A Site That Focuses On The History of the Chicago Cubs!
Written by Rick Kaempfer, the author of "everycubever"
(Eckhartz Press, 2019) https://eckhartzpress.com/shop/everycubever/ The book is literally about Every Cub Ever. The website is a companion piece to that voluminous book.
~Dick Selma 1943–2001 (Cubs 1969) He was nicknamed Mortimer Snerd by his teammates after Edgar Bergen’s famous dummy. Selma was a key member of the 1969 Cubs. He won 10 games for them and led the staff in strikeouts per nine innings after being acquired from the Padres. Selma became a fan favor...
This week in history, the Cubs were actually involved in historical events… October 9, 1907 The Cubs were playing the Detroit Tigers in the World Series. It was Game 2 of the series–the first game had ended in a tie (called because of darkness). More than 21,000 braved the cold October Ch...
October 1, 1932 The most famous moment in Wrigley Field history occurred. Or did it? It was Game 3 of the World Series. The Yankees had won the first two at Yankee Stadium. Soon-to-be President Franklin Delano Roosevelt (sitting next to Chicago mayor Anton Cermak) threw out the first pitch. In the st...
~Dave Martinez 1964– (Cubs 1986-1988, 2000) Martinez came up through the Cubs system and debuted in the big leagues with the Cubs. At the time, he was only 21 years old. In 1987 he won the starting center field job. He hit .292 with 16 stolen bases. Why did the Cubs trade the youngster the [&he...
~Ryne Sandberg 1959– (Cubs 1982-1994, 1996-1997) He was destined to have a great nickname because he was named after the famous Yankees relief pitcher “Blind Ryne” Duren. Ryno was just a throw in to the Iván de Jesus/Larry Bowa trade with the Phillies. The Phillies had two other second base pro...
September 21, 1919 Grover Cleveland Alexander takes the mound against the Boston Braves. Ol’ Pete has had a season for the ages, shutting out every single team in the league at least once. With the season coming to a close, and both teams out of the pennant picture, Alexander bears down and takes car...
September 12, 1998 Sammy Sosa becomes the first Cubs player to hit 60 home runs in a season. He does it in the sixth inning of wild slugfest against Milwaukee Brewers reliever Valerio de los Santos. Sammy’s homer is memorable, but it isn’t the most dramatic homer of the game. On a day the...
~Kiki Cuyler 1898–1950 (Cubs 1928-1935) His real name is Hazen Shirley Cuyler. Cuyler was called “Cuy” by his school teammates. It was while winning the MVP title of the Southern Association with Nashville in 1923 that he acquired the Kiki nickname. Fans heard the players shout for him to take ...
August 29, 1918 The Cubs clinched the National League pennant with a double-header sweep of the Cincinnati Reds. Lefty Tyler wins his 18th game in the opener, and Claude Hendrix wins his 20th game in the nightcap. It is the earliest any team in National League history clinched a pennant, but that rec...
August 14, 1908 In the midst of the Cubs final championship season, a horrible race riot broke out in Springfield Illinois. Before the race riots were over, forty homes were burned to the ground, 24 businesses were destroyed, and seven people were dead: two black people (lynched by the angry mob) and...