Baseball history unpacked, July 3

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 - At Cleveland, the Naps top the Tigers, 5-0, in game called after six innings on account of rain. To underscore the soggy conditions, Detroit outfielder Germany Schaefer plays the last few innings wearing a raincoat over his uniform. (2)
• 1929 - The Cubs and Reds turn nine double plays, tying the Detroit-Washington 1925 mark. The 7-5 Chicago win is their seventh in a row, giving them a half-game lead over the Pirates. (2)
• 1935 - The Cubs drop Kiki Cuyler to cut their payroll. He will sign with the Reds in two days’ time. (2)
• 1960 - A day after his wedding in Chicago, Jim O’Toole pitches and loses, as the Cubs pound him for seven runs and nine hits in less than five innings. Chicago wins, 7-5. An unsympathetic manager Fred Hutchinson says, “It was his turn to pitch. I didn’t tell him to get married.” (2)
• 1966 - Pitcher Tony Cloninger hits two grand slams and drives in nine runs, as the Braves rout the Giants at Candlestick Park, 17-3. Cloninger is the first National League player to slam two in a game, and the first pitcher ever, and his nine RBIs are a major-league record for pitchers, breaking Vic Raschi’s mark of seven. The National League record for pitchers was five, held by several; the last hurler to collect five RBIs in a game was Cloninger himself, who had five on June 16th against the Mets. (1,2)
• 1967 - At the launching pad in Atlanta, Billy Williams, Ron Santo and Randy Hundley homer for Chicago, and Rico Carty and Felipe Alou answer for the Braves - all in the first inning, a major league record. Carty adds another homer later, but Glenn Beckert’s three-run shot helps put the game out of reach. Ray Culp emerges the winner, 12-6. (2)
• 1970 - At Chicago’s Wrigley Field, Gene Alley and Roberto Clemente each hit two homers to help the visiting Bucs outlast their hosts, 16-14. This slugfest also numbers a game-tying, second-inning grand slam by Chicago’s Billy Williams among its eight homers and 70 total bases. Mother Nature, however, has to get a good deal of credit for the day’s offensive production; clearly, the “Windy City” has earned its sobriquet today. “It blew fourteen miles per hour toward center,” reports The Chicago Tribune, “prompting Clemente to all but apologize for his first homer.” “I just tapped the ball,” Clemente tells The Post-Gazette. “There was no way that ball should have gone out of here. The wind was blowing to left, to center, to right. Everywhere it was blowing, it was for the hitter.” (2)
• 1999 - The Phillies defeat the Cubs, 21-8, scoring eight runs in the first inning and seven more with two outs in the fourth. 2B Marlon Anderson gets five hits for Philadelphia, including a home run off 3B Gary Gaetti, who is forced into mound duty for Chicago. (2)

Cubs birthdays: Cliff Curtis, Matt Keough, Moises Alou, John Koronka, Tommy Hunter, Casey Coleman, Zach Putnam, Codi Heuer*.

Today in history:

• 324 - Battle of Adrianople: Roman Emperor Constantine I defeats his co-emperor Licinius, who flees to Byzantium.
• 1608 - Samuel de Champlain founds city of Quebec.
• 1844 - The last pair of Great Auks is killed.
• 1890 - Idaho admitted as 43rd US state.
• 1970 - Atlanta International Pop Festival opens, 200,000 attend over three days; performers include Allman Brothers; Grand Funk Railroad, Jimi Hendrix Experience; Richie Havens; Cat Mother & the All-Night Newsboys; B.B. King; Mott the Hoople; and John Sebastian.

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.