Baseball history unpacked, May 7

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

Today in baseball history:

• 1917 - Red Sox left-hander Babe Ruth outduels Walter Johnson in the team’s 1-0 victory over the Senators at Griffith Stadium. The game’s lone run scores on an eighth-inning sacrifice fly hit by the Boston southpaw, who will turn out to be a fairly good hitter. (1,3,4)
• 1922 - Jesse Barnes of the New York Giants pitches the only no-hitter of the year, beating the Philadelphia Phillies, at the Polo Grounds, 6-0. (2,3)
• 1959 - In an exhibition game played at the Los Angeles Coliseum to benefit Roy Campanella, paralyzed in an auto accident before the team moved to the West Coast in 1958, the Yankees defeat the Dodgers, 6-2. The game, which draws the largest crowd ever for a baseball game, 93,103 fans with another estimated 15,000 turned away from the sellout, begins with an emotional ceremony in which Pee Wee Reese pushes the catcher who uses a wheelchair into the darkened stadium that is totally illuminated by fans holding candles or matches. (1,4)
• 1960 - Norm Sherry, a back-up catcher for the Los Angeles Dodgers, hits a walkoff home run in the 11th inning to give his brother, relief pitcher Larry Sherry, a 3-2 victory over the visiting Philadelphia Phillies. (2,3)
• 1969 - Willie Davis, furious with the Wrigley Field Bleacher Bums because of their continual verbal abuse of him, tells his Dodgers teammates that he wants to hit a home run in the middle of the group, which he does in the sixth inning to tie the score. The LA center fielder exacts a bit more revenge on the heckling horde when his 12th-inning two-run round-tripper proves to be the difference in the 4-2 defeat of the Cubs. (1)
• 1995 - Former All-Star outfielder Gus Bell dies at the age of 66. As the patriarch of a three-generation baseball family, Bell reached the 100-RBI mark four times while starring for the Cincinnati Reds. His son, Buddy, and his grandsons, David and Mike, later played in the major leagues. (3)
• 2008 - Rookie Joey Votto becomes the 23rd member of the Cincinnati Reds to hit three home runs in a game. Votto, who starred for Canada in the 2005 Baseball World Cup, goes deep off Jon Lieber, Sean Marshall and Sean Gallagher in a 9-0 win over the Cubs. The Reds still have the worst record in their division. (3)
• 2009 - Major League Baseball suspends Manny Ramirez for 50 games after he tests positive for the use of a banned substance. The 36-year-old Dodgers outfielder, who will not be eligible to return to the team until July 3rd, apologizes to the fans, explaining he did not take steroids but used a medication the doctor thought was okay to be prescribed. (1,3)
• 2010 - Starlin Castro, the first major leaguer to be born in the 1990s, becomes the sixth Cub in franchise history to hit a home run in his first big-league at-bat, going deep off Homer Bailey in Chicago’s 14-7 win over the Reds at Great American Ball Park. The 20-year-old rookie shortstop also becomes the first player to compile six RBIs in his first game in the majors when he delivers a bases-loaded triple in addition to his second inning three-run blast to deep right field. (1,3)
• 2016 - At 42, pitcher Bartolo Colon of the Mets, already known for his wildly entertaining at-bats, becomes the oldest player to hit his first career home run when he deposits a ball into the left field stands at Petco Park against James Shields of the Padres. Hall of Famer Randy Johnson, whose first homer came when he had just turned 40, was the previous record holder. (3)
• 2017 - In a nationally televised Sunday night game, the Yankees defeat the Cubs, 5-4, in 18 innings at Wrigley Field. The longest interleague game in history features a record 48 strikeouts - 26 by Yankees pitchers, and 22 by the Cubs. New York seems on its way to a victory with a 4-1 lead in the ninth, but Aroldis Chapman allows three runs, the last on a bases-loaded hit by pitch of Anthony Rizzo. There is no more scoring until the top of the 18th, when Aaron Hicks, who has struck out four times in the game, leads off with a bunt single off Pedro Strop and moves to second on C Willson Contreras’ throw, which ends up in right field. After moving to third, he scores on Starlin Castro’s infield grounder, when SS Addison Russell’s throw home is wide of the mark. Chasen Shreve pitches three scoreless innings for the win, which he ends by striking out P Kyle Hendricks, used a pinch-hitter with runners on first and second. (3)

Cubs birthdays: Sam Shaw, Mickey Doolin, Eddie Pick, Al Epperly, John Flavin. Also notable: Dick Williams 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!