• EveryCubEver

    Historical Events (May 29–June 4): Where were the Cubs?

    By Rick Kaempfer
    In This Weeks Historical Events
    May 29th, 2023
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    Sgt. Pepper coverJune 1, 1967
    The Beatles, who have recently announced they will never tour again, finally release their new studio album. It’s called “Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band”, and is an immediate sensation. It’s dubbed an instant classic, and to this day is considered by many critics to be the best album ever recorded.

    While the Beatles are taking in the worldwide adoration, the Cubs are in the midst of a resurgence themselves. At the beginning of June they are in the pennant race…something they haven’t really experienced in many years. As “Sgt. Peppers” hit the stores, the Cubs are playing well. Billy Williams has one of the best games of his life the day the album is released, hitting two homers and driving in six runs against the Cincinnati Reds. The Cubs have four future Hall of Famers (Billy, Ernie, Santo, and Fergie) on this 1967 team who will lead the team to several agonizing near misses over the next six seasons.

    None of those Hall of Famers make the cover of “Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band” however. If you’ve ever wondered who those people on the cover were, here’s a complete list…(Thank you Wikipedia)

    Top row:
    Sri Yukteswar Giri (Hindu guru)
    Aleister Crowley (occultist)
    Mae West (actress)
    Lenny Bruce (comedian)
    Karlheinz Stockhausen (composer)
    W. C. Fields (comedian/actor)
    Carl Gustav Jung (psychiatrist)
    Edgar Allan Poe (writer)
    Fred Astaire (actor/dancer)
    Richard Merkin (artist)
    The Vargas Girl (by artist Alberto Vargas)
    Huntz Hall (actor)
    Simon Rodia (designer and builder of the Watts Towers)
    Bob Dylan (singer/songwriter)

    Second row:
    Aubrey Beardsley (illustrator)
    Sir Robert Peel (19th century British Prime Minister)
    Aldous Huxley (writer)
    Dylan Thomas (poet)
    Terry Southern (writer)
    Dion (singer)
    Tony Curtis (actor)
    Wallace Berman (artist)
    Tommy Handley (comedian)
    Marilyn Monroe (actress)
    William S. Burroughs (writer)
    Sri Mahavatar Babaji (Hindu guru)
    Stan Laurel (actor/comedian)
    Richard Lindner (artist)
    Oliver Hardy (actor/comedian)
    Karl Marx (political philosopher)
    H. G. Wells (writer)
    Sri Paramahansa Yogananda (Hindu guru)
    Sigmund Freud (psychiatrist) – barely visible below Bob Dylan
    Anonymous (hairdresser’s wax dummy)

    Third row:
    Stuart Sutcliffe (artist/former Beatle)
    Anonymous (hairdresser’s wax dummy)
    Max Miller (comedian)
    A “Petty Girl” (by artist George Petty)
    Marlon Brando (actor)
    Tom Mix (actor)
    Oscar Wilde (writer)
    Tyrone Power (actor)
    Larry Bell (artist)
    Dr. David Livingstone (missionary/explorer)
    Johnny Weissmuller (Olympic swimmer/Tarzan actor)
    Stephen Crane (writer) – barely visible between Issy Bonn’s head and raised arm
    Issy Bonn (comedian)
    George Bernard Shaw (playwright)
    H. C. Westermann (sculptor)
    Albert Stubbins (football player)
    Sri Lahiri Mahasaya (guru)
    Lewis Carroll (writer)
    T. E. Lawrence (“Lawrence of Arabia”)

    Front row:
    Wax model of Sonny Liston (boxer)
    A “Petty Girl” (by George Petty)
    Wax model of George Harrison
    Wax model of John Lennon
    Shirley Temple (child actress) – barely visible, first of three appearances on the cover
    Wax model of Ringo Starr
    Wax model of Paul McCartney
    Albert Einstein (physicist) – largely obscured
    John Lennon holding a French horn
    Ringo Starr holding a trumpet
    Paul McCartney holding a Cor Anglais
    George Harrison holding a piccolo
    Bobby Breen (singer)
    Marlene Dietrich (actress/singer)
    An American legionnaire
    Diana Dors (actress)
    Shirley Temple (child actress) – second appearance on the cover

    Other objects within the group include:
    Cloth grandmother-figure by Jann Haworth
    Cloth doll by Haworth of Shirley Temple wearing a sweater that reads “Welcome The Rolling Stones Good Guys”
    A ceramic Mexican craft known as a Tree of Life from Metepec
    A 9-inch Sony television set, apparently owned by Paul McCartney – the receipt, bearing McCartney’s signature, is owned by a curator of a museum dedicated to The Beatles in Japan.
    A stone figure of a girl
    Another stone figure
    A statue brought over from John Lennon’s house
    A trophy
    A doll of the Hindu goddess Lakshmi
    A drum skin, designed by fairground artist Joe Ephgrave
    A hookah (water pipe)
    A velvet snake
    A Fukusuke, Japanese china figure
    A stone figure of Snow White
    A garden gnome
    A euphonium/baritone horn

    ###

    May 29, 1922. The Supreme Court rules that baseball is not a business, it’s a sport, and therefore exempt from anti-trust laws. The Cubs lose a heartbreaker in the 10th inning to the Cardinals at Cubs Park. Cliff Heathcote, who will be traded to the Cubs the next day, gets the game-winning hit.

    May 30, 1911. The inaugural Indianapolis 500 is run at the Indianapolis Speedway in Indiana. Ray Harroun is declared the winner, and retires from racing. The Cubs lose to the Pirates 4-1 at Forbes Field as Big Ed Reulbach just doesn’t have it. He gets knocked out of the game in the third inning.

    May 31, 1988. President Reagan concludes his summit with Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbochev in Moscow. The Cubs beat the Reds 4-0 at Wrigley Field; a four-hit shutout by rookie pitcher Jeff Pico.

    June 1, 1980. The first all-news television network, CNN, is launched by Atlanta Braves owner Ted Turner. The Cubs beat the Phillies 5-4 at Wrigley Field. Dave Kingman scores the winning run.

    June 2, 1886. President Grover Cleveland gets married in the White House to Frances Folsom. The Cubs (then known as the White Stockings) beat the Boston Beaneaters 9-0 in Boston.

    June 3, 1989. The Chinese government begins a crackdown against protestors at Tiananmen Square. The Cubs lose to the Cardinals 6-5 in the bottom of the 10th at Busch Stadium. Ozzie Smith scored the winning run on a sacrifice fly.

    June 4, 1919. Congress passes the 19th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, guaranteeing women the right to vote. It will take effect the following year. The Cubs lose a heartbreaker to the Pirates in the 10th inning at Cubs Park, 1-0. Pirates pitcher Earl Hamilton knocked in the only run.

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