A M-W-F digest, replete with #Cubs, #MLB, and #MiLB content, gathered from reputable sources. Not the best day historically for playoff Cubs teams. Happy birthday to Jose Cardenal and many others.
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:
- 1919 – Dickie Kerr of the Chicago White Sox overcomes errors by Swede Risberg and Happy Felsch to win Game 6 of the World Series, 5-4, over the Cincinnati Reds. Buck Weaver and Shoeless Joe Jackson combine for seven hits, and Chick Gandil, another one of the eight “Black Sox”, singles in the winning run in the 10th inning. Kerr wins his second game as the Sox now trail the best-of-nine Series by a 4-2 margin. (2)
- 1933 – Flags are at half staff for Game 5 to honor William L. Veeck, Chicago Cubs president, who died suddenly. On the field, the World Series comes to a close when Mel Ott hits a home run in the 10th inning for a 4-3 New York Giants victory over the Washington Senators. (1,2)
- 1935 – Goose Goslin of the Detroit Tigers drives in Mickey Cochrane to win the World Series. With two outs in the bottom of the 9th inning, Goslin’s hit gives the Tigers a 4-3 win over the Chicago Cubs. (2)
- 1945 – 1945 – Hank Greenberg hits three doubles to lead the Detroit Tigers to an 8-4 victory over the Chicago Cubs, giving the Tigers a 3-2 lead in the World Series. (2)
- 1984 – The San Diego Padres win the National League pennant with a 6-3 victory over the Chicago Cubs in the final game of the NLCS. The Padres win three straight after dropping the first two at Wrigley Field. (1,2)
- 2015 – The Cubs defeat the Pirates, 4-0, in the Wild Card Game thanks to a four-hit shutout by Jake Arrieta and homers by Kyle Schwarber and Dexter Fowler off Gerrit Cole. The Bucs are out of the postseason after a 98-win season.
- 2017 – In Game 2 of the NLDS, Chicago has a 3-1 lead heading into the bottom of the eighth, thanks to a solo homer by Willson Contreras and a two-run shot by Anthony Rizzo, both off Gio Gonzalez, but Washington explodes for five runs against Carl Edwards and Mike Montgomery to take a 6-3 win and even the series at one apiece. In the fateful inning, Bryce Harper hits a two-run shot and Ryan Zimmerman another good for three runs as all the scoring comes on long balls (Anthony Rendon had homered in the first for Washington’s other run). (2)
Cubs Birthdays: Frank Donnelly, Ernie Ovitz, Fred Fussell, Chuck Klein HOF, Frank Baumholtz, Red Adams, Grady Hatton, Sammy Drake, Morrie Steevens, José Cardenal*, Adrian Sampson, Kohl Stewart.
Today in History:
- 1542 – Explorer Juan Rodríguez Cabrillo, on a voyage for Spain, is the first European to discover Catalina Island off the coast of California.
- 1868 – Cornell University (Ithaca, NY) opens.
- 1953 – Bill Veeck tells St. Louis Browns stockholders he faces bankruptcy unless they drop their suit to block his move to Baltimore, and they comply.
- 1984 – Walter Payton passes Jim Brown as the NFL’s career rushing leader.
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.