him $150 for indifferent play. He is reinstated the next day. (3)
• 1921 - KDKA radio station provides its listeners with the first-ever broadcast of a major league game. Harold Arlin becomes baseball’s first play-by-play announcer as he details the action as the Pittsburgh Pirates beat the Phillies at Forbes Field, 8-5. (1,3)
• 1931 - The Cubs edge the Reds, 3-2 at Wrigley Field, when Leo Durocher boots a ground ball hit by Kiki Cuyler. It ends a string of 251 errorless chances in 53 games for Durocher. (3)
• 1945 - 1945 - The Cubs bang out 22 hits in Game One of a pair to overwhelm the Reds, 12-5. Stan Hack has three doubles and a single, and Phil Cavarretta has four hits. The Cubs take the nitecap, 2-1, behind Claude Passeau’s 6-hitter. Chicago has won 17 of their last 18 games. (3)
• 1975 - The first seven Phillies hit safely, good for 15 bases, against Bill Bonham (10-8) and the Cubs, in setting a major league record. No pitcher had ever started a game by allowing seven straight hits. Dave Cash leads off with a single, and Larry Bowa matches it. Garry Maddox homers over the LF fence. Greg Luzinski singles, and Jay Johnstone and Tommy Hutton follow with doubles to make it 5-0. Mike Schmidt then hits his 22nd homer to finally drive Bonham out of the game. His replacement, Ken Crosby, making his major league debut, gives up a single to Johnny Oates for the eighth straight hit. Dick Ruthven lays down a sacrifice bunt for the first out, but three walks, two hits and a balk make it 10-0. The Phils last scored 10 runs in a frame on August 13, 1948. Schmidt adds a second homer to help push the final score to 13 - 5.. (1)
• 2000 - Sammy Sosa becomes the first Cubs player to reach 100 RBIs six consecutive times. Hack Wilson did it for five straight seasons from 1926 to 1930. (1,3)
• 2012 - Darwin Barney becomes the Cubs’ all-time leader for second basemen when he plays in his 91st consecutive game in a single season without committing an error. The 26 year-old Chicago infielder, en route to setting the National League mark with a 127 straight errorless-game streak, surpasses Ryne Sandberg’s team record that the Hall of Famer established in 1989. (1)
• 2014 - Highly touted prospect Javier Baez homers in his major league debut for the Cubs, leading off the 12th inning against Boone Logan of the Rockies, to lead his team to a 6-5 win.
• 2017 - The Indians unveil a bronze statue honoring Lou Boudreau, who managed the team to their last World Series title in 1948 while also being the Tribe’s starting shortstop. The seven-time All-Star is placed outside the main entrance of Progressive Field near two fellow Hall of Famers and former teammates, Bob Feller and Larry Doby. (1)

Cubs birthdays: Rube Novotney, Tim Federowicz.

SimNews:

The simCubs are an amazing 81-33 after they thoroughly dismantled Sean Newcomb and the Braves. Ryan Yarbrough pitched well in winning his 13th game against four losses, going only five innings but making them count after giving up a three-run bomb to Ozzie Albees in the top of the second, which answered the ball Kyle Schwarber put into orbit, and then benefiting from the Cubs’ soulcrushing display of raw power as they batted around in the bottom of the fourth, plating eight runs, with Yarbrough himself helping to ignite the rally with a sacrifice bunt that went for a single. The Cubs loaded the bases and kept the line moving as Anthony Rizzo struck for one run and Javier Baez singled for two. Willson Contreras was ploinked to reload the bags and David Bote did that thing he does and cleared the sacks. Contreras later drove in the final run, but by then the contest had been decided as Jesus Luzardo and Dan Winkler held the line for a 12-4 Cubs victory.

The simCubs are playing the Braves at Wrigley again. Max Fried will be facing his old team and opposing Felix Hernandez, who isn’t what he was once but is still dangerous. All game material is available at the BCB Media Center.

Thanks for reading!