Baseball history unpacked, August 30

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:

• 1905 - Making his major league debut, Ty Cobb doubles off Highlander Jack Chesbro in a 5-3 Tiger victory at Detroit’s Bennett Park. The double is the first of his 4,189 hits, a record topped by Pete Rose in 1985. (1,2)
• 1906 - Righthander Slow Joe Doyle of the Highlanders becomes the first 20th century player to start out with two shutouts when he beats the Washington Nationals, 5-0. Of his 23 lifetime victories, seven will be shutouts. He is nicknamed “Slow” because of his time-consuming pace on the mound. The Yanks take the nightcap as well, 9-8, to begin a sweep of five doubleheaders in six days. They’ll outscore their opponents 76-31. (1,2)
• 1912 - At Detroit’s Navin Field, Browns hurler Earl Hamilton no-hits the Tigers, 5-1. (1,2)
• 1915 - Three-time 20-game winner Larry Cheney is traded by the Cubs to Brooklyn for OF Joe Schultz.
• 1916 - Dutch Leonard of the Red Sox no-hits the Browns at Fenway Park, 4-0.
• 1929 - At Pittsburgh, Pie Traynor is 5 for 5 to lead a 21-hit attack that sinks the Cubs, 15-0. It is the Pirates’ fourth win over the Cubs in three days. (2)
• 1930 - Hack Wilson returns to the Cubs lineup and drives in six runs on his 45th and 46th homers of the year to lead Chicago over the Cardinals, 16-4. For August, Hack hits 13 homers and drives in 53 runs. (2)
• 1945 - Stan Hack of the Cubs becomes No. 82 in the 2,000-hit club when he collects a 1st-inning single off Pirate pitcher Preacher Roe. Earlier in the season the Senators’ Joe Kuhel and Red Sox OF Bob Johnson made the list. Hack scores after his safety, but the Pirates win, 6-4, over the first-place Cubs. (2)
• 1986 - Tommy John, 43, and Joe Niekro, 41, pitched a doubleheader for the New York Yankees against Seattle to become the first 40-plus teammate combo to start a doubleheader since Sept. 13, 1933, when the Chicago Cubs’ Sam Jones, 41, and Red Faber, 44, pitched against the Philadelphia Athletics. John lost the opener and Niekro won the second game, 3-0.
• 1988 - At Chicago, the Pirates nip the Cubs, 10-9, in 10 innings. Scott Medvin is the winner over Rich Gossage. (2)
• 1992 - Cubs rookie P Jim Bullinger tosses a one-hitter against the Giants in his third big league start, defeating San Francisco, 3-1. The only hit he allows is Kirt Manwaring’s home run in the eighth inning. (2)
• 2001 - 3B Bill Mueller’s walk-off home run gives the Cubs a 5-4 victory over the Marlins. 1B Fred McGriff hits a three-run home run as he reaches 80 RBIs for the 14th straight season, becoming only the second player in major league history to do so. Hank Aaron holds the record with 17 straight years. (2)
• 2010 - Carlos Zambrano becomes the first major league pitcher to homer in eight straight seasons since Gary Peters (1963-1971), launching one in a 14-2 Cubs rout of Pittsburgh. (2)
• 2020 - For the first time in major league history, all three of a team’s starting outfielders homer twice as the Cubs defeat the Reds, 10-1. Ian Happ, Kyle Schwarber and Jason Heyward are the record-setting flychasers. (2)

Cubs birthdays: Cal McVey, Tom Seaton, Kiki Cuyler HOF, Carmen Fanzone*, Marlon Byrd, Todd Wellemeyer, Sean Marshall. Also notable: Ted Williams HOF.

Today in history:

• 1146 - European leaders outlaw the crossbow, intending to end war for all time.
• 1682 - William Penn leaves England to sail to the New World.
• 1836 - The city of Houston is founded by Augustus Chapman Allen and John Kirby Allen.
• 1957 - US senator Strom Thurmond speaks 24 hours, 27 minutes against civil rights.
• 1967 - US Senate confirm Thurgood Marshall as the 1st black justice to serve on the Supreme Court.

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.