Baseball history unpacked, September 12

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:

• 1900 - Sammy Strang, a rookie 3B, breaks in with seven hits for the Chicago Orphans in a doubleheader against the Giants. Chicago catcher Johnny Kling and Giants pitcher Win Mercer collide at the plate in the seventh inning of the second game, and Mercer is carried off the field unconscious. Chicago coasts, 9-1 in the opener, with Mercer the loser to Jock Menefee. New York takes the nightcap, 7-6, when Dummy Taylor fashions a 7-inning win over Jack Taylor. (2)
• 1924 - Chicago’s Hack Miller hits a pinch home run in the eighth to tie the game with the Phils at six apiece. The Cubs go on to win, 10-8. (2)
• 1930 - Brooklyn catcher Al Lopez drives one over the head of Cincinnati left fielder Bob Meusel, and the ball bounces into the bleachers at Ebbets Field. It will be the Major Leagues’ last recorded bounce home run. The National League declares after the season that such a hit will henceforth be a double. The American League had made the change after the 1929 season. (1,2)
• 1976 - Minnie Minoso singled in three at-bats as the designated hitter for the Chicago White Sox. At age 53 he became the oldest player to get a hit in a regulation game.
• 1998 - Cubs OF Sammy Sosa becomes the fourth player in history to reach the 60-home run mark for a season when he slugs number 60 off Valerio de los Santos of the Brewers in the seventh inning of the 15 - 12 Chicago win. (2)
• 2000 - The Cubs’ Kerry Wood pitches his second career complete game, winning 2-1 over the Reds. Two unearned runs do in Osvaldo Fernandez. (2)

Cubs birthdays: John Dolan, Fred Luderus, Ralph Hamner, Bubba Church, George Freese, Carmen Pignatiello, Clayton Richard.

Today in world history:

• 1624 - 1st submarine publicly tested in London on the Thames for King James I.
• 1758 - French astronomer Charles Messier mistakenly identifies the Crab Nebula so begins his Messier Catalogue.
• 1933 - Leó Szilárd, waiting for a red light on Southampton Row in Bloomsbury, conceives idea of a nuclear chain reaction.
• 1940 - Four teens, following their dog down a hole near Lascaux, France discover 17,000 year old drawings now known as the Lascaux Cave Paintings.

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.