Baseball history unpacked, August 20

On Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays, Bleed Cubbie Blue brings a you a light-hearted, Cubs-centric look at baseball’s colorful past, with plenty of the lore and deep dives into various narratives that expand over the course of time. Here’s a handy Cubs timeline, to help you follow along. Don’t be afraid to click the links for ‘inside baseball’ on the entries, which change from year to year as we re-examine the subjects.

Today in baseball history:

• 1912 - In the nightcap of a doubleheader, Carl Cashion tosses a six-inning no-hitter to give the Senators a 2-0 victory over the Indians and a sweep of the twin bill at Griffith Stadium. The 21-year-old right-hander, who will not get credit for his accomplishment due to the game’s shortened nature, has an outstanding fastball, but a lack of control will limit his career to just 43 games over four seasons. (1,3)

Box score.

• 1938 - In front of about 10,000 people attending a Saturday morning publicity stunt organized by the Come to Cleveland Committee, five members of the Cleveland squad attempt to set a record by catching a baseball thrown from the top of the 708-foot Terminal Tower. Rookie reserve catcher Henry Helf catches a ball from the 52-story structure, estimated to be traveling at 138 mph, breaking Gabby Street’s 1908 mark for a vertical catch established when the Senator backstop snagged a sphere dropped 555 feet from the top of the Washington Monument. (1,4)
• 1945 - At the age of 17, SS Tommy Brown of the Brooklyn Dodgers is the youngest player to hit a major league home run. Brown belts his homer off Pirates southpaw Preacher Roe. (3)
• 1957 - In the nightcap of a doubleheader, Robert Keegen throws the White Sox’s first no-hitter in twenty years, beating the Senators, 6-0. The Comiskey Park no-no is the first one thrown at night in franchise history. (1,4)
• 1958 - Out of catchers, the Cubs put left-handed first baseman Dale Long behind the plate in the opener against the Pirates. He is the first lefty backstop since 1906. The Cubs lose 4-2, then win the nightcap 5-1 with Long back at first base. (2,3)
• 1971 - Ferguson Jenkins wins his 20th, beating Houston, 3-2. The win pulls the Cubs to 4½ games behind Pittsburgh. But following two losses to Houston, Leo Durocher and the players will square off in a clubhouse meeting on the 23rd. Durocher accuses Ron Santo of demanding that the team give him a day, and the third sacker has to be restrained from going after Leo. Leo will finally lip an “I quit,” but stay on through the season in a frosty relationship with the team. (3)
• 1993 - Cleveland trades OF Glenallen Hill to the Cubs for OF Candy Maldonado. (3)
• 1996 - In the Cubs’ 8-1 win over Florida, Sammy Sosa picks up his 100th RBI the hard way when he is hit by a Mark Hutton pitch with the bases loaded in the first inning. The pitch breaks Sosa’s wrist and the slugger won’t play again this season, stopping his streak of consecutive games played at 304. (3)
• 2008 - The World Umpires Association and Major League Baseball sign an agreement allowing the use of instant replay, with hopes that it will be in place by next August. WUA president John Hirschbeck says he told his members it would be a tool to help make sure they got the calls correct. (3)
• 2014 - Major League Baseball upholds a protest filed by the Giants over their rain-shortened 2-0 loss to the Cubs on August 19th. The game was called after 4½ innings, but the Giants successfully argue that the Cubs did not properly deploy the tarp at Wrigley Field, dumping accumulated rainwater on the infield and preventing the game from resuming when the rain abated after a few minutes. The game will resume tomorrow in the bottom of the fifth inning, prior to the regularly scheduled game between the two teams. This is the first successful protest in 28 years. When the game resumes, the Cubs will be able to hold on for a 2-1 win. (3)

Cubs birthdays: Robert Gibson, Bull Smith, Fred Norman, Kal Daniels, Blake DeWitt. Also notable: Al Lopez 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!