By Rick Kaempfer
In Today's Cub Birthday
Dec 31st, 2023
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2997 Views
~King Kelly 1857 (White Stockings 1880-1886) King Kelly was famous for his running and hitting (he invented or at least perfected the hit and run), and he was said to have inspired the poem “Casey at the Bat,” but he was also considered a big fat cheater. If the umpire wasn’t looking, he would run [&...
By Rick Kaempfer
In Today's Cub Birthday
Dec 30th, 2023
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2440 Views
~Ray Prim 1906 (1945 Cubs) Prim was nicknamed “Pop” by his Cubs teammates for good reason; he was nearly 39 years old when he pitched on the 1945 Cubs. Pop was a classic war time player. He had been out of the big leagues for quite awhile before the war began, and saw an opportunity [&hel...
By Rick Kaempfer
In Today's Cub Birthday
Dec 29th, 2023
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2983 Views
~Ken Rudolph 1946 (Cubs 1969-1973) Ken served as the backup catcher to Randy Hundley for several seasons, beginning with the memorable 1969 season. He was only 22 years old when he broke camp with the Cubs that year. His best season in a Cubs uniform was probably 1973. He appeared in 64 games for the...
By Rick Kaempfer
In Today's Cub Birthday
Dec 28th, 2023
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2456 Views
No Cubs were born on this day....
By Rick Kaempfer
In Today's Cub Birthday
Dec 27th, 2023
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3223 Views
~Dutch McCall 1920 (Cubs 1948) McCall pitched one full season in the majors (1948) as a 27-year-old rookie, and was among the league leaders in several categories, most notably walks and losses. In fact, he set the Cubs record by recording 13 losses in a row. He also led the Cubs in home runs allowed...
By Rick Kaempfer
In Today's Cub Birthday
Dec 26th, 2023
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3047 Views
~Dave Rader 1948 (Cubs 1978) Rader was a Cub for only one season (1978), and he hit only .203 that season, but all three Cubs catchers in 1978 sported tremendous mustaches (the other two were Tim Blackwell and Larry Cox).That’s a feat that may never be replicated. Rader also caught for the Gian...
By Rick Kaempfer
In Today's Cub Birthday
Dec 25th, 2023
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3457 Views
~Manny Trillo 1950 (Cubs 1975-1978, 1986-1988) Trillo was a prospect acquired from Oakland in the trade that sent Billy Williams to the A’s, and immediately became the team’s starting second baseman. He had a few very good years for the Cubs, finishing third in the Rookie of the Year voti...
By Rick Kaempfer
In Today's Cub Birthday
Dec 24th, 2023
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2824 Views
~Del Howard 1877 (Cubs 1907-1908) On Christmas Eve 1877, a boy named George Elmer Howard was born in Kenney, Illinois. During his childhood everyone began calling him Del. Good ‘ol Del became a big league ballplayer with the Chicago Cubs. He was a backup outfielder, first baseman, and second ba...
By Rick Kaempfer
In Today's Cub Birthday
Dec 23rd, 2023
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4723 Views
Ken Hubbs 1941 (Cubs 1961-1963) He wasn’t even 20 when he debuted for the Cubs in September of 1961, but he made enough of an impact to be named the starting second baseman in 1962. It was a rough year for the Cubs (they finished with their worst record ever—behind even the expansion Houston Co...
By Rick Kaempfer
In This Week in 1908
Dec 22nd, 2023
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4484 Views
How Long Ago Was 1908? In New York, National League president Harry Pulliam starts showing signs of a nervous breakdown during an owners meeting. He has been the target of unrelenting heat from the New York Giants brass (especially their irascible manager John McGraw) about his ruling regarding the M...
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