Baseball history unpacked, August 5

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 various narratives to follow as they unfold 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:

• 1879 - After Providence pitcher Bobby Mathews gives up six runs in the first two innings, he switches positions with third baseman John Ward, who pitches shutout ball the rest of the way to rally the Grays to a 7-6 win. Captain George Wright will successfully employ this pitching scheme several more times during the season. (1)
• 1911 - Cubs manager Frank Chance suspends Joe Tinker and fines him $150 for indifferent play. He is reinstated the next day. (2)
• 1921 - Radio station KDKA and announcer Harold Arlin provided the first broadcast of a major league game. The Pittsburgh Pirates beat the Phillies, 8-5, in Philadelphia. (1,2)
• 1931 - The Cubs edge the Reds, 3-2 at Wrigley Field, when Leo Durocher boots a ground ball hit by Kiki Cuyler. It ends a string of 251 errorless chances in 53 games for Durocher. (2)
• 1945 - The Cubs bang out 22 hits in Game One of a pair to overwhelm the Reds, 12-5. Stan Hack has three doubles and a single, and Phil Cavarretta has four hits. The Cubs take the nitecap, 2-1, behind Claude Passeau’s six-hitter. Chicago has won 17 of their last 18 games. (2)
• 1973 - Phil Niekro of the Atlanta Braves pitches a 9-0 no-hitter against the San Diego Padres. (2)
• 1975 - The first seven Phillies hit safely, good for 15 bases, against Bill Bonham (10-8) and the Cubs, in setting a major league record. No pitcher had ever started a game by allowing seven straight hits. Dave Cash leads off with a single, and Larry Bowa matches it. Garry Maddox homers over the LF fence. Greg Luzinski singles, and Jay Johnstone and Tommy Hutton follow with doubles to make it 5-0. Mike Schmidt then hits his 22nd homer to finally drive Bonham out of the game. His replacement, Ken Crosby, making his major league debut, gives up a single to Johnny Oates for the 8th straight hit. Dick Ruthven lays down a sacrifice bunt for the first out, but three walks, two hits and a balk make it 10-0. The Phils last scored 10 runs in a frame on August 13, 1948. Schmidt adds a second homer to help push the final score to 13-5. (1,2)
• 1979 - Willie Mays, Warren Giles, and Hack Wilson are inducted into the Hall of Fame. (2)
• 2000 - Sammy Sosa becomes the first Cubs player to reach 100 RBIs six consecutive times. Hack Wilson did it for five straight seasons from 1926 to 1930. (2)
• 2014 - Highly touted prospect Javier Baez homers in his major league debut for the Cubs, leading off the 12th inning against Boone Logan of the Rockies, to lead his team to a 6-5 win. (2)

Cubs birthdays: Rube Novotney, Tony Jacobs, Tim Federowicz.

Today in world history:

• 910 - The last major Viking army to raid England is defeated at the Battle of Tettenhall by the allied forces of Mercia and Wessex, led by King Edward and Earl Aethelred.
• 1775 - First Spanish ship, San Carlos, enters San Francisco Bay.
• 1861 - President Lincoln signs the first US personal Income Tax into law (3% of incomes over $800).
• 1914 - First electric traffic light installed in the USA, on the corner of East 105th Street and Euclid Avenue in Cleveland, Ohio.
• 1964 - US begins bombing North Vietnam in response to the real and imagined attacks on US Navy ships in the Gulf of Tonkin.
• 1974 - US President Richard Nixon admits he withheld information about Watergate break-in.

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.

*pictured.

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.

Also please remember that this is supposed to be fun.

Thank you for your cooperation. And thanks for reading!