Baseball history unpacked, May 15

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:

• 1905 - Dummy Taylor and the Giants edge the Chicago Cubs, 1-0, the first of three straight collars by Giants pitchers. (2)
• 1915 - In the Federal League, Claude Hendrix pitches a 10-0 no-hitter for Chicago over Pittsburgh. (2)
• 1922 - In a 4-1 win at New York, Ty Cobb beats out a grounder to SS Everett Scott. Veteran writer Fred Lieb scores it a hit in the boxscore he files with the Associated Press. But official scorer John Kieran of the New York Tribune gives an error to Scott. At the season’s end, the American League official records, based on AP box scores, list Cobb at .401. New York writers complain unsuccessfully, claiming it should be .399, based on the official scorer’s stats. Lieb will reverse himself at the end of the year, but Ban Johnson goes with the hit call. (1,2)
• 1928 - The Giants turn six double plays against the Cubs at Wrigley Field, but lose, 10-7. (2)
• 1952 - After pitching four no-hitters in the minors, 33-year-old Virgil “Fire” Trucks of Detroit pitches his first in the major leagues, a 1-0 blanking of the Senators. Vic Wertz’s dramatic two-out home run in the ninth off Bob Porterfield wins the game at Briggs Stadium. Trucks will throw a second no-hitter later this year. (2)
• 1960 - After being traded from the Phillies, Don Cardwell no-hits the Cardinals in his Cub debut. The Winston-Salem, NC native becomes the first pitcher to keep the opponents hitless in a first start after being traded. (1,2)
• 1965 - Cubs P Dick Ellsworth throws a one-hitter at the Dodgers, but unfortunately the lone hit is a three-run pinch home run by Al Ferrara in the eighth inning that gives Los Angeles a 3-1 win. (2)
• 1971 - Fergie Jenkins (7-2) pitches and bats the Cubs to a 6-4 win over San Diego. Jenkins hits a two-run home run and finishes his 7th game in eight starts. Billy Williams* connects for his 300th home run. (2)
• 1973 - California’s Nolan Ryan strikes out 12, including the side in the 1st, and hurls his first career no-hitter in beating Kansas City, 3-0. For C Jeff Torborg, it is his third no-hitter. SS Rudy Meoli preserves the no-no with a spectacular over-the-shoulder catch in the eighth. It is the first of a record seven no-hitters the “Ryan Express” will throw during his career, including another one in two months. (1,2)
• 1981 - The Indians’ Len Barker pitches the 9th perfect game in 20th century major league history, 3-0 over the Blue Jays before just 7,290 fans on a rainy night at Cleveland Stadium. Last year’s American League strikeout leader, Barker fans 11. It is the 11th time in major league history the feat has been accomplished, and the first time in 13 years since last being done, by Catfish Hunter in 1968. (2)
• 1997 - The Chicago Cubs hit four triples — three in the same inning — to beat the visiting Padres, 8-2. The Cubs score four runs in the seventh off Tim Scott as Brian McRae, Doug Glanville and Sammy Sosa all triple. (2)

Cubs birthdays: Fred Goldsmith, Steve Yerkes, Ed Baecht, Fred Baczewski, Bill North, Jim Adduci, Rafael Ortega. Also notable: George Brett HOF, John Smoltz HOF.

Today in history:

• 1618 - German astronomer Johannes Kepler discovers the third of his three planetary laws his “harmonics law.”
• 1817 - First private mental health hospital opens in the US, Asylum for the Relief of Persons Deprived of the Use of Their Reason (now Friends Hospital) in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
• 1869 - National Woman Suffrage Association forms in New York, founded by Susan B. Anthony and Elizabeth Cady Stanton.

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.