By Rick Kaempfer
In Today's Cub Birthday
Nov 27th, 2023
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2734 Views
~Johnny Schmitz 1920 (Cubs 1941-1951) He was nicknamed Bear Tracks because of his lumbering shuffle to the mound. Schmitz was only twenty when he was called up to the majors, and pitched two seasons for the Cubs, but was drafted to serve in World War II in 1942. Bear Tracks was one of the rare [&hell...
By Rick Kaempfer
In Today's Cub Birthday
Nov 26th, 2023
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3605 Views
~Larry Gura 1947 (Cubs 1970-1973, 1985) Gura didn’t pitch too much for the team that drafted him. He appeared in a total of 54 games over four seasons (mostly out of the bullpen). The Cubs traded him for pitcher Mike Paul. Paul had very little left in the tank. Gura, on the other hand, was [&he...
By Rick Kaempfer
In Today's Cub Birthday
Nov 25th, 2023
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4982 Views
~Joe DiMaggio 1914 (Offered to the Cubs 1934) He was never a member of the Chicago Cubs, but he could have been. That’s right: The Chicago Cubs passed on Joe DiMaggio. Is there anything that sums up a bad century better than that sentence? The sad part of the story is that it was even […...
By Rick Kaempfer
In Today's Cub Birthday
Nov 24th, 2023
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2506 Views
~Dave Hansen 1968 (Cubs 1997) Hansen was one of the best pinch-hitters of his generation. He played one full season for the Cubs in 1997, but that turned out to be a rather unpleasant experience. After being on a perpetual winner in Los Angeles, the 0-14 start the Cubs had in 1997 must have scarred [...
By Rick Kaempfer
In Today's Cub Birthday
Nov 23rd, 2023
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2922 Views
~Harpo Marx 1888 (Cubs Fan) The Marx family moved from New York to Chicago in 1909. For much of that time they lived in a large house at 4512 South Grand Boulevard (now called Martin Luther King Boulevard). The house is still there. The Marx Brothers (Gummo, Groucho, Harpo, Chico, and Zeppo) were alr...
By Rick Kaempfer
In Today's Cub Birthday
Nov 22nd, 2023
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2456 Views
~Dick Bartell 1907 (Cubs 1939) Acquired in a trade with the Giants (for among others, starting shortstop Billy Jurges, and outfielder Frank Demaree), Dick was the starting shortstop for the Cubs in 1939. Bartell was accustomed to the hardscrabble New York media, and that didn’t serve him well d...
By Rick Kaempfer
In Today's Cub Birthday
Nov 21st, 2023
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3052 Views
~Freddie Lindstrom 1905 (Cubs 1935) Lindstrom was a big star in New York for the Giants. In his rookie season of 1924, he came up late in the year and led the Giants to the World Series. He had many great seasons in New York, especially 1928, when he finished 2nd in the MVP voting, […]...
By Rick Kaempfer
In Today's Cub Birthday
Nov 20th, 2023
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5015 Views
~Judge Kenesaw Mountain Landis 1866 (Cubs fan 1893-1944) On this day in 1866, the future first commissioner of baseball was born, Judge Kenesaw Mountain Landis. He is best remembered as the man who banned the Black Sox for life, and saved the game from the evils of gambling, but Judge Kenesaw Mountai...
By Rick Kaempfer
In Today's Cub Birthday
Nov 19th, 2023
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2949 Views
~Dickie Noles 1956 (Cubs 1982-1984, 1987) He was one of Dallas Green’s favorites, and the Cubs got him from the Phillies along with Keith Moreland shortly after Green arrived in Chicago. Noles would have gotten along great with the 1930 Cubs, Hack Wilson and Pat Malone. He was a drinker and a b...
By Rick Kaempfer
In Today's Cub Birthday
Nov 18th, 2023
0 Comments
3048 Views
~Les Mann 1892 (Cubs 1916-1919) Mann was nicknamed Major after the World War 1 flying ace, Major Harry Mann. He was an outfielder for the Cubs in their inaugural season at the ballpark now known as Wrigley Field, but had also played there the year before, with the Federal League Whales. He actually b...
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