Chicago Cubs history unpacked — October 23

Free of charge for the discerning reader.

Happy birthday to Dylan Carlson, and a mighty host of others.

Today in baseball history, in 1935 – Gabby Hartnett is selected by the Baseball Writers Association of America as the National League MVP, with Dizzy Dean the runner-up, and 1984 – Rick Sutcliffe*, who was 16-1 for the Cubs after arriving from Cleveland two days before the June 15 trading deadline, is a unanimous choice as National League Cy Young Award winner, and other stories as well.

Today in baseball history:

• 1910 – Philadelphia Athletics pitcher Jack Coombs wins his third game of the World Series, beating the Chicago Cubs, 7-2, as the Athletics take the championship in five games. Eddie Collins helps Coombs with three hits, including two doubles.
• 1945 – Branch Rickey announces the signing of Jackie Robinson and John Wright by the Brooklyn Dodgers organization to a contract with Triple-A Montreal of the International League for 1946.
• 1974 – The Cubs trade sweet-swinging Billy Williams, a fixture at Wrigley Field for 16 years, to the Oakland Athletics for second baseman Manny Trillo and pitchers Darold Knowles and Bob Locker.
• 1993 – In one of the most dramatic endings in World Series history, Joe Carter hits a three-run, ninth-inning home run off Mitch Williams for an 8-6 win and Toronto’s second straight World Championship. Paul Molitor, who hits .500 (12 for 24), is named Series MVP while Lenny Dykstra of the Phillies, who hit .348 with four home runs, did everything except pitch. Following the 2010 season, a panel of experts at the MLB Network will vote this game the 14th greatest of the past fifty years.
• 1996 – At Atlanta-Fulton County Stadium, the Braves jump to a 6-0 lead, but the Yankees mount the biggest comeback in their long World Series history with a three-run home run by Jim Leyritz that ties the game in the eighth inning. After Bernie Williams is intentionally walked with runners on first and second base in the 10th, Steve Avery walks Wade Boggs to bring in the deciding run.
• 2005 – The Chicago White Sox crash two of the more dramatic home runs in recent World Series history to score a 7-6 victory against the Houston Astros and take a two-games-to-none lead in the Series. Paul Konerko, who hit 40 homers in the regular season, and Scott Podsednik, who hit none, provide the fireworks. Konerko, the ALCS MVP, hits a grand slam in the seventh inning to give the White Sox a 6-4 lead. After the Astros tie the score in the ninth against Chicago closer Bobby Jenks, Podsednik smacks a 2-1 pitch from Houston closer Brad Lidge into the bleachers in right-center field to trigger a boisterous celebration.
• 2013 – The Red Sox jump on the Cardinals early, scoring five runs in the first two innings, to cruise to an 8-1 win in Game 1 of the World Series. Mike Napoli hits a bases-clearing double in the 1st and the Sox add two more runs in the second in spite of Carlos Beltran robbing David Ortiz of a grand slam with a great catch. Jon Lester pitches 7.1 scoreless innings for the win while Adam Wainwright takes the loss.
• 2015 – In a nail-biting Game 6 of the ALCS, the Royals defeat the Blue Jays, 4-3, to return to the World Series. After a 45-minute rain delay, Lorenzo Cain scores all the way from first base on a single by Eric Hosmer in the eighth for the winning run. Jose Bautista drives in all three Toronto runs with a pair of homers, but the Jays are undone by their inability to cash in runners in scoring position throughout the game. For the Royals, Ben Zobrist and Mike Moustakas, with the assistance of a fan, hit solo homers to give the Royals an early 2-0 lead.
• 2019 – The Cubs hire former C David Ross, one of the heroes of their conquest of a World Series title in 2016, to succeed Joe Maddon as the team’s manager.
• 2022 – The Phillies punch their ticket to the World Series with a 4-3 win over the Padres in Game 5 of the 2022 NLCS. San Diego takes advantage of three wild pitches by Seranthony Dominguez to score twice and take a 3-2 lead in rainy conditions in the sventh, but in the bottom of the eighth, NLCS MVP Bryce Harper hits a two-run homer off Robert Suarez to put the Phils ahead to stay.
• 2022 – The Astros complete a sweep of the Yankees in the ALCS to return to the World Series for the fourth time in six years. The key plays in the 6-5 win are a three-run homer by ALCS MVP Jeremy Peña off Nestor Cortes in the third, and a botched double play grounder by 2B Gleyber Torres that leads to two Houston runs in the seventh.
• 2023 – The Rangers jump all over the Astros in Game 7 of the ALCS, scoring three runs in the 1st and chasing Cristian Javier before the end of the inning, then adding four runs against J.P. France in the fourth, on their way to an 11-4 win. Adolis García, the winner of the ALCS MVP Award, hits two more homers and drives in five runs, finishing with 15 RBIs for the series. Jordan Montgomery wins in relief of Max Scherzer and, as in the 2019 World Series, the visiting team won each of the seven games. The win sends the Rangers to the World Series for the first time since 2011, and ensures that once again there will not be a repeat champion, something that has not happened since 2000.

Cubs Birthdays: Dylan Carlson. Also notable: Jim Bunning HOF.

Today in history:

• 1091 – Tornado (possible T8/F4) strikes the heart of London, killing two and demolishing the wooden London Bridge.
• 1731 – Library of manuscript collector Robert Cotton is badly damaged in a fire in London, lost are one of only two surviving copies of King John‘s Magna Carta (1215) and Asser’s biography of King Alfred.
• 1814 – One of the first modern plastic surgeries in the West is performed by Joseph Carpue on a soldier’s nose in England using Indian techniques.
• 1911 – First aerial reconnaissance mission is flown by an Italian pilot over Turkish lines during the Italo-Turkish War.
• 1921 – Green Bay Packers play 1st APFA (forerunner to NFL) game; beat Minneapolis Marines, 7-6 at Hagemeister Park, Green Bay, WI.
• 1923 – A US patent (No. 1471465) is issued to American inventor Sebastian Hinton for a playground climbing structure popularly known as “monkey bars.”
• 1933 – John Dillinger and his gang rob Central National Bank, in Greencastle, Indiana; they steal $75, 000.
• 1964 – Future undisputed world heavyweight boxing champion Joe Frazier dominates German Hans Huber for an easy points win and the Olympic heavyweight gold medal in Tokyo.
• 2018 – The world’s oldest intact shipwreck, an ancient Greek vessel 2,400 years old, is found by archaeologists at the bottom of the Black Sea.

Today in music history:

• 1972 – “I’m Still in Love with You,” the fifth studio album by Al Green, is released (Billboard Album of the Year 1973).
• 1978 – Punk rock singer Sid Vicious attempts suicide while at Riker’s Detention Center in NYC.
• 1989 – George Harrison releases “Best of Dark Horse 1976-89” album.
• 2001 – Apple releases the iPod.
• 2006 – “Irreplaceable” single released by Beyonce (Billboard Song of the Year 2007).
• 2006 – My Chemical Romance releases their third studio album, “The Black Parade.”
• 2007 – Rounder Records releases “Raising Sand,” a collaborative album by American bluegrass singer Alison Krauss and British rock vocalist Robert Plant; tops the chart in Norway, peaks at No. 2 in US, UK, and Sweden.
• 2015 – Adele releases her single “Hello,” becomes the first song with more than a million downloads in its first week.
• 2020 – Columbia Records releases Bruce Springsteen‘s 20th studio album “Letter To You,” recorded with the E Street Band.

*pictured.