... 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:
- 1897 - Although he gives up 14 runs on 17 hits, Dave Wright of the Chicago Colts (Cubs) wins his first and only major league game. The 21-year-old Dennison, Ohio native is the beneficiary of Chicago’s 11-run fifth inning when the club beats the Pirates, 15-14. (1)
- 1930 - In a 13-11 season-finale victory over the Reds, Cubs outfielder Hack Wilson drives in his 189th and 190th runs of the season to establish a new major league record. The total will be revised to 191 in 1999 after baseball’s historian Jerome Holtzman finds a missing RBI in a game played in July of 1930. (1)
- 1932 - In the opening game of the World Series, Lou Gehrig’s home run leads the Yankees to a 12-6 win over the Cubs. (2)
- 1935 - With nothing on the line, the pennant-winning Cubs finally lose to the Cardinals and snap their 21-game win streak. The skein is the longest in the majors since the Giants of 1916 when New York won 26 games and tied one. However, Chicago’s win streak is the longest without a tie since 1880. (2)
- 1938 - Gabby Hartnett hits his famous “Homer in the Gloamin’” in the ninh inning against the Pirates’ Mace Brown to give the Chicago Cubs a 6-5 victory, their ninth straight, at Wrigley Field. It is a key triumph en route to the Cubs’ National League pennant. (1,3)
- 1962 - In front of only 595 fans at Wrigley Field, the Cubs (58-101) beat the Mets (39-118) in the first meeting in major league history between two 100-loss teams before the series begins. The New York expansion team will split the remaining two games in Chicago to finish the season 40-120, establishing the record for the most losses in baseball’s modern-era. (1)
- 1995 - A fan takes exception when a Cub reliever gives up two-run, pinch-hit home run to James Mouton, giving the Astros an eighth inning 9-7 lead. As the Houston pinch-hitter rounds the bases, the 27-year-old spectator runs out of the stands and heads toward the mound, where he is immediately pinned by Randy Myers, who in addition to his pitching prowess, is well trained in the martial arts. (1)
- 1998 - In the first National League playoff since 1980, the Cubs beat the Giants, 5-3, in a one-game showdown to take the National League’s wild-card berth. San Francisco makes the game interesting by scoring three runs in the ninth inning in front of a very anxious crowd at Wrigley Field. (1)
- 2001 - In the first home game at Wrigley since the terrorist attacks on America, Sammy Sosa, after hitting his 59th home run of the season, pulls out a small American flag and waves it as he circles the bases. After scoring and making a curtain call from the dugout, the Cub slugger continues to wave Old Glory. (1)
- 2003 - Ron Santo, the team’s radio color commentator, joins Hall of Famers Ernie Banks and Billy Williams, becoming third player to have his number retired by the Cubs. The nine-time All-Star third baseman, who spent 14 seasons of his 15-year career with the North Siders (1960-73), will have his uniform #10 below Ernie Banks’ on the left-field foul pole. (1)
- 2007 - The Chicago Cubs clinch the NL Central division title with a 6-0 shutout of the Cincinnati Reds, combined with a loss by the Milwaukee Brewers. It is the third different franchise that Cubs’ manager Lou Piniella has led to a division title. For Chicago, Alfonso Soriano hits his 32nd home run of the season, taking Bronson Arroyo deep in the 1st inning. It is Soriano’s sixth home run leading off a game this month, a new major league record. It is also his 13th homer in September, tying Ernie Banks’ franchise record. (3)
- 2011- Starlin Castro (21 years, 188 days) becomes the youngest player to lead the National League in hits, finishing the season with 207. The Cubs sophomore All-Star shortstop, who hit .307 in 158 games, reaches base for the 40th straight game with an eighth-inning double in the team’s 9-2 loss to Padres at Petro Park, extending his current hitting streak to 10 games. (1)
- 2012 - 2B Darwin Barney of the Cubs makes a wild throw to first base after fielding Justin Upton’s ground ball in the eighth inning of the Cubs’ 8-3 loss to the Diamondbacks. The miscue ends Barney’s 141-game errorless streak, tying Placido Polanco’s all-time record for a single season, set in 2007. (3)
- 2015 - Chris Denorfia of the Cubs does something unprecedented when he homers as a pinch-hitter for Fernando Rodney in the bottom of the 11th inning to give his team a 1-0 win over the Royals. His blast off Miguel Almonte is the first-ever pinch-hit, walk-off homer in extra innings in a 1-0 game. (3)
- Cubs birthdays: Wilbur Good, Jim Brillheart, Hank Grampp, Dick Barrett, Dick Gernert, Joey Nation.
SimNews:
The simCubs ended their season at 112-50 with a sweep of the Cardinals at Wrigley and the sun shone, the birds sang, and the bats raked and now it’s on to the postseason, which begins Saturday against the winner of Wednesday’s Brewers/Nationals Wild Card tilt.
Anthony Rizzo didn’t get to 100 RBI and Javier Baez didn’t get to 30 steals but the Cubs decorate the leaderboards — Ryan Yarbrough tied Justin Verlander for most wins in the league at 19. Jesus Luzardo won 18, Kyle Hendricks 17, and Jon Lester 15.
Tomorrow, we’ll talk Gold Gloves, Silver Sluggers, and playoff possibilities. All game video and related material is available commercial-free, 24/7, at the BCB Media Center.
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!