Baseball history unpacked, June 24

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.

“Maybe I called it wrong, but it’s official.” — Tom Connolly.

Today in baseball history:

• 1894 - The Chicago Colts score five runs in the top of the 9th to take the lead over Baltimore, but the National League leaders respond with three runs in the bottom of the inning to claim an 11-10 win. (2)
• 1901 - The Chicago Orphans lose, 2-1, to Brooklyn when Bill Dahlen hits a sacrifice fly to bring home Brooklyn’s Wee Willie Keeler. Brooklyn C Deacon McGuire throws out five Chicago runners. (2)
• 1905 - Chicago Cubs rookie right-hander Ed Reulbach wins an 18-inning marathon duel with the Cards’ Jack Taylor, 2-1, in St. Louis. First baseman Frank Chance has 27 putouts and two assists for Chicago. (2)
• 1910 - In eight innings in the field at Pittsburgh, Cubs 1B Solly Hofman sets a National League record with no putouts. His only assist opportunity is fumbled for an error as Chicago loses, 6-5. (2)
• 1972 - Culminating a long battle to reach pro baseball, Bernice Gera umpires the first game of a doubleheader between Auburn and Geneva (New York-Penn League). Several disputes take place and she ejects the Auburn manager, Nolan Campbell. Gera resigns before the second game, leaving in tears, saying resentment from the other umps was a factor in her decision. She will later work in the Mets’ public relations department. (1,2)
• 1992 - Yankees P Steve Howe is permanently banned from baseball by Commissioner Fay Vincent after having pled guilty to a misdemeanor charge of attempting to purchase a gram of cocaine. It is Howe’s seventh suspension from the game, as he becomes the first player ever permanently banned from baseball because of drugs; the ban will later be rescinded. (1,2)
• 1997 - Randy Johnson ties Steve Carlton’s major-league record for lefthanders with 19 strikeouts against the Oakland A’s. He breaks Ron Guidry’s A.L. mark for lefties, but like Carlton, Johnson takes the loss in his 19-K game. Mark McGwire’s 538-foot home run powers Oakland to a 4-1 victory.
• 2021 - Four Cubs pitchers combine on the seventh no-hitter of the season, one shy of the all-time record, in a 4-0 win over the Dodgers. Zach Davies pitches the first six innings, then Ryan Tepera, Andrew Chafin and Craig Kimbrel add one inning each to complete the feat. The Cubs issue eight walks in the game, with each of the four pitchers allowing at least one. (2)

Cubs Birthdays: Jake Stenzel, Jack Katoll, Bill Hanlon, Rollie Hemsley, Ken Reitz, Doug Jones, Christopher Morel*.

Today in History:

• 451 - 10th recorded perihelion passage of Halley’s Comet.
• 1314 - Battle of Bannockburn; Scotland regains independence from England.
• 1374 - Sudden outbreak of St. John’s Dance causes people in the streets of Aachen, Germany, to experience hallucinations and begin to jump and twitch uncontrollably until they collapse from exhaustion.
• 1497 - John Cabot claims parts of North America (what is now Eastern Canada) for England believing he has found Asia in Newfoundland.
• 1527 - Paracelsus publicly burns standard medical textbooks at the University of Basel, as a protest against the current teaching and practice of medicine.
• 1692 - Kingston, Jamaica, founded after Port Royal at mouth of the harbour destroyed by an earthquake.
• 1853 - US President Franklin Pierce signs the Gadsden Purchase, buying 29,670 square-miles (76,800 square km) from Mexico for $10 million (now southern Arizona and New Mexico).
• 1922 - Charter NFL club Chicago Staleys renamed Chicago Bears by team founder, owner and head coach George Halas.

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. We are trying to set the record as straight as possible. But it isn’t brain surgery.

Also, the ‘history’ segment is highly edited for space and interest. Of course a great many other things happened on those days. We try to follow up on the interesting or unfamiliar ones.

And everything is subject to editorial oui.

Thanks for reading