Baseball history unpacked, October 2

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.

Today in baseball history:

• 1908 - Addie Joss of the Cleveland Naps tosses a perfect game against the Chicago White Sox. The future Hall of Famer wins a 1-0 decision over Ed Walsh in one of the greatest pitching duels in major league history. Joss strikes out only three batters, while Walsh fans 15. (1,2)
• 1919 - The Chicago White Sox lose the second game of the World Series, 4-2, to the Cincinnati Reds. Lefty Williams, one of eight Sox players involved in a Series-fixing scandal, walks three men in the fourth inning. After the game, he is confronted and attacked by Sox catcher Ray Schalk. (2)
• 1920 - With the last two games rained out, fans get their money’s worth in Pittsburgh as the Pirates and Reds, battling to determine third place, play the century’s only tripleheader. Starting at noon, the Reds win the first game, 13-4, to clinch third place. The Reds win the second game as well, 7-3, with a number of players at odd positions: the Reds put catcher Ivey Wingo at 2B, with pitchers Rube Bressler, Dutch Ruether, Fritz Coumbe, and Hod Eller at field positions. The Pirates take the finale, 6-0, called after six innings because of darkness. The only “tribill” played this century is played in five hours. Clyde Barnhart, who made his major league debut ten days earlier, doubles in the first two games, and singles in the third, the only player to hit in all three games. (1,2)
• 1932 - The Yankees sweep the Cubs in the World Series. Tony Lazzeri hits two homers and Earle Combs adds another in the 13-6 victory. (1,2)
• 1940 - The Sullivans become the first father and son to have played in a World Series when Billy Jr. is the Tigers backstop in Game 1 of the Fall Classic at Crosley Field. The Detroit catcher’s dad, Bill Sr., appeared in the postseason in 1906, playing the same position for the White Sox when he went 0-for-21 in the Hitless Wonders’ six-game triumph over the Cubs. (2)
• 1969 - The Seattle Pilots play what will be their last game in Seattle in a 3-1 loss to Oakland. A crowd of 5,473 shows up. (1,2)
• 1972 - In the first game of a doubleheader, Montreal’s Bill Stoneman no-hits the New York Mets for a 7 - 0 Expos win at Parc Jarry, the first major league no-hitter ever pitched in Canada and the second of Stoneman’s career. The Mets win the second game, 2-1. The temperature is 53 degrees as 7,184 watch the doubleheader split. (1,2)
• 1984 - In a game played with replacement umpires, the Cubs clobber the Padres, 13-0, in Game 1 of the NLCS. Chicago hits five home runs at Wrigley Field, including one by winning pitcher Rick Sutcliffe. (1,2)
• 2006 - Chicago’s Vice-President and GM Jim Hendry announces that the Cubs have declined to renew Dusty Baker’s contract to return as the team’s manager next season. During his four-year reign in the North Side dugout, the 57-year-old skipper compiled a 322-326 record, including a 66-96 campaign last season. (2)
• 2012 - Seven years after being beaned on the first pitch he saw in his only career plate appearance, derailing a promising career, Adam Greenberg* gets a chance to bat again in the major leagues. The Miami Marlins send him up to pinch-hit in the 6th inning against the Mets’ R.A. Dickey. He strikes out on three pitches from the knuckleballer, but the crowd cheers wildly as his story of perseverance has made him a hero to many. (2)
• 2018 - The Rockies defeat the Cubs, 2-1, in 13 innings in the Wild Card Game. After scoring off Jon Lester in the first, the Rockies’ bats go quiet, while the Cubs tie it with two outs in the 8th when Javier Baez doubles off Adam Ottavino, scoring pinch-runner Terrance Gore. However, the Cubs, whose bats have gone stone cold of late, waste a number of other chances. Tony Wolters, the Rockies’ third catcher of the game, drives in Trevor Story with a two-out single off Kyle Hendricks in the 13th for the go-ahead run, and Scott Oberg preserves the win as Colorado will continue its travels, moving to Milwaukee, WI for Game 1 of the NLDS, its fourth city in four games. (2)
• 2020 - The National League Wild Card Series are complete as the Marlins eliminate the Cubs with a 2-0 win in Game 2 of the Third Series thanks to a homer by Garrett Cooper off Yu Darvish in the 7th that breaks a scoreless tie. (2)

Cubs birthdays: Scott Stratton, Tom Angley, Bill Serena, Dave Beard, Hector Villanueva, Matt Walbeck, Rafael Lopez.

Today in history:

• 1263 - The battle of Largs: Scots defeat the Norwegians on the Firth of Clyde, Scotland, returning the Western Isles to Scotland and ending 500 years of Viking invasions.
• 1535 French explorer Jacques Cartier first visits the Iroquois settlement of Hochelaga (later Montreal).
• 1627 - Last Emperor of the Chinese Ming dynasty, Chongzhen, comes to the throne after death of his brother Emperor Tianqi.
• 1789 George Washington transmits the proposed Constitutional amendments (The United States Bill of Rights) to the States for ratification.
• 1866 - J Osterhoudt patents tin can with key opener.
• 1919 - US President Woodrow Wilson has a stroke, leaving him partially paralyzed.
• 1942 - WWII: British Royal Navy boards floundering German U-boat U-559 retrieving abandoned Enigma code machine before it sinks; 2 British sailors go down with the sub.
• 1959 - Rod Serling’s anthology series “The Twilight Zone” premieres on CBS-TV.
• 1967 - Thurgood Marshall sworn in as 1st black Supreme Court Justice.
• 2001 - Cubs right fielder Sammy Sosa becomes first player in MLB history to total 60 home runs in three seasons; Chicago slugger connects off Reds starter Lance Davis to reach milestone in 5-4 loss.
• 2016 - Veteran broadcaster Vin Scully calls his final LA Dodgers game (7-1 loss in San Francisco) after a record 67 MLB seasons.

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.

Some of these items spread from site to site without being verified. That is exactly why we ask for reputable sources if you have differences with a posted factoid, so that we can address that to the originators and provide clarity if not ‘truth’. Nothing is posted here without at least one instance of corroboration (this also includes the history bullets). Thanks for reading, and thanks also for your cooperation.