Baseball history unpacked, September 14

History! No. 16 for the Cubs, 2nd at Miller Park. Heh heh Wrigley North.

... 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*.

Today in baseball history:

• 1900 - At the Polo Grounds, the Giants pull off the first triple play of the 20th century. With Chicago’s Johnny Kling behind the plate, Jack Doyle, George Davis and Kid Gleason do the deed. It’ll be 10 years before another trifecta is pulled off in the National League. (3)
• 1905 - Joe Tinker and Johnny Evers engage in a fist fight on the field during an exhibition game in Washington, IN, because Evers took a taxi to the park, leaving his teammates in the hotel lobby. The pair did not speak to each other for more than three decades. (2,3)
• 1907 - At the West Side Grounds, Chicago beats the visiting Reds, 12-5. The Cubs collect 19 hits to the Reds 10 hits - all 29 are singles. (3)
• 1907 - Washington’s Sam Lanford, 21, has one of the worst debuts any pitcher ever endures. Lanford walks two New York batters, hits two, including Frank LaPorte in the head, throws a wild pitch, and balks - all in the first inning. Six runs score, but it is not all Lanford’s fault. Two errors and a passed ball add to his woes. (3)
• 1913 - In front of the largest crowd of the season (22,000), Cubs hurler Larry Cheney hurls a 14-hit shutout against the visiting Giants, defeating them 7-0 while setting a major-league record for most hits allowed in a 9-inning whitewashing. Milt Gaston of Washington will duplicate the feat on July 10, 1928. Cheney wins his 20th over Rube Marquard, also seeking his 20th. (1,3)
• 1935 - The Cubs outlast the Dodgers, 18-14, for their 11th straight win and go into first place. In winning, the Cubs use a relief pitcher for the first time in 11 games. Chicago scores five in the second and eight in the sixth in outhitting Brooklyn 18 hits to 15. Johnny Babich starts and goes a third of an inning to take the loss. Starter Charlie Root is the Chicago winner. (3)
• 1961 - The Cardinals and Cubs set a National League record by using 72 players in a doubleheader (more than 18 innings). St. Louis leads the way with 37 players and wins twice, 8-7 and then 6-5 in 11 innings. (3)
• 1968 - In a nationally televised game, Denny McLain becomes a thirty-game winner when the Tigers rally for two runs in the bottom of the ninth inning to beat Oakland 5-4. The Detroit right-hander, who will finish the season 31-6, is the first hurler to accomplish the feat since Dizzy Dean reached the milestone in 1934. (1,3)
• 1978 - In the Braves’ 4-0 decision over the Giants, Jim Bouton, who will finish his career with a 62-63 record, notches his last major league win, limiting the opponents to three hits in six innings of work. The victory marks the first time since 1970 that the 39 year-old ‘Bulldog’ has won a game in the big leagues. (1,3)
• 1994 - Due to the strike, 26 of the 28 MLB team owners vote to cancel the remainder of the season, making baseball the first major professional sport to lose an entire postseason because of a labor dispute. The 232-day work stoppage will result in 948 canceled games, shortening both the 1994 and 1995 seasons. (1)
• 2008 - In an Astros home game moved to Miller Park due to Hurricane Ike, Chicago right-hander Carlos Zambrano becomes the first Cubs pitcher to throw a no-hitter since Milt Pappas accomplished the feat against the Padres in 1972 when he no-hits Houston in the Milwaukee ballpark, 5-0. Zambrano’s gem, in which only a fourth-inning walk to Michael Bourn and Hunter Pence being by a hit by a pitch in the fifth spoils a bid for a perfect game, is the first neutral-site no-hitter thrown in in major league history. (1)

• 2014 - With Cubs runners on first and second in the fourth inning of Pittsburgh’s 7-3 victory over Chicago, the Pirates turn an 5-4-3 around-the-horn triple play when third baseman Josh Harrison fields Matt Szczur’s hard grounder, stepping on the bag to force Chris Valaika before firing the ball to second to Neil Walker to retire Mike Olt. The second baseman’s relay to first sacker Andrew Lambo completes the first triple killing in the 14-year history of PNC Park. (1)
• Cubs birthdays: Nick Allen, Reggie Richter, John Bottarini, Jim Fanning, Dave Hillman. Also notable: Kid Nichols HOF.

SimNews:

There’s no denying that the simCubs love dramatics. Sunday they won their 102nd game of the year, though the Cardinals fought long and hard for that not to happen. Everyone except St. Louis thought the game over when the Cubs had an 8-2 lead heading into the 8th inning, but Ryan Tepera and Craig Kimbrel had other ideas. Tepera walked the universe and then had to aim for the strike zone, and Kimbrel gave up a first-pitch bomb to Tyler O’Neill to tie the game and on we went into extras.

It wasn’t until the 12th, after Jason Heyward and Greg Jones had coaxed walks off of Andrew Miller, that Bryzzo revealed their hole cards. Kris Bryant went oppo for a two-run double and Anthony Rizzo followed with a sharp oppo double of his own. Willson Contreras finished off the scoring with a base hit, and Brandon Morrow came on for an uneventful closeout and that was that. Broom City, on to the Pirates.

Yu Darvish (10-6, 4.29) will take the hill for the first-place Cubs against Sean Reid-Foley (3-2, 4.36). Game time is 3 pm CT unless indicated otherwise in the comments. All game video and related material is available commercial-free, 24/7, at the BCB Media Center.

The Cubs are all over the leaderboards.

The simIowaCubs will be facing the Reno Aces in the second round of the Triple-A playoffs. Their series starts Wednesday, with Colin Rea slated to start against J. B. Bukauskas.

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 vet each item as much as time allows. Please let us know if an item is in error, especially if you have a source. Thanks for reading!