Baseball history unpacked, June 11

... 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:

• 1904 - After pitching 9.1 innings of no-hit baseball, Cubs’ hurler Bob Wicker settles for a 1-0, twelve inning one-hit victory over the Giants. For the second time in his career, light-hitting outfielder Sam Mertes breaks up an extra-inning no-hitter, also having spoiled Indians right-hander Earl Moore’s 1901 bid for a no-no when he started the game-winning rally for the White Sox with a one-out single in the top inning. (1,4)
• 1909 - At the West Side Grounds‚ Boston wins over Chicago‚ 4-2‚ for their only win against the Cubs this year. Rookie Kirby “Red” White walks in a run but at the plate drives in two Doves with a triple. Boston will go 1-21 against the Cubs and 1-20 versus the Pirates. (3)
• 1911 - At Chicago’s West Side Grounds, Heinie Zimmerman of the Cubs drives in nine runs to set a team record. The Windy City infielder, whose record will be tied by Sammy Sosa in 2002, hits two home runs, a triple, and two singles in the 20-2 rout of the Braves. (1,3,4)
• 1927 - The Philadelphia Athletics field a team of seven future Hall of Famers in the 9th inning: Ty Cobb (RF), Mickey Cochrane (PH), Eddie Collins (2B), Jimmie Foxx (1B), Lefty Grove (P), Al Simmons (CF) and Zack Wheat (LF). After five wins in a row‚ the A’s lose to the Tigers‚ 5-4. Cy Perkins started as catcher batting seventh‚ but when Cochrane pinch-hit for him in the last inning‚ seven Cooperstown-bound players were in the lineup. (2,3)
• 1934 - The Cubs send Dolph Camilli and cash to the Phillies for Don Hurst‚ the 1930 RBI leader. Camilli will later win the 1941 MVP award with the Dodgers‚ while Hurst hits .199 for the Cubs and disappears. (3)
• 1938 - Johnny Vander Meer pitches the first of two consecutive no-hitters as the Cincinnati Reds beat the Boston Bees, 3-0. Vander Meer‚ in his first full season‚ strikes out 4 to increase his league-leading total to 56. Danny MacFayden is the losing pitcher. (3)
• 1952 - At Wrigley Field, 35-year-old Hank Sauer, the NL’s eventual MVP, hits three solo shots off Phillies southpaw Curt Simmons. The Cubs All-Star outfielder’s trio of round-trippers accounts for all of Chicago’s offense when the team beats the visiting Phillies, 3-2. (1,4)
• 1956 - The discussion over the cork-center baseball continues. At this point‚ there have been 745 homers in the majors‚ hit by 192 players; at this point in the 1927 season‚ there were 320 homers‚ hit by 140 ball players. National League President Warren Giles will retort that bigger players‚ not livelier balls‚ account for the present-day hitting feats. (3)
• 1963 - After Brock Davis is intentionally walked to load the bases, third baseman Bob Aspromonte blasts a 10th-inning walk-off grand slam off Lindy McDaniel, lifting the Colt .45s to a 6-2 victory over the Cubs. Chicago had tied the Colt Stadium contest in the top of the ninth on a triple by Dick Bertell, a walk to Bob’s brother Ken, and Don Landrum’s RBI single. (1,3,4)
• 1966 - Ernie Banks ties a modern major league record with 3 triples‚ as Chicago wins, 8-2 in the Astrodome. Chicago OF Adolfo Phillips also ties a record by striking out nine straight times in two consecutive games (more than 18 innings). (3)
• 1967 - Adolfo Phillips blasts four home runs in a doubleheader‚ three of them in consecutive at-bats in the second game‚ as the Cubs sweep the Mets at Wrigley Field, 5-3 and 18-10. The total of 11 homers in the second game sets a National League record for two clubs in nine innings and the two teams tie a NL mark when they total 40 extra bases on long hits (26 for Chicago and 14 for New York). The mark was set on July 31‚ 1954. Adolfo has six hits and eight RBIs on the day. (3)
• 1969 - The Cubs trade Adolfo Phillips and right-hander Jack Lamabe to the Expos for Paul Popovich. Chicago’s latest infielder, a solid switch-hitting utility player, will play a large role for his new team, filling in for injured second baseman Glenn Beckert and batting .312 overall in 60 games. (1,3,4)
• 1990 - At the age of 43, Ranger Nolan Ryan no-hits the A’s, 5-0, becoming the oldest player to throw a no-hitter, extending his major league record to six. The ‘Ryan Express’ becomes the first player to throw one in three different decades and to accomplish the feat for three different teams. (1,4)
• 2009 - Umpire Don Briggs throws the entire crowd, approximately 100 fans in attendance at Winfield-Mount Union High School (IA) for a contest against West Burlington, out of the game following his controversial call in the fifth inning. The incident occurs when the home team coach refuses to remove any of the unruly local fans, causing the ten-year veteran scholastic arbitrator to take action by borrowing a cell phone to call the police to help with the ejections. (1)
• 2012 - The Cubs sign Cuban defector Jorge Soler to a nine-year contract worth $30 million. The 20-year-old outfielder was the subject of a bidding war among several teams. (3)
• 2018 - The Cubs take over first place in the NL Central with a 7-2 win over the Brewers in 10 innings. They tie the game, 2-2, in the eightth thanks to a clutch single by Jason Heyward against usually untouchable reliever Josh Hader, then Anthony Rizzo leads off the top of the 10th with a long homer off Matt Albers. The Cubs then add four more runs in the frame to nail down the win. (3)

Cubs birthdays: Roger Bresnahan HOF, Claud Derrick, Charlie Hollocher, Frank Thomas, Jimmy Stewart. Jason Waddell.

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.