Baseball history unpacked, August 23

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:

• 1909 - It’s a day for thievery as the Cubs steal home three times in a game at Boston, tying a major league mark. They waste no time, as Johnny Evers and Del Howard do it in the 1st inning, and Solly Hofman in the 2nd. Chicago wins, 11-6. (2)
• 1929 - The Cubs buy Lon Warneke, 20, from Alexandria (Cotton States League) for $100. (2)
• 1932 - The Cubs have only one assist in a 5-1 win, sweeping the Phillies in four straight. The fielding mark equals the major-league record. (2)
• 1942 - Walter Johnson pitching to Babe Ruth is the pregame attraction that draws 69,000 for the New York-Washington game at Yankee Stadium that provides $80,000 for Army-Navy relief. Ruth hits the fifth pitch into the right-field stands, and then adds one more shot before circling the bases. (1,2)
• 1952 - At the Polo Grounds, in a Cardinals win over the Giants, New York third baseman Bob Elliott is thrown out of the game for protesting a second strike call by Jocko Conlan. Bobby Hofman replaces Elliott, takes a third strike, and is also thumbed for not liking the umpiring.(1,2)
• 1964 - Mets pitcher Willard Hunter picks up half his career wins (4) today as New York sweeps the Cubs, 2-1, in 10 innings, and 5-4 in the nitecap. No one has ever won a pair more efficiently as he totals 1⅔ innings of work. Bob Buhl and Don Elston pick up the losses. The Cubs lose Ernie Broglio, who woke up with a locked elbow and will need surgery to repair the ulnar lateral ligament damage in his elbow. He’ll be 1-6 in 1965. (2)
• 1975 - Champ Summers and Rick Monday hit pinch home runs for the Cubs, but the Astros win the game, 14-12. (2)
• 1980 - Oakland A’s owner Charlie Finley sells the club for $12.7 million to the Haas family of San Francisco, owners of the Levi Strauss clothing empire, thus keeping the team in Oakland. (1)
• 1982 - Gaylord Perry of the Mariners is ejected from the game for applying a foreign substance to the ball. Although the right-hander has been suspected for years of loading up the baseball, it is the first time he has been caught by the umpires. (1,2)
• 1983 - At Wrigley Field, Reds rookie Jeff Russell beats Fergie Jenkins and the Cubs, 4-2. Russell adds his only career home run. Dave Concepcion is called out on a steal attempt, and then is tossed out for arguing with umpire Dave Pallone. He also gets suspended for three days for allegedly spitting on Pallone during the argument. (2)
• 1992 - There were no hits in Clearwater’s 1-0 victory over Winter Haven in the Single-A Florida State League. In what appeared to be the first professional game in 40 years without a hit, Andy Carter and the Clearwater Phillies beat Scott Bakkum and the Winter Haven Red Sox. The only run scored in the seventh inning on a pair of walks and a pair of sacrifice bunts. (1)
• 2011 - The Braves ride a five-run fifth inning, highlighted by Jason Heyward’s first career grand slam, to a 5-4 win over the Cubs. Craig Kimbrel ties the major league rookie record for saves, set last season by Neftali Feliz, by notching his 40th. Aramis Ramirez has the first five-hit game of his career in a losing effort. (2)

Cubs birthdays: Fred Andrus, Red Downs, Roy Leslie, Guy Bush, Lonny Frey, Danny Murphy, Al Montreuil, Jerry White, Mark Bellhorn*, Cole Liniak. Also notable: George Davis HOF, George Kell HOF.

Today in history:

• 1305 - Scottish patriot William Wallace is executed for high treason by Edward I of England at Smithfield, London.
• 1500 - Governor Francisco de Bobadilla arrives in the Indies, soon after arrests and sends former Governor Christopher Columbus back to Spain in chains.
• 1793 - French Revolution: The National Convention adopts the levée en masse, conscripting all able-bodied men between 18 and 25 for military service during the French Revolutionary Wars.
• 1839 - British capture Hong Kong from China.
• 2019 - Russia launches the 1st floating nuclear power station the Akademik Lomonosov from port of Murmansk.

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.