What is the story about?
The Chicago Fire* 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. Here’s a handy Cubs timeline, to help you follow the various narrative paths.
“Maybe I called it wrong, but it’s official.” — Tom Connolly, HoF Umpire.
Today in baseball history:
- 1871 – A great fire rips through Chicago, IL, destroying the home ballpark of the White Stockings, as well as its uniforms, record books, equipment and cash, and clothing and personal property belonging to its players. The team is forced to release a number of its players and to finish its season on the road, and will only return to the National Association in 1874. (2)
- 1908 – Later admitting he had nothing on the ball, Christy Mathewson loses to the Cubs 4-2 in the playoff replay of the disputed game on September 23. Three Finger Brown, relieving Jack Pfiester in the first, gets the win. (1,2)
- 1919 – Ed Cicotte pitches Game 7 of the World Series, and the Chicago White Sox play like they mean it. Joe Jackson and Happy Felsch drive in two runs each for a 4-1 win to cut the Cincinnati Reds’ lead to four games to three in the best-of-nine Series. According to evidence later made public, gamblers who have wagered a lot of money on the Reds on the understanding that the White Sox would throw the series, are getting nervous, and will make threats on tomorrow’s pitcher, Lefty Williams, to ensure the series end as they expect. (1,2)
- 1929 – Howard Ehmke, a surprise starter for the Philadelphia Athletics, struck out 13 Chicago Cubs to win the opening game of the World Series 3-1. (1,2)
- 1945 – Stan Hack‘s double takes a tricky bounce over left fielder Hank Greenberg‘s shoulder with two outs in the 12th inning to score runner Bill Schuster and give the Chicago Cubs an 8-7 win in Game 6 to even the World Series with Detroit. (1,2)
- 1956 – Don Larsen of the New York Yankees pitched the only perfect game in World Series history for a 2-0 triumph over the Brooklyn Dodgers. Sal Maglie, the opposing pitcher, gave up five hits. (1,2)
- 2016 – The Cubs win Game 2 of the NLDS, 5-2, over the Giants at Wrigley Field by jumping on starter Jeff Samardzija for four runs over the first two innings. Starter Kyle Hendricks has to leave in the fourth after being hit on the forearm by a batted ball, but his successor, Travis Wood, becomes only the second relief pitcher in postseason history to hit a home run, after Rosy Ryan in the 1924 World Series, going deep off George Kontos in the bottom of the fourth. (2)
Cubs Birthdays: George Metkovich, Rick Stelmaszek, Mike Morgan, Sandy Martínez.
Today in History:
- 1480 – Great Stand on the Ugra River: Standoff between forces of Akhmat Khan, Khan of the Great Horde, and Ivan III, Grand Prince of all Rus, ends with a Tatar-Mongol retreat, leading to the disintegration of the Horde.
- 1769 – Captain James Cook lands in New Zealand for the first time near present-day Gisborne on the East Coast of the North Island.
- 1945 – The microwave oven is patented by US inventor Percy Spencer.
- 1988 – Finishing a 741-week stay, Pink Floyd’s album “The Dark Side of the Moon” makes its final appearance (of its initial run) on the Billboard 200 Albums chart.
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.
- (6) — Wikipedia.
- (7) — The British Museum
- For world history.
*pictured.
Things are as near to the truth
as we can get them. Some of these items spread from site to site without being fact-checked, and that is why we ask for verifiable sources, so that we can help update the records and have documentation.
Do you find this article useful?
