This day in baseball: Honus Wagner steals his way around the bases
Posted: May 2, 2022 Filed under: 20th Century, This day in baseball | Tags: Baseball, Bill Abstein, Chicago Cubs, Chicago Tribune, Ed Reulbach, history, Honus Wagner, Major League Baseball, MLB, Pittsburgh Pirates, sports, Sy Sanborn 2 CommentsIn the second game of a double header against the Cubs on May 2, 1909, Pittsburgh Pirates infielder Honus Wagner stole his way around the bases. After reaching first on a fielder’s choice, Wagner proceeded to steal second, and then third base. On Ed Reulbach’s third pitch to Bill Abstein, Wagner took a long lead off third base. According to Chicago Tribune sportswriter Sy Sanborn, the play unfolded as follows:
Wagner timed his dash splendidly and before Bid Ed could untangle his waving arms and legs, to say nothing of his wits, he was within a jump of the pan. With that final jump he cleared the remaining distance and actually hit the plate before the ball left Reulbach’s hand. It was the cleanest, most unquestioned steal of home … ever yet accomplished.
The Pirates went on to win the game, 6-0.

Honus Wagner in 1911 (Library of Congress)
Calico Joe, by John Grisham
Posted: December 4, 2021 Filed under: Pop culture | Tags: Baseball, books, Calico Joe, Chicago Cubs, John Grisham, Major League Baseball, MLB, New York Mets, sports Leave a commentIt’s been a while since I last read a baseball novel. I’ve previously read The Firm and A Time to Kill, so when I discovered that John Grisham had written a book with a baseball theme, I knew it would be worth checking out.
Calico Joe takes place in two time periods: the present day (the novel was published in 2013) with flashbacks to the 1973 season. The book’s narrative mixes fact and fiction. Grisham introduces fictional players who interact with and participate on actual teams, namely the New York Mets and the Chicago Cubs. The fictional characters interact with actual people, such as Yogi Berra, Willie Mays, and Tom Seaver, and fictional games take place in real life stadiums. At the end of the novel, Grisham makes a point to include a note explaining just this, imploring, “[P]lease, all you die-hard fans, don’t read this with any expectation of accuracy. I have completely re-arranged schedules, rosters, rotations, records, batting orders, and I’ve thrown in some fictional players to mix it up with the real ones. This is a novel, so any mistake should be promptly classified as part of the fiction.”
The narrator of the tale is Paul Tracey, who, in 1973, was the eleven-year-old son of New York Mets pitcher, Warren Tracey. Paul is a massive baseball fan, and a solid Little League pitcher in his own right. However, his father is a man who parties as hard as he throws, frequently returning home drunk and turning on his own family. Thanks to Warren’s treatment, Paul’s interest in baseball eventually wans.
During the 1973 season, a rookie first baseman arrives in the majors for the Chicago Cubs — a man named Joe Castle, from Calico Rock, Arkansas. Castle’s major league career gets off to a rocket start, as he astonishes baseball fans across the country with home run after home run, shattering a number of rookie records. Calico Joe quickly becomes the idol of virtually every baseball fan in America, including the young Paul Tracey.
On August 24, 1973, the Chicago Cubs face off against the New York Mets at Shea Stadium. Warren Tracey is on the mound, and young Paul is in the stands, torn between rooting for his dad and for his hero, Calico Joe. In his first at-bat against Tracey, Joe Castle hits a home run. Feeling that Castle has shown him up, in his next plate appearance, Tracey throws a pitch that beans Castle right in the head.
In all the scenes taking place in the present day, the results of this one pitch continue to reverberate through the lives of both ballplayers and of the now-grown Paul Tracey. Paul has limited contact with his father, but when Warren is diagnosed with terminal cancer, Paul has an idea on how to bring some closure regarding Calico Joe.
I really enjoyed this book. The combination of baseball and John Grisham made it a page turner, though it’s certainly not your typical Grisham novel. It’s not a thriller, there’s no real mystery in the tale. It’s a simple, straightforward story, full of nostalgia, but not without its tensions. If you’re looking for a fun, casual way to while away a lazy afternoon, this is definitely worth picking up.
This day in baseball: Billy Williams is Rookie of the Year
Posted: November 30, 2021 Filed under: 20th Century, This day in baseball | Tags: Baseball, Baseball Writers Association of America, Billy Williams, Chicago Cubs, Joe Torre, Major League Baseball, Milwaukee Braves, MLB, National League, Rookie of the Year, sports 3 CommentsOn November 30, 1961, Billy Williams of the Chicago Cubs was selected as the National League Rookie of the Year by the Baseball Writers’ Association of America. The outfielder hit 25 home runs and drove in 86 runs that year, and was selected on 10 of the 16 ballots cast by the writers. The runner-up in the voting, Braves catcher Joe Torre, received five votes from the writers.

