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Happy birthday to Christian Bethancourt, and a mighty host of others.
Today in baseball history, in 1965 – The Cubs beat St. Louis, 5-3, at Wrigley Field, as Ernie Banks hits his 400th home run, a three-run shot off Curt Simmons in the third. Simmons teed up the 400th home run of Willie Mays in 1963. Banks will end the season with 28 home runs and 106 RBI. Ron Santo and Billy Williams will also knock in over 100 runs, the only team with three such sluggers,
but the Cubs will still finish in eighth place; and 1972 – Milt Pappas of the Cubs hurls a no-hit game in beating the Padres, 8-0. Pappas has a perfect game until pinch-hitter Larry Stahl walks with two outs in the 9th inning. Pappas and C Randy Hundley both say of the pitches to Stahl, “They were so close I don’t know how Stahl could take them, but they were balls.” Pappas later comments on the plate umpire: “he had a chance to become famous as the umpire in the twelfth perfect game in history, but he blew it.” Pappas retires former Cub Garry Jestadt to finish the game, and other stories as well.
Today in baseball history:
- 1889 – In the afternoon game of a Labor Day doubleheader in Boston, Hardy Richardson hits a leadoff homer and P John Clarkson (36-13) makes it stand up for a 1-0 win.
- 1912 – At Boston, Christy Mathewson wins both games for the Giants in a 5-2 and 6-1 sweep of the Braves. In the opener, Matty relieves Rube Marquard in the ninth with the score at 2-2 and tosses three shutout innings. Larry Doyle ends it with a three-run homer in the 12th. Matty coasts to his 19th win in the nitecap after the Giants chase Ed Doheny with five runs in the third.
- 1932 – The Yankees keep their scoring streak alive by scoring in the bottom of the ninth to beat the Senators, 1 – 0. Lou Gehrig triples off Firpo Marberry to score Babe Ruth.
- 1955 – Whitey Ford throws six innings of no-hit ball against Washington before Carlos Paula spoils it in the seventh with Washington’s only hit. The Yanks win, 4-2, as Mantle hits his 36th home run, a three-run shot. Mantle is ten homers ahead of rivals Al Kaline and Ted Williams.
- 1958 – At Yankee Stadium, New York snaps a scoreless tie with Boston when Yogi Berra and Mickey Mantle crash back-to-back sixth-inning homers off Dave Sisler. New York wins, 6-1. Mantle and Berra will hit back-to-back homers 12 times together, and homer in the same game 50 times before they are through.
- 1962 – Stan Musial‘s 3,516th hit jumps him over Tris Speaker and into second place behind Ty Cobb on the all-time list, but the Mets beat the Cards, 4-3. Although The Man will continue on to 3,630 hits, he cannot overtake Cobb and, in time, Pete Rose and Hank Aaron will surpass him.
- 1966 – Phillies ace Jim Bunning continues his whammy over the Mets by shutting them out, 6-0. It’s Bunning’s eighth complete game in as many starts against them, and his fifth shutout.
- 1966 – The Pirates behind Bob Veale take over first place by topping Fergie Jenkins and the Cubs, 7-5, on Roberto Clemente‘s opposite-field upper deck home run. Besides being his 2,000th career hit, Clemente’s homer is his 23rd this season, tying his career high (he’ll end with 29), and gives him 101 RBI for the year, the first time he’s topped 100.
- 1999 – Setting off a very enthusiastic ovation at Camden Yards, Cal Ripken, Jr. becomes the 29th major leaguer to hit 400 career home runs.
- 2001 – With two outs and two strikes, Red Sox pinch hitter Carl Everett singles in the bottom of the ninth to break up Mike Mussina‘s bid for a perfect game. The Yankee right-hander beats Boston, 1-0, for his fourth career one-hitter.
- 2011 – The Giants begin a key series with the Diamondbacks with a 6-2 victory. Carlos Beltran goes 4 for 4 with a homer.
