By Rick Kaempfer
In Today's Cub Birthday
Jul 13th, 2024
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3952 Views
~Footsie Blair 1900–1982 (Cubs 1929-1931) His real name was Clarence Vick Blair, and he was primarily a backup second baseman (he also backed up 1B and 3B) with the Cubs from 1929-1931. In 1930, he became the regular second baseman after Rogers Hornsby broke his ankle. That 1930 team had five f...
By Rick Kaempfer
In This Week In Wrigley History
Jul 9th, 2024
3 Comments
7122 Views
July 10, 1990 The All-Star Game was played at Wrigley Field. It was a miserable, rainy night, but the fans were treated to the sight of some all-time greats plying their trade. The American League team featured the likes of future Hall of Famers Rickey Henderson, Wade Boggs, Kirby Puckett, Dennis Eck...
By Rick Kaempfer
In Today's Cub Birthday
Jun 24th, 2024
1 Comment
4208 Views
~Rollie Hemsley 1907–1972 (Cubs 1931-1932) Rollie was the backup catcher on the Cubs in 1931 and 1932, but he didn’t get along with manager Rogers Hornsby. Although Hornsby was a degenerate gambler, he was also a teetotaler that really cracked down on the team drinkers. Offenders included just ...
By Rick Kaempfer
In This Weeks Historical Events
Jun 5th, 2024
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5198 Views
June 9th, 1930 Chicago Tribune reporter Jake Lingle was on his way to the racetrack, walking toward the underpass at Randolph and Michigan Avenue that led to the Illinois Central Suburban Trains. Jake Lingle had worked on thousands of stories for the Trib, but never actually wrote them. He simply cal...
By Rick Kaempfer
In Today's Cub Birthday
May 17th, 2024
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3199 Views
~Hal Carlson 1892–1930 (Cubs 1927-1930) Hal Carlson was a veteran starting pitcher acquired by the Cubs in 1927 from the Pittsburgh Pirates. He pitched for them for several seasons, and didn’t make much of an impact. Hal was never one of their best starters, but he was valuable enough to make t...
By Rick Kaempfer
In Today's Cub Birthday
May 15th, 2024
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4026 Views
~Bill North 1948– (Cubs 1971-1972) It isn’t that difficult to understand what the Cubs were thinking on November 21, 1972. They were coming off four consecutive seasons where the pitching faltered at the end of the year. Cubs management believed that a better bullpen would save their starters, ...
By Rick Kaempfer
In Today's Cub Birthday
Apr 27th, 2024
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3612 Views
~Rogers Hornsby 1897–1963 (Cubs 1929-1932) It’s hard to imagine that one of the greatest players in history was not popular in Chicago–but Hornsby clearly was not. Hornsby had one great season for the Cubs, their World Series year of 1929, and he became the manager at the very end of the follow...
By Rick Kaempfer
In This Weeks Historical Events
Apr 24th, 2024
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4979 Views
April 29, 1997 Mike Royko passes away at the age of 65. As one final tribute to him, the Cubs win only their sixth game of the season (out of 24), 14-8 versus the Expos. Few Chicagoans were more closely associated with the Chicago Cubs than Mike Royko. As a columnist for the Daily News, […]...
By Rick Kaempfer
In This Week In Wrigley History
Apr 23rd, 2024
4 Comments
7840 Views
April 23, 1914. One day after the Cubs drew the smallest Opening Day crowd in their history, a new ballpark opened on Addison & Clark. At the time, it was called “Weeghman Park”, and the team that played there was in the Federal League. This is how the Chicago Tribune described that ...
By Rick Kaempfer
In Today's Cub Birthday
Dec 21st, 2023
0 Comments
4353 Views
~Bob Rush 1925 (Cubs 1948-1957) The big righthander was a two-time all-star for some pretty bad Cubs teams. He won over 100 games in a Cubs uniform, including a 17-win year in 1952, and four different seasons with 13 wins. The Cubs traded him to the World Champion Milwaukee Braves after the 1957 seas...
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