Baseball history unpacked, August 18

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:

• 1886 - St. Louis Maroons owner Henry Lucas quits baseball, announcing that the club has cost him $27,000 in three years. (1)
• 1902 - Christy Mathewson shuts out Chicago, 5-0, to give New York its fourth straight win over the host Windy City squad. Jack Taylor takes the loss. (2)
• 1906 - The Cubs turn back the visiting Giants, 6-2 behind Three Finger Brown. Christy Mathewson has an off day for New York, allowing 12 hits, three by his nemesis Joe Tinker. (2)
• 1913 - Philadelphia’s Erskine Mayer sets a National League mark by surrendering nine consecutive hits to the Cubs in the ninth inning of their game. The Cubs score six runs to win, 10-4. (2)
• 1930 - Woody English scores five runs and Hack Wilson hits his 42nd home run, as the Cubs crush the Phillies, 17-3. Pat Malone contributes another home run and goes the distance for the win. (2)
• 1948 - The Pirates halt the Cubs, 7-4, behind rookie Bob Chesnes. Chesnes helps his own cause with two singles in the Bucs’ six-run eighth inning to pin the loss on Russ Meyer. Stan Rojek has four hits for the Pirates, while Andy Pafko drives home three runs on three hits for Chicago. (2)
• 1960 - Facing just 27 batters, Lew Burdette pitches a 1-0 no-hitter against the Phillies. Tony Gonzalez, the only Phil to reach base, is hit by a Burdette pitch in the fifth inning but a double play erases him. The Milwaukee pitcher also scores the only run of the game.
• 1968 - In the opener of a doubleheader at Wrigley Field, umpire Chris Pelekoudas calls three illegal pitches on Cubs P Phil Regan, twice allowing a retired batter to hit again. Pete Rose singles after a called third strike. Pelekoudas can’t find any evidence on Regan and bases his calls on “the flight of the ball.” The Cubs, who lose both games, 2-1 and 6-3, protest the ump’s calls. The next day Warren Giles meets with Cubs officials and orders Pelekoudas to apologize to the church-going Regan, whom he calls a “fine Christian gentleman.” However, at the major leagues Winter Meetings, the Rules Committee will further amend the spitball rule to allow an ump to call an illegal pitch based on the flight of the ball. (2)
• 1977 - Dodgers pitcher Don Sutton throws his fifth one-hitter, tying the National League record, as he blanks the Giants 7-0. The lone hit is Marc Hill’s two-out single in the eighth.
• 1982 - In the completion of a game suspended the previous day after 17 innings, the Dodgers beat the Cubs, 2-1 in 21 innings despite running out of position players and having to use pitchers Fernando Valenzuela and Bob Welch in the outfield. Jerry Reuss pitches the final four innings for the win, then starts the regularly-scheduled game and wins again, 7-4. (1,2)
• 1995 - In a slugfest at new Coors Field, the Cubs defeat the Rockies by a score of 26-7. A 2½ hour rain delay interrupts the contest, which takes more than six hours to play. OF Luis Gonzalez drives home six runs for Chicago while Sammy Sosa goes 4 for 4, with four RBIs and four runs scored. Several major league records are tied by the Cubs: nine teammates each score two or more runs (Scott Servais and Sosa score four, while Mark Grace plates three); 14 Cubs hit safely, and 26 RBIs are collected, which ties the National League mark. The Cubs have now scored 20 or more runs 39 times in their history, extending their record. Kevin Foster pitches the first three innings for Chicago, allowing only a Andres Galarraga homer before departing to rest with the Cubs up 9-1. Anthony Young picks up an easy win with 1⅓ innings of relief. (2)

Cubs birthdays: Eddie Hickey, Burleigh Grimes HOF, William Marriott, Mandy Brooks, Bernie Friberg, Bob Humphreys, Paul Popovich, Justin Wilson, Seiya Suzuki*. Also notable: Roberto Clemente HOF.

Today in history:

• 1201 - The city of Riga is founded.
• 1735 - Evening Post begins publishing (Boston, Mass).
• 1872 - Aaron Montgomery Ward issues the first “catalog” for his mail-order business, it is one sheet listing 163 available items.

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.