Baseball history unpacked, August 14

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:

• 1888 - Tim Keefe’s nineteen-game winning streak ends when Gus Krock and the White Stockings defeat the Giants. (1,2)
• 1909 - Chicago pitcher Ed Reulbach’s 14-game winning streak is stopped by the Giants, 5-2. New York has now won nine in a row, but Chicago will stop that tomorrow. (2)
• 1919 - In a total of two hours and seventeen minutes, the Robins and Cubs split a doubleheader. In the opener, the Cubs blank Brooklyn, 2-0, in one hour and 10 minutes and in the nightcap it takes the Dodgers one hour and seven minutes to shut out Chicago, 1-0. (2)
• 1930 - The Cubs top the faltering Robins, 5-1, as Pat Malone picks up the victory. (2)
• 1961 - In a 9-2 defeat to the Cubs’ Dick Ellsworth, the Phillies drop their 17th consecutive game and for the 11th straight time the opposing pitcher throws a complete game against the team. (2)
• 1971 - Before 30,678 Pittsburgh fans, Cardinals ace Bob Gibson, 35, hurls the first no-hitter of his career, an 11-0 shellacking of the Pirates. Gibson walks three and strikes out 10, and paces the offense with three RBI.
• 2009 - The Cubs jump to a 14-0 lead after two innings in crushing the Pirates, 17-2. The Cubs send 15 batters to the plate and score 10 runs in the second inning in support of Randy Wells’ pitching. Derrek Lee drives in seven runs. (2)

Cubs birthdays: Art Phelan, Billy Myers, Tommy Shields, Juan Pierre, Chris Valaika*.

Today in history:

• 1040 - King Duncan I of Scotland killed in battle against his first cousin and rival Macbeth (not murdered in his sleep as in Shakespeare’s play). The latter does succeed him as King.
• 1281 - During Kublai Khan’s second Mongol invasion of Japan his invading Chinese fleet of 3,500 vessels disappears in a typhoon near Japan.
• 1935 - Social Security Act becomes law.
• 1945 - V-J Day, Japan surrenders unconditionally to end WW II (also August 15 depending on time zone).

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.