By Rick Kaempfer
In This Week In Wrigley History
Aug 20th, 2024
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6244 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 18th, 2024
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4474 Views
~Burleigh Grimes 1893–1985 (Cubs 1932-1933) Grimes never shaved on days he pitched, because the slippery elm he chewed to increase saliva irritated his skin, so he always had stubble on his face when he took the mound. That led to his nickname, Ol’ Stubblebeard. He wasn’t just known for his stu...
By Rick Kaempfer
In Today's Cub Birthday
Jul 19th, 2024
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3769 Views
~Phil Cavarretta 1916–2010 (Cubs 1934-1954) Philabuck, as he was known, had a tremendous career for the Chicago Cubs. The local Chicago boy (Lane Tech High School) wore a Cubs uniform for twenty seasons, including the last few when he was a player/manager. Phil was Mr. Cub before Ernie Banks. H...
By Rick Kaempfer
In Today's Cub Birthday
May 22nd, 2024
1 Comment
6297 Views
~Coleman Griffith 1893–1966 (Cubs psychologist 1938) In 1938, University of Illinois psychologist Coleman Griffith was asked by PK Wrigley to do a complete psychological analysis of the Cubs for a project he called “Experimental Laboratories of the Chicago National League Ball Club.” Naturally,...
By Rick Kaempfer
In Today's Cub Birthday
Nov 26th, 2023
0 Comments
3928 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
0 Comments
5342 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 This Week In Wrigley History
Nov 1st, 2023
0 Comments
9875 Views
November 2, 2016 It didn’t happen at Wrigley, but who cares. We have to chronicle this forever… November 7, 1928 The Cubs acquired the greatest right handed batter in baseball history; Rogers Hornsby. He had one of the greatest seasons in Cubs history in 1929, got hurt in 1930, was named ...
By Rick Kaempfer
In Today's Cub Birthday
Oct 20th, 2023
0 Comments
4780 Views
~Wid Matthews 1896–1965 (Cubs GM 1950-1956) When Matthews came to the Cubs in 1950, he arrived with a sparkling reputation. Wid had been an assistant to Branch Rickey with the Dodgers, and he promised to return the Cubs to their glory days. He did do one thing that was long overdue before he le...
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