Baseball history unpacked, June 7

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:

• 1906 - The Chicago Cubs, now in first place again, score 11 runs in the 1st inning off Christy Mathewson and Joe McGinnity en route to a 19-0 humiliating defeat of the New York Giants. Mathewson gives up six walks and McGinnity leaves after the second inning. Jack Pfiester allows just three hits as he coasts to the win, the worst beating in Giants franchise history. (2)
• 1910 - In his major league debut, Philadelphia Phillies pitcher Eddie Stack stops the Chicago Cubs, 1-0, on three hits. The Cubs sold Stack to the Phillies on May 26th. He will pitch three complete-game victories between the 14th and 22nd, but will end the year with a 6-7 record. (2)
• 1911 - In the 7th inning against the Brooklyn Dodgers, Heinie Zimmerman and Al Kaiser of the Chicago Cubs both steal home - the only time in major league history the Cubs have pulled off the feat. Chicago will swipe home a National League-record 17 times this year. (2)
• 1927 - The Chicago Cubs send shortstop Jimmy Cooney and pitcher Tony Kaufmann to the Phillies for P Hal Carlson, who will go 12-8 for the Cubs for the rest of the season. (2)
• 1932 - Pitcher Jack Quinn, at age 47, becomes the oldest player in major league history to have an extra-base hit (a double) as the Brooklyn Dodgers beat the Chicago Cubs, 9-2. Julio Franco will break the record over 70 years later. (1,2)
• 1977 - The Chicago White Sox select Harold Baines with the number-one pick in the June draft. Chicago’s owner Bill Veeck had first seen Baines play Little League ball and had followed his career. (2)
• 1982 - In the annual June draft, the Chicago Cubs select Shawon Dunston with the first pick. (2)
• 1998 - In a Chicago interleague match, the hot Cubs pound the White Sox, 13-7, as Sammy Sosa and Jose Hernandez each hit three-run home runs and collect five RBI. The Cubs sweep their South Side rivals completing their third consecutive three-game sweep, something the Cubs have not done since 1918. (2)
• 2001 - The Chicago Cubs complete a sweep of the St. Louis Cardinals, winning 4-3 and posting their 15th victory in 16 games. Cubs fans haven’t seen that since 1945. Matt Morris pitches a no-hitter into the seventh inning before Matt Stairs’ two-out double opens the door for Chicago. Rondell White’s single in the 10th drives home Sammy Sosa with the winning run. After the victory, the Cubs take a five-game lead over St. Louis in the NL Central Division. (2)

Cubs birthdays: Frank Reberger, Heathcliff Slocumb, Justin Berg, Luke Farrell*.

Today in history:

• 1195 - Earliest report of ball lightning in London by Benedictine monk Gervase of Christ Church Cathedral Priory, Canterbury.
• 1665 - Great Plague of London: Samuel Pepys writes in his diary of houses marked with a red cross in London’s Drury Lane, meaning somebody inside is infected with the plague and must be locked in for 40 days or until death.
• 1753 - British Museum founded by an Act of Parliament with royal assent from King George II (opens in 1759).
• 1929 - Vatican City becomes a sovereign state.
• 1989 - For one second this morning, the time is 01:23:45, 6-7-89.
• 2018 - Mars Curiosity Rover finds organic matter, including methane, on Mars in studies published in journal “Science”.

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.