By Rick Kaempfer
In Today's Cub Birthday
Jul 21st, 2024
0 Comments
3955 Views
~Johnny Evers 1881–1947 (Cubs 1902-1913, Cubs manager 1913) Johnny Evers was the starting second baseman for the greatest Cubs team of all-time, the 1906-1910 dynasty. He got his nickname, the Crab, for the way he sidled up to grounders, but he lived up to his nickname in another way. Evers was...
By Rick Kaempfer
In This Week in 1908
Jul 21st, 2024
1 Comment
4957 Views
Two Cubs stars celebrate a birthday this week. Second baseman Johnny Evers (left photo) celebrates his 26th birthday (July 21) and shortstop Joe Tinker (right photo) celebrates his 28th birthday (July 27). It’s pretty clear that they won’t be celebrating it together, however, because they...
By Rick Kaempfer
In This Weeks Historical Events
Jul 17th, 2024
2 Comments
7482 Views
July 18, 1910 The poem “Baseball’s Sad Lexicon” written by Franklin Adams was published in the New York Evening Mail. It’s probably the most famous poem ever written about the Cubs, and it was so memorable it probably got Joe Tinker, Johnny Evers, and Frank Chance elected into...
By Rick Kaempfer
In This Weeks Historical Events
Jun 12th, 2024
1 Comment
6554 Views
June 18, 1912 During the 1912 Republican convention in Chicago at the Chicago Coliseum (1513 S. Wabash Ave.), Theodore Roosevelt’s supporters in the gallery tooted horns and rubbed sandpaper together to imitate the sounds of the “Taft steamroller” which was running them over without considering their...
By Rick Kaempfer
In This Week in 1908
Jun 2nd, 2024
0 Comments
5884 Views
How long ago was 1908? One of the biggest stories in Chicago is the “epidemic of white slavery.” White immigrant girls and innocent White American farm girls are being lured from all over the country to come to Chicago under false pretenses. They think they have received marriage proposal...
By Rick Kaempfer
In Today's Cub Birthday
Dec 4th, 2023
0 Comments
3272 Views
Lee Smith 1957 (Cubs 1980-1987) When Big Lee came up with the Cubs in 1980, he was a starting pitcher. They moved him to the closer role after they floundered in 1981 after the trade that sent Bruce Sutter to the Cardinals. Big Lee turned out to be one of the most consistent closers in […]...
By Rick Kaempfer
In Today's Cub Birthday
Nov 29th, 2023
0 Comments
2921 Views
~Howard Johnson 1960 (Cubs 1995) His parents obviously had a sense of humor, because they named their son Howard, the same name as a famous hotel and restaurant chain. His nickname naturally ended up being the same thing as the restaurant’s nickname (HoJo), but he had the last laugh. Howard Joh...
By Rick Kaempfer
In Today's Cub Birthday
Nov 15th, 2023
0 Comments
3256 Views
~Franklin P. Adams 1881–1960 (Cubs hater/immortalizer) He wrote the most famous poem ever written about the Cubs, “Baseball’s Sad Lexicon”, and it was so memorable it probably got Joe Tinker, Johnny Evers, and Frank Chance elected into the Hall of Fame. The poem went as follow...
By Rick Kaempfer
In Today's Cub Birthday
Nov 3rd, 2023
0 Comments
3911 Views
~Ken Holtzman 1945– (Cubs 1966-1971) He would become one of the rarest animals on the North American continent…a quality homegrown Chicago Cubs starting pitcher. But Holtzman was the real deal. He went 9-0 for the Cubs while serving in the National Guard in 1967, and when his military service w...
By Rick Kaempfer
In Today's Cub Birthday
Oct 29th, 2023
0 Comments
3168 Views
~Solly Hofman 1882–1956 (Cubs 1904-1912, 1916) His nickname was Circus Solly, and he played for the Cubs during their most dominant era, and was a key member of four World Series teams. At first he was a utility man, but by the time his Cubs tenure was through, he was their full-time center fie...
The Pothole Store | Eckhartz Press | Rick Kaempfer's Blog | Illinois Entertainer
Site construction by WorkSite, LLC