A M-W-F digest, replete with #Cubs, #MLB, and #MiLB content, gathered from reputable sources. David Ross is signed, Rick Sutcliffe lets out a Cy, and other stories.
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:
- 1910 – Philadelphia Athletics pitcher Jack Coombs wins his third game of the World Series, beating the Chicago Cubs, 7-2, as the Athletics take the championship in five games. Eddie Collins helps Coombs with three hits, including two doubles. (1,2)
- 1920 – The Chicago grand jury indictment adds the names of former featherweight boxing champ Abe Attell, Hal Chase, and Bill Burns as go-betweens in the 1919 World Series scandal. Ed Cicotte, Joe Jackson, Lefty Williams and Happy Felsch sign confessions, which they later recant. (1,3)
- 1935 – Gabby Hartnett is selected by the Baseball Writers Association of America as the National League MVP, with Dizzy Dean the runner-up. (1,2)
- 1974 – The Cubs trade sweet-swinging Billy Williams, a fixture at Wrigley Field for 16 years, to the Oakland Athletics for second baseman Manny Trillo and pitchers Darold Knowles and Bob Locker. (1,2)
- 1984 – Rick Sutcliffe, who was 16-1 for the Cubs after arriving from Cleveland two days before the June 15 trading deadline, is a unanimous choice as National League Cy Young Award winner. (1,2)
- 1993 – In one of the most dramatic endings in World Series history, Joe Carter hits a three-run, 9th-inning home run off Mitch Williams for an 8-6 win and Toronto’s second straight World Championship. Paul Molitor, who hits .500 (12 for 24), is named Series MVP while Lenny Dykstra of the Phillies, who hit .348 with four home runs, did everything except pitch. Following the 2010 season, a panel of experts at the MLB Network will vote this game the 14th greatest of the past fifty years. (1,2)
- 2019 – The Cubs hire former C David Ross*, one of the heroes of their conquest of a World Series title in 2016, to succeed Joe Maddon as the team’s manager. (2)
Cubs Birthdays: Mike Sullivan, Solly Drake, John Lackey, Félix Doubront. Also notable: Jim Bunning HOF.
Today in History:
- 42 BC – Roman Republican civil wars: Second Battle of Philippi – Brutus’s army is decisively defeated by Mark Antony and Octavian. Brutus commits suicide.
- 425 – Valentinian III is elevated to Roman Emperor, at the age of 6.
- 1520 – Holy Roman Emperor Charles V in crowned King of Germany.
- 1915 – An estimated 25,000 supporters in a women’s suffrage march on New York’s Fifth Ave, led by Dr. Anna Shaw and Carrie Chapman Catt, founder of the League of Women Voters.
- 1964 – Future undisputed world heavyweight boxing champion Joe Frazier dominates German Hans Huber for an easy points win and the Olympic heavyweight gold medal in Tokyo.
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.
Thanks for reading.