- 2020 – The family of Hall of Famer Tom Seaver announces that he has passed away on August 31st at 75, after suffering from Lewy body dementia for some time, a condition aggravated by COVID-19. One of the greatest pitchers of all time, he remains the biggest icon in the history of the New York Mets.
Today in Cubs history:
- 1921 – In Cincinnati, the Cubs’ Grover Alexander outpitches his former teammate Eppa Rixey to win, 7-0. Chicago is mired in seventh place.
- 1926 – In the first game of a twinbill between Chicago and St. Louis, Grover Alexander exacts revenge on the Cubs, whipping them, 2-0. Charlie Root is the loser. The Cards take the nightcap, 9-1.
- 1929 – The Cubs beat the Cards twice, 11-7 and 12-10, before 81,000 fans at Wrigley Field. A crowd of 38,000 sees the morning game and 43,000 watch the afternoon game. Rogers Hornsby has two home runs and Hack Wilson has one.
- 1932 – In St. Louis, the Cubs’ win streak reaches 13 as Kiki Cuyler‘s fifth homer in six games leads the way to an 8 – 5 victory. Mark Koenig adds a round-tripper for Chicago.
- 1935 – With the Cubs splitting two with the seventh-place Reds at Wrigley Field, Chicago is just two and a half games back of the Cards. Chicago wins, 3-1, in the opener as Lon Warneke tops Tony Freitas, then lose, 4 – 2, to Gene Schott. Bill Lee takes the loss.
- 1950 – Phil Cavarretta leads off the ninth with a single, the Cubs’ lone hit against the Reds’ Ewell Blackwell. The Whip strikes out ten in winning, 5-1.
- 1955 – Cubs star Ernie Banks sets the record for home runs hit by a shortstop by hitting his 40th dinger in a 12-2 rout of the Cardinals. ‘Mr. Cub’ will extend the record finishing this season with 44 and will hit 48 in 1958.
- 2002 – The Cubs beat the Brewers, 17-4, to salvage a split in their doubleheader after Milwaukee takes the opener by a score of 4-2 on solo homers by Ron Belliard (2), Eric Young and Jose Hernandez. Glendon Rusch wins his eighth straight over the Cubs. Chicago P Kerry Wood ties a major-league record in the second game by fanning four Brewers in the fourth inning.
Cubs Birthdays: Christian Bethancourt*, Jason Hammel, Gordon Massa, Len Rice, Al Spalding HOF.
Today in history:
- 44 BC – Queen Cleopatra VII of Egypt declares her son Caesarion co-ruler as Ptolemy XV Caesar.
- 31 BC – Battle of Actium: Octavian‘s (later Augustus) naval forces defeat those under Mark Antony and Cleopatra off the western coast of Greece; naval battle leading to the end of the Roman Republic.
- 1642 – English Long Parliament issues Ordinance ordering closure of London theatres including the Globe theatre, once part-owned by William Shakespeare.
- 1666 – Great Fire of London begins at 2am in Pudding Lane, 80% of London is destroyed.
- 1864 – US Civil War: Union General William T. Sherman captures and occupies Atlanta, Georgia, ending the Atlanta Campaign in the US Civil War.
- 1901 – Theodore Roosevelt advises “Speak softly and carry a big stick; you will go far” in an address to the Minnesota State Fair, entitled “National Duties”.
- 1960 – American sprinter Wilma Rudolph wins the coveted 100m gold medal at the Rome Olympics in 11.0; beats Britain’s Dorothy Hyman by 0.3. It’s the first of three gold medals for Rudolph.
- 1969 – The first automated teller machine in the United States is installed in Rockville Centre, New York.
Today in music history:
- 1972 – Rod Stewart‘s first No. 1 hit single in the UK, “You Wear It Well”.
- 1991 – “Ropin’ the Wind,” the third studio album by Garth Brooks is released (Billboard Album of the Year 1992).
- 2023 – American rock band Aerosmith kicks off “Peace Out: The Farewell Tour” with concert at the Wells Fargo Center in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
*pictured.
