Baseball history unpacked, May 21

... on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays, Bleed Cubbie Blue brings a you a Cubs-centric look at baseball’s long and colorful past. Here’s a handy Cubs timeline, to help you follow along as we review select clips from the big motion picture of Chicago Cubs and Major League Baseball history.

Today in baseball history:

• 1892 - Behind Bill Hutchison, Chicago wins its 13th straight game, 1-0, over Pud Galvin and the Pirates. Galvin surrenders only two hits in the loss, none before the eighth inning. The streak will stop the following day. (3)
• 1901 - Andrew Freedman, fractious owner of the Giants, accuses umpire Billy Nash of incompetence and bars him from the Polo Grounds. The Pirates’ Chief Zimmer and the Giants’ John Warner are forced to officiate. Christy Mathewson then wins his 7th straight, 2-1, but his scoreless streak stops at 39 innings when the Bucs score an unearned run in the 9th. (2,3,4)
• 1907 - After Three-Finger Brown and Christy Mathewson hook up in a pitching duel, with the Chicago ace emerging the winner, 3-2, and New York drops out of first place as Matty’s batterymate Roger Bresnahan commits two errors to cause Mathewson to lose his first of the year, the players need to form a protective ring around umpires Hank O’Day and Bob Emslie. Pinkerton guards fire shots in the air, trying to disperse unruly fans who have spilled onto the Polo Grounds field. The crowd is egged on by manager John McGraw, who will be thrown out of games seven times this year. (1) Box score (3). Good if you’re a NYT sub {$}. This is cheaper if you don’t need the original copy.
• 1927 - The Cubs move into first place in the National League when a 9-run ninth inning gives them an 11-6 win and doubleheader sweep at Brooklyn. Chicago takes the opener, 6-4. For the second day in a row, a disputed call - this one by Frank Wilson - causes fans to stop the game. (1,3)
• 1936 - The Phillies reacquire Chuck Klein, from the Cubs, along with P Fabian Kowalik and a reported $50,000, for P Curt Davis and OF Ethan Allen. Klein is hitting .294 this year for the Cubs. (3)
• 1948 - At the Polo Grounds, the Giants drop an 8 - 3 decision to the Cubs. New York rookie Les Layton, in his first major league at-bat, hits a pinch homer in the 9th off Johnny Schmitz. (3)
• 1955 - In Milwaukee, Cubs pitcher Warren Hacker loses his no-hitter when he gives up a one-out 9th-inning home run to George Crowe. Hacker holds on to win, 2-1. (3)
• 1957 - Reaffirming their decision to bar females from the Fenway Park’s male-only press box, Boston baseball writers deny a seat to Doris O’Donnell, a feature writer following the Indians. (1)
• 1968 - The Cubs climb above the .500 mark the first time all season with a 6-5 win over the Phillies. Chicago’s Billy Williams sets a new record for outfielders by playing his 695th straight game. (2,3)
• 1993 - B.J. Birdie, mascot of the Toronto Blue Jays, is ejected from Toronto’s game against Minnesota by umpire Jim McKean after making gestures which the ump finds offensive. The Blue Jays go on to lose the game, 2-1. (3)
• 1996 - The Phils’ Terry Mulholland defeats the Padres, 5-4. Mulholland, who entered the game with the third-lowest batting average in history of any player with 400 at bats, clouts a 407-foot home run in the second inning off Sean Bergman. As Mulholland explains, “Most great power hitters don’t hit for a high average.” (3)
• 1999 - In a long-rumored move, the Twins finally trade Rick Aguilera, along with minor league P Scott Downs, to the Cubs for minor league pitchers Jason Ryan and Kyle Lohse. The next day, Cubs reliever Rod Beck undergoes arthroscopic surgery on his elbow. (3)
• 2005 - Before their interleague game with the Athletics, the Giants pay homage to Juan Marichal by dedicating a nine-foot bronze statue outside SBC Park. The “Dominican Dandy”, who hurled for San Francisco from 1960 to 1973, joins Willie Mays and Willie McCovey as former players to have statues made in their honor in the city. (1)
• 2009 - The letter “I” on the Big Mac Land sign at Busch Stadium is knocked out by Albert Pujols’s first-inning blast off Sean Marshall in the Cardinals’ 3-1 victory over Chicago. During any game, if a Cardinal player hits a home run into Big Mac Land, built in the left-field stands (section 272) as a tribute to Mark McGwire, everyone at the game is entitled to redeem their ticket for a free Big Mac at all participating restaurants in the fast-food chain. (1)
• 2011 - Wearing the uniforms from the 1918 World Series, the Cubs score eight runs in the eighth inning, taking advantage of three Boston errors, to win, 9-3, at Fenway Park. Two of the runs score on a botched rundown of Alfonso Soriano, which accounts for two of the miscues. Losing P Matt Albers gives up six runs without retiring a batter. The game is marred by an injury to Cubs CF Marlon Byrd, who suffers multiple fractures when beaned by Alfredo Aceves. (3)
• 2012 - Rockies starter Jamie Moyer extends his major league record when he makes his debut at the newly opened Marlins Park, having now pitched in 50 major league ballparks. The 49-year-old southpaw started his career with a victory for Philadelphia at Wrigley Field in 1986.
• 2014 - What does the Cubs’ Jeff Samardzija have to do to get a win? Today, the major leagues’ ERA leader pitches seven scoreless innings, but Hector Rondon blows a 2-0 ninth-inning lead against the Yankees to send the game into extra innings. In the 13th, Yankees pitcher Preston Claiborne lays down a perfect sacrifice bunt in his first major league plate appearance as part of a two-run rally, Jose Veras throws a wild pitch to let in a first run and back-up catcher John Ryan Murphy drives in another with a single as the Bronx Bombers end up on top, 4-2. Samardzija is 0-4 in spite of a 1.46 ERA. (3)

Cubs birthdays: Karl Spongberg, Dick Ward, El Tappe, Moe Thacker, Bob Molinaro, Jacob Turner. Also notable: Earl Averill HOF, Bobby Cox HOF.

Common 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.

There is a very active baseball history community and there are many facets to their views. We strive for clarity. Please let us know (nicely) if you feel that an item is in error and we will address that issue to the originator(s), if at all possible.

Thanks for reading!