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Happy birthday to Dutch Zwilling, and a mighty host of others.
Today in baseball history, in 2016 – The Cubs win their first World Series title in 108 years by defeating Cleveland, 8-7, in Game 7, making up a three-games-to-one deficit in the process as it’s a great day for teams with ursine names. It’s an epic ballgame worthy of the high stakes, as Dexter Fowler hits a lead-off homer off Corey Kluber, but the Indians manage to tie the score in the third. In the fourth,
the Cubs score twice, including one run on a daring rush to the plate by Kris Bryant on a fly ball to CF Rajai Davis that travels perhaps 150 feet. Javier Baez and David Ross also homer for Chicago as the Cubs build up their lead, but Cleveland scores two runs on a wild pitch by Jon Lester in the sixth, then trailing 6-4 with two outs in the eighth, Davis homers off Aroldis Chapman to tie the game again. Play is stopped briefly by rain after the ninth inning, but in the 10th, Ben Zobrist, who is named World Series MVP, puts the Cubs ahead with a double and Miguel Montero adds an insurance run with a single, a run which proves important as the Indians manage to score once in the bottom of the 10th before Mike Montgomery retires Michael Martinez on a grounder to third to clinch the title. Cleveland now takes over as owners of the longest championship drought in the majors, their last title having come in 1948, and other stories as well.
Al will have more on the 10th anniversary of the 2016 World Series win coming up at 9 a.m. CT.
Today in baseball history:
- 1899 – Henry Chadwick, called the “Father of Baseball”, visits US President William McKinley in Washington, DC, to propose that Army regiments be provided with baseball equipment. This is Chadwick’s first presidential interview since his visit with President Abraham Lincoln in 1861.
- 1937 – American League batting champ Charlie Gehringer of the Detroit Tigers is named Most Valuable Player, receiving 78 out of a possible 80 points. The New York Yankees’ Joe DiMaggio is a close second, four points behind.
- 1938 – Boston Red Sox first baseman Jimmie Foxx is voted Most Valuable Player of the American League for the third time, with Yankees catcher Bill Dickey second in the voting.
- 1960 – New York Yankees outfielder Roger Maris defeats teammate Mickey Mantle for the American League MVP Award, 225-222, the second-closest vote ever, behind Joe DiMaggio and Ted Williams‘ race in 1947.
- 1972 – Philadelphia Phillies pitcher Steve Carlton is unanimously selected the National League Cy Young Award winner. Carlton won 27 games for the Phillies, who as a team won only 57 games overall.
- 1974 – The Atlanta Braves trade Hank Aaron to the Milwaukee Brewers for outfielder Dave May and minor league pitcher Roger Alexander (as a player to be named later). Aaron will finish his major league career in Milwaukee, where he started it with the Braves in 1954.
- 1977 – Philadelphia Phillies pitcher Steve Carlton outpoints Tommy John of the Dodgers to win his second Cy Young Award. Carlton led the National League with 23 wins and posted a 2.64 ERA.
- 2021 – The Braves are World Series champions after defeating the Astros, 7-0, in Game 6 at Minute Maid Park. They take a 3-0 lead on Jorge Soler‘s homer off Luis Garcia in the third, and never look back as Dansby Swanson and Freddie Freeman also go deep to build the lead and Max Fried tosses six shutout innings. Soler, who homered three times in the six games, all at key moments, is the winner of the World Series MVP Award.
- 2022 – Four pitchers for the Astros combine to throw a no-hitter against the Phillies in Game 4 of the World Series. Cristian Javier starts things off with six hitless innings, before Bryan Abreu, Rafael Montero and Ryan Pressly throw one inning each to complete the 5-0 win that ties the series at two wins apiece.
Today in Cubs history:
- 2000 – Wrigley Field has been granted preliminary landmark status by the Commission on Chicago Landmarks. Any plans to refurbish or tear down the Chicago Cubs‘ home since 1916 will have to be reviewed by this panel.
- 2004 – After a groundskeeper finds a grenade in the Wrigley Field turf, police bomb and arson investigators are called to evaluate the discovery. The rusty, hollowed-out shell turns out to be harmless and its origins remain a mystery.
- 2011 – In one of the first moves of the new management team led by team President Theo Epstein, the Cubs fire manager Mike Quade. The long-time coach and minor league manager found success as Lou Piniella‘s interim replacement at the end of the 2010 season, but 2011 was another story, as the Cubs finished fifth in the NL Central, 20 games below .500.
- 2025 – Winners of the Gold Glove Award in the major leagues are announced. Both winners in left field, Steven Kwan and Ian Happ, do so for the fourth straight year, while there are nine first-time winners.
Cubs Birthdays: Orlando Merced, Bill Connors, Jesse Flores, Johnny Vander Meer, Dutch Zwilling, Clem Clemens, Otto Williams
Today in history:
- 1886 – German patent granted to inventor Carl Benz for “vehicle with gas engine operation”, the first automobile.
- 1903 – British newspaper “Daily Mirror” begins publishing.
- 1907 – US banker J. P. Morgan locks over 40 bankers in his library to force them to find ways to avert New York banking crisis.
- 1917 – In WWI the 1st US soldiers are killed in combat: James Gresham, Thomas Enright and Merle Hay.
- 1947 – After just 6 games of the season, Chicago Blackhawks trade NHL scoring leader Max Bentley along with Cy Thomas to Toronto Maple Leafs for Gus Bodnar, Bud Poile, Gaye Stewart, Bob Goldham, and Ernie Dickens.
- 1947 – Howard Hughes flies the “Spruce Goose,” a huge wooden airplane, for the first and only time, reaching a height of 70 feet before landing back on the water.
- 1983 – “Thriller” single released worldwide by Michael Jackson.
- 2008 – British McLaren driver Lewis Hamilton finishes fourth in season-ending Brazilian Grand Prix at Autódromo José Carlos Pace to clinch his first F1 World Drivers Championship by 1 point from Felipe Massa.
- 2020 – Baby Shark by Pinkfong becomes the most-watched video on YouTube with over 7.04 billion views.
Today in Presidental history:
- 1783 – General George Washington, later first US President, bids farewell to his army after the American Revolutionary War.
- 1852 – Democrat Franklin Pierce elected 14th President of the United States.
- 1880 – James A. Garfield (R) elected 20th President of the United States.
- 1920 – Warren G. Harding is elected President of the United States, defeating Democratic candidate James M. Cox.
- 1948 – US President Harry Truman is re-elected in an upset victory over Republican candidate Thomas E. Dewey.
- 1976 – Democratic candidate Jimmy Carter is elected President of the United States, defeating incumbent Republican President Gerald Ford; Walter Mondale elected vice president.
- 2004 – George W. Bush is re-elected as President of the United States, defeating Democratic candidate John Kerry.
*pictured.
