Tag: Chicago Cubs

FEB 3: LOU BOUDREAU SUSPENDED

TODAY’S STORY TAKES US BACK TO CHAMPAIGN, ILLINOIS in 1938. Future Baseball Hall-of-Famer, manager and broadcaster Lou Boudreau was a two-sport star at the University of Illinois before his major league baseball career. The U of I was forced to discipline Lou Boudreau for efforts to turn pro too soon.

The 20-year old forward and captain of the Illinois basketball team was disciplined for taking money from a professional baseball team. The Cleveland Indians was sending his mother monthly checks in exchange for the Harvey, Illinois native’s word that he would give the Indians the right of first refusal when he graduated.

Boudreau missed six basketball games at the end of the 1938 season. The Illini won two and lost four and finished with an uninspired 9-9 record in the Big Ten.

Boudreau ended up not returning to the University of Illinois in the fall for his Senior year because he signed a contract with Cleveland and started his professional baseball career.

He played 13 seasons for the Indians, mostly at shortstop, including nine as player-manager. He started managing at the age of 24. He guided the team to a World Series Championship in 1948, and was he league’s Most Valuable Player (MVP).

Boudreau finished his playing career with the Boston Red Sox in 1952. He also managed the Red Sox, Kansas City A’s (today’s Oakland A’s) and Chicago Cubs. Boudreau began broadcasting Cubs games in 1958, and except for managing the Cubs for one season (1960) he remained in the booth until 1987.

Louis Boudreau, the two-sport star the University of Illinois was forced to suspend in 1938, was voted into the Major League Baseball Hall of Fame in 1970.

Contributing sources:
Boudreau as manager
Associated Press (AP), February 4, 1938s

July 13 – Ed Delahanty : A Tragic Star

1896 | CHICAGO, ILLINOIS – Philadelphia Phillies outfielder Ed Delahanty became the second major league player to hit four home runs in one game on this date in 1896. Bobby Lowe of the Boston Beaneaters (the current Atlanta Braves) was the first to do it in 1894.

Despite Delahanty’s display of power, the Chicago Cubs beat the Phillies at old West Side Grounds in Chicago, 9 to 8.

Reports indicate Delahanty’s four home runs were all inside-the-park, which was common in those days. While the stands were reachable down the foul lines at 340 feet, centerfield was well over 500 feet – a lot of room for a ball to roll around in, and a chance for a hitter to run all the way home.

Delahanty had a fine career. He hit over .400 three times, finished with a lifetime average of .346, drove in 1,464 runs and scored 1,599 times in a 16-year career.

He met a tragic and mysterious end, however. Exactly what happened is not known, but on July 2, 1903 he fell into Niagara Falls. His mangled body was pulled from the falls seven days later. The story is, while traveling by train through Niagara Falls after playing in Detroit, Delahanty was kicked off the train for being drunk and disorderly. He was last seen walking across the bridge over the falls. Some questioned whether Delahanty fell, suggesting he may have met with foul play.

Regardless of the circumstances of his death, Ed Delahanty lives on in Cooperstown. He was elected into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1945.

CONTRIBUTING SOURCES:
July 13, 1886 game info
Society for American Baseball Research 
Ed Delahanty” Career

MAY 17th-Overly friendly confines

MAY 17, 1979 | CHICAGO, ILLINOIS – On this date in 1979 the Chicago Cubs scored 6 runs in the first, 3 in the fourth, 7 in the fifth, 3 in the sixth, 3 more in the eight and still lost.

There were eleven home runs on this windy afternoon at Wrigley Field, a record at the time.

The Philadelphia Phillies beat the Cubs 23 to 22 in ten innings, but not before the Cubs made a miraculous comeback from a 21-9 deficit in the 5th to tie it 22-22 in the eighth.

There were eleven home runs on this windy afternoon at Wrigley Field, a record at the time. The ‘friendly confines’ were overly friendly on this date. It’s as though former NFL great Gale Sayers sneaked into Wrigley Field, which his Chicago Bears called home during football season, and ran off a few touchdowns.

The Cubs’ Dave Kingman had three home runs. Teammate Bill Buckner had a grand slam and seven runs batted in. The Phillies Mike Schmidt hit two home runs, including the game winner.

_________________

The 45 combined runs by the Cubs and Phillies today in baseball is not even the record. You have to go back to August 25, 1922 when the same two teams combined for 49 runs when the Cubs beat the Phillies 26-23.

The most runs scored in an American League game is 36, done twice. The Boston Red Sox beat the Philadelphia A’s 22-14 on June 29, 1950. On August 12, 2008 the Red Sox beat the Texas Rangers 19-17.

CONTRIBUTING SOURCES:
Chicago Tribune, Chicago, IL, May 18, 1979
May 17, 1979 box score/play-by-play
Runs Scored Records
MLB Rare Feats