otd-in-cubs-history

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June 26, 2012

#OnThisDay in @chicagocubs history ▸ after being called up from Iowa, Anthony Rizzo makes his debut with the Cubs, going 2-for-4 with a single and an RBI double, in a 5-3 win over the @mets.

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June 14, 2019

#OnThisDay in @chicagocubs history ▸ The @ladodgers closer Kenley Jansen intentionally balks to move Jason Heyward from second base to third so JeyHey can’t steal the Dodgers signs...

The unorthodox move works for Jansen and the Dodgers, as they go on to win the game 5-3.

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July 24, 2020

#OnThisDay in @chicagocubs history ▸ After being delayed for nearly 4 months by COVID-19 concerns, the Cubs hand the @brewers a 3-0 #OpeningDay loss.  Starting pitcher Kyle Hendricks becomes the first Cubs starter to throw an opening day shutout since Bill Bonham blanked the Philadelphia @phillies 2-0 on April 9, 1974.

Hendrick’s also became the first pitcher to throw a complete game shutout with 9+ strikeouts, 0 walks and 3 or fewer hits allowed on opening day since Ledell Titcomb did so for the @sfgiants (née New York Giants) on April 20, 1888.

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June 23, 2019

#OnThisDay in @chicagocubs history ▸ Cubs shortstop Javier Baez hits his 100th career home run, a 3 run dinger off of @mets pitcher Seth Lugo. The blast gives his team a 5-3 lead, and the margin of victory, on the 35th anniversary of “The Sandberg Game”.

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May 29, 2013

#OnThisDay in @chicagocubs history ▸ Cubs’ backstop Dioner Navarro hit, not 1..., not 2..., but  3 dingers against the White Sox, ending the day 3-3 with 4 runs scored and 6 RBIs. Navarro only spent one year with the Cubs, but on this day he provided the margin of victory as the Cubs beat the Sox 9-3.

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October 25, 1973

#OnThisDay in @chicagocubs  Following a string of good seasons from 1967-1972, followed by a lackluster 77-84 1973 campaign, the Cubs decide to rebuild.  The first player to go is six-time 20-game winner Ferguson Jenkins. He is traded to the @texasrangers for utility player Vic Harris and rookie third baseman Bill Madlock. 

As trades go, it worked out well for both teams, Madlock ended up winning two batting titles during his three-year tenure in Chicago, while Fergie continued his winning ways with Texas, posting a 25-12 (.676) record in the first year with Texas and averaging 15.5 victories a season in his six-year stay in the Lone Star State.

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October 22, 1910

#OnThisDay in @chicagocubs history ▸ Trailing 3 games to none, the Cubs rally scoring a run in the 9th inning to tie, and then win game four in the 10th 4-3. Cubs’ left fielder Jimmy Sheckard’s two-out RBI single, scoring Jimmy Archer, proves to be the lone Cubs’ highlight of the 1910 series, as the Philadelphia As (now @oaklandathletics) easily take the Fall Classic in five games.

image credit: Helmar Sports Cards and Baseball History ▸ pictured in the image (left to right): Frank Chance, Eddie Plank, Mordecai Brown, Harry Davis, Jimmy Sheckard, and Jimmy Archer

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October 19, 2010

#OnThisDay in @chicagocubs history ▸ The Cubs select Evanston native Mike Quade, Lou Piniella's interim replacement who guided the team to a 24-13 record during the last six weeks of the 2010 season, as the franchise's newest manager. 

Triple-A Iowa skipper and a Hall of Fame icon Ryne Sandberg, a finalist in the selection process, was thought to be the front-runner for the position.

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October 13, 2015

#OnThisDay in @chicagocubs history ▸ Cubs’ announcer Pat Hughes delivers one of his best calls as the Cubs eliminate the @stlcardinals 6-4 in game four of the NLDS and move on to the 2015 NLCS.

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September 27, 1961

#OnThisDay in @chicagocubs history ▸ Cubs’ outfielder Danny Murphy becomes the youngest player ever to record an @mlb multi-homer game, and helps lead the Cubs to a 5-2 win over the visiting @stlcardinals​.

Murphy was 19 years, 35 days old when he hit first and third inning solo shots off of Redbirds’ starter Larry Jackson (another Cubs rookie, Ken Hobbs added a homer and a triple in that game).  Murphy had no homers and only 35 at-bats for the 1962 Cubs. His career stalled in the minors before reinventing himself as a reliever and making it back to the majors with the White Sox, pitching in 68 games during the 1969-70 seasons and posting a 4.66 ERA for the pale hose.

