By Rick Kaempfer
In Today's Cub Birthday
Dec 16th, 2023
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~Adolfo Phillips 1941 (Cubs 1966-1969) His nickname was the Panamanian Flash. The Cubs thought they were acquiring their next superstar when they got Panamanian outfielder Adolpho Phillips from the Phillies in 1966. That turned out to be true…but it was the pitcher that was thrown in on the dea...
By Rick Kaempfer
In Today's Cub Birthday
Nov 3rd, 2023
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3791 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
Nov 2nd, 2023
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3643 Views
~Dutch Zwilling 1888–1978 (Cubs 1916) Until 2015, if you went to the Baseball Encyclopedia and looked at the last name listed there, you would have found Dutch Zwilling. (Now it is non-Cub Tony Zych). Dutch was born in St. Louis, and only lasted four big league seasons, but the center fielder m...
By Rick Kaempfer
In Today's Cub Birthday
Oct 30th, 2023
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3105 Views
~Roe Skidmore 1945– (Cubs 1970) He played in exactly one game for the Cubs in 1970, and his lifetime batting average is 1.000. Skidmore hit a Jerry Reuss pitch over third baseman Joe Torre’s head for a clean single against the Cardinals. The New York Times wrote a piece in 1999 about him and ot...
By Rick Kaempfer
In This Week In Wrigley History
Oct 22nd, 2023
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October 22: In 1933, Red Grange and Bronko Nagurski lead the Bears to a 13-7 victory over the Packers. In 1961, the Bears beat the vaunted 49ers shotgun offense 31-0. In 2016, Kyle Hendricks pitches 8 1⁄3 innings in the clinching game of the NLCS to send the Cubs to their first World Series since [&...
By Rick Kaempfer
In Today's Cub Birthday
Oct 12th, 2023
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3519 Views
~Lou Novikoff 1915–1970 (Cubs 1941-1944) Lou was known as “The Mad Russian”. He was born to Russian immigrant parents in Arizona, so the second half of his nickname is obvious. The “mad” part came from his eccentric proclivities. He had a colorful past before joining the Cubs, working as a harm...
By Rick Kaempfer
In Today's Cub Birthday
Sep 14th, 2023
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3189 Views
~Dave Hillman 1927– (Cubs 1955-1959) Hillman appeared in over a hundred games for the Cubs in the 1950s. The right-hander worked both as a starter and reliever, and had a respectable ERA, but he had the propensity to give up the long ball. After the 1959 season Hillman was traded to the Red Sox...
By Rick Kaempfer
In Today's Cub Birthday
Sep 3rd, 2023
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3457 Views
~Luis Gonzalez 1967– (Cubs 1995-1996) Luis Gonzalez obviously got his nickname from his last name, because he already had it when he was on the Cubs, and he obviously didn’t hit like a Gonzo in Chicago (22 home runs in his 1 ½ years with the team). It’s not as if Gonzo’s Cubs career was [&helli...
By Rick Kaempfer
In This Week In Wrigley History
Aug 20th, 2023
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5762 Views
August 22, 1982 The Cubs retire the first number in franchise history: #14 in honor of Mr. Cub, Ernie Banks. No-one had worn #14 since Ernie retired as a coach in 1973, but by raising the #14 flag the Cubs make it official. In the lineup for the Cubs that day is a rookie third […]...
By Rick Kaempfer
In Today's Cub Birthday
Aug 6th, 2023
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3121 Views
~Ray Culp 1941– (Cubs 1967) Ray Culp was already a two-time 14-game winner when the Cubs acquired him before the 1967 season, and they gave up former 20-game winner Dick Ellsworth to get him from the Phillies. But in his only season with Chicago, Culp was mediocre, managing only 8 wins. He also...
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