Baseball history unpacked, May 13

On Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays, Bleed Cubbie Blue is pleased to present a light-hearted, Cubs-centric look at baseball’s colorful past, with plenty of the lore and deep dives into various narratives that we can observe as they expand and change over the course of time. Here’s a handy Cubs timeline, to help you follow along. We also include Cubs’ player birthdays and a bit of world history, for context.

Today in baseball history:

• 1911 - Fred Merkle has six RBI as the Giants tee off on three St. Louis pitchers for 13 runs in the first inning, including a major league record ten before a single out is recorded. John McGraw decides to save starter Christy Mathewson for another day. Rube Marquard works the last eight innings and strikes out 14, setting a record for strikeouts by a reliever. The Giants win 19-5. (1,2)
• 1942 - Jim Tobin of the Boston Braves almost single-handedly beats the Chicago Cubs at Braves Field, 6-5, by pitching a five-hitter and hitting three consecutive home runs. Tobin, who hit a pinch homer the day before, becomes the only pitcher in modern history to collect three home runs in a game. His fourth at-bat results in a fly ball caught against the fence in left field. (1,2)
• 1958 - Stan Musial of the St. Louis Cardinals collects his 3,000th career hit with a pinch double off Chicago Cubs pitcher Moe Drabowsky at Wrigley Field. The Cardinals win, 5-3. (2)
• 1969 - Ernie Banks of the Chicago Cubs reaches the 1,500 runs batted in milestone with seven RBI in a 19-0 shellacking of the expansion San Diego Padres. Hard-throwing right-hander Dick Selma earns the win as the Cubs tie a modern-day record for the most one-sided shutout in National League history. (2)
• 1982 - The Chicago Cubs win game No. 8,000 in their history with a 5-0 shutout of Houston at the Astrodome. (1,2)

Cubs birthdays: Jimmy Archer, Lou Stringer, Bob Smith, Terry Hughes, Mychal Givens, Willson Contreras, Nico Hoerner.

Today in world history:

• 609 - Pope Boniface I turns the Pantheon in Rome into a Catholic church.
• 1637 - Cardinal Richelieu of France reputedly creates the table knife.
• 1787 - Arthur Phillip sets sails with 11 ships of criminals to Botany Bay, Australia.
• 1878 - Danvers State Hospital, a psychiatric hospital in Massachusetts, opens—later serves as inspiration for Arkham Sanitorium in the work of H.P. Lovecraft, which in turn inspired Arkham Asylum of the D.C. Batman universe.

Common sources:

• (1) — Today in Baseball History.
• (2) — Baseball Reference.
• (3) — Society for American Baseball Research.
• (4) — Baseball Hall of Fame.
• (5) — This Day in Chicago Cubs history.
• For world history.

There is a very active baseball history community and there are many facets to their views. We strive for clarity. Please be aware that we are trying to make the historical record as represented by our main sources coherent and as accurate as is possible. No item is posted here without corroboration. Some of these items spread from site to site without being verified. That is exactly why we ask for reputable sources, so that we can address them to the originators. BBRef is very cooperative in this regard, as are SABR and the Baseball Almanac. We have removed thenationalpastime from our sourcing list, as there have been multiple complaints about their content and they do not respond to attempts to communicate.

Also please remember that this is supposed to be fun.

Thank you for your cooperation. And thanks for reading!