Ron Santo (right) shows Danny Murphy the spot on his bat that drove his first major league home run into the stands in 1960. (Chicago Tribune)

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September 25, 1995

#OnThisDay in @chicagocubs history ▸ Cubs pitcher Frank Castillo pitches the best game of his life. He doesn’t give up a hit through eight innings, and goes into the top of the ninth inning with a 7-0 lead against the @stlcardinals... 

First he faces pinch hitter Terry Bradshaw and strikes him out for his 12th strikeout of the game. The second batter of the inning, pinch hitter Mark Sweeney, becomes his 13th victim.

That brings up Bernard Gilkey. The fans at @wrigleyfield are rockin’ as strike one was called. The fans were on the edge of their seats as Gilkey picked up strike two. Castillo needed just one more strike to complete the no-hitter.

Unfortunately, Gilkey doesn’t play along. He laces the 2-2 pitch down the line for a triple, ending Castillo’s bid for immortality.

On the next batter, Castillo induces a fly ball to right field to record the game’s final out. Frank’s final pitching line for the day: 9 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 2 BB, 13 Ks

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September 16, 2015

#OnThisDay in @chicagocubs history ▸ Chicago White Sox third baseman Mike Olt hits a two-run home run in the fourth inning of the Sox 9-4 win over the  @oaklandathletics, becoming the first player ever to homer for both the White Sox and crosstown-rival Chicago Cubs in the same season.

Olt opened his season as the Cubs' starting third baseman, with the caveat that top prospect Kris Bryant would take over at some point in April or May. The 27-year-old infielder is just the 14th player, and sixth position player, to even suit up for both Chicago teams during the same season. 

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September 13, 2019

#OnThisDay in @chicagocubs history ▸ The Cubs’ 2018 first-round draft pick, shortstop Nico Hoerner, hits his first @mlb career home run on the first pitch he sees at @wrigleyfield.  

The 2-run shot to the batter’s eye gives the Cubs a lead, which they will not relinquish, handing the visiting @pirates a 17-8 loss.

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August 30, 2010

#OnThisDay in @chicagocubs history ▸ Cubs right-hander Carlos Zambrano becomes the first major league hurler to homer in eight consecutive seasons since 1970.  Zambrano’s two-run homer off Brian Burres comes in the fifth inning of the Northsiders's 14-2 rout of the @pirates at @wrigleyfield. 

He would go on to hit two dingers in 2011 and one in 2012 (for the @marlins) bringing his streak to 10 seasons.  The only other pitchers who have had at least one home run in that many or more consecutive years are Warren Spahn (17, 1946-62) and Dizzy Trout (11, 1942-52).

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August 27, 1941

#OnThisDay in @chicagocubs history ▸ Charlie Root, best known for giving up Babe Ruth's 'called' home run, becomes the first, and only, pitcher to win 200 games in a Cubs uniform (Mordecai “Three-Finger” Brown is in second place with 188 wins). 

After being summoned in relief from the bullpen, with one out in the first inning, the 42 year-old right-hander, completes the game and knocks an RBI single to help secure the victory, as the Cubs come from behind to beat the @atlantabraves (née Boston) at Braves Field, 6-4.

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August 24, 1971

#OnThisDay in @chicagocubs history ▸ Ernie Banks hits the final home run of his storied @mlb career in the Cubs' 5-4 loss to the Cincinnati Reds. 

Mr. Cub's 512th round-tripper, ties him for seventh-place on the all-time list with Eddie Mathews, and comes in the fourth frame off right-hander Jim McGlothlin, a two-out solo shot to left field that ties the score at 3-3.

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August 21, 1936

#OnThisDay in @chicagocubs history ▸ Cubs’ righty, Bill “Big Bill” Lee, wins his 15th game, setting a new team record for consecutive wins by a pitcher, in the Cubs’ 7-2 win over the Cincinnati Reds.

A stalwart of the Cubs’ rotation during the last half of 1930s, Lee��won more games (93) than anyone except Red Ruffing and Paul Derringer and no one topped his 19 shutouts from 1935-1939. Lee finished the 1936 campaign with an 18-11 mark.