Billy Williams in 1969 (Wikipedia)
This day in baseball: Athletics win the 1910 Series
Posted: October 23, 2021 Filed under: 20th Century, This day in baseball | Tags: Baseball, Chicago Cubs, Eddie Collins, history, Jack Coombs, Major League Baseball, MLB, Philadelphia Athletics, sports, World Series Leave a commentOn October 23, 1910, before a crowd of 27,374, Philadelphia’s Jack Coombs won his third game of the World Series to defeat the Chicago Cubs, 7-2. The victory sealed the outcome of the Series, as the Athletics took the championship in five games. Eddie Collins had three hits, including two doubles, in that final game for the A’s.

Jack Coombs (Library of Congress)
Saving Wrigley Field
Posted: August 30, 2021 Filed under: 20th Century, 21st Century | Tags: Baseball, Chicago Cubs, documentaries, history, Major League Baseball, MLB, sports, Wrigley Field Leave a commentA couple weeks ago, the Cubs posted this documentary about the restoration and expansion of Wrigley Field. The film also includes a lot of history of the ballpark and is certainly worth the watch. Even if you’re not a Cubs fan, one can’t deny Wrigley is an important landmark in the sport, and it would be nice to keep it around for as long as possible.
Quote of the day
Posted: June 28, 2021 Filed under: Quote of the day | Tags: Baseball, Chicago Cubs, Major League Baseball, MLB, quotes, Sammy Sosa, sports Leave a commentIf you have a bad day in baseball and start thinking about it, you will have ten more.
~Sammy Sosa

Chicago Tribune
This day in baseball: Ken Hubbs passes
Posted: February 13, 2021 Filed under: 20th Century, This day in baseball | Tags: Baseball, Chicago Cubs, history, Ken Hubbs, Major League Baseball, MLB, National League, Rookie of the Year, sports 2 CommentsOn February 13, 1964, Cubs second baseman Ken Hubbs died at the age of 22 when the red and white Cessna 172 plane he was piloting crashed a quarter-mile south of Bird Island in Utah Lake in the midst of a winter storm. Hubbs had taken flying lessons for the previous two off-seasons to overcome his fear of flying, obtaining his license just the previous month. Ken Hubbs had been the1962 NL Rookie of the Year.

Ken Hubbs in 1964 (Wikipedia)
Quote of the day
Posted: February 3, 2021 Filed under: Quote of the day | Tags: Baseball, Chicago Cubs, Ernie Banks, Major League Baseball, MLB, quotes, sports Leave a commentWhen I wake up in the morning, I feel like a billionaire without paying taxes.
~Ernie Banks

Bowman Baseball Card
NLBM Tribute to Ernie Banks
Posted: January 31, 2021 Filed under: 20th Century | Tags: Baseball, biographies, books, Chicago Cubs, Ernie Banks, history, Major League Baseball, MLB, Ron Rapoport, sports Leave a commentYesterday, the Negro Leagues Baseball Museum hosted this talk with author Ron Rapoport about Ernie Banks. Rapoport is the author of the biography on Banks appropriately titled Let’s Play Two. This book is currently on my to-read list, but I look forward to getting to it, especially in the wake of this talk with the author. I love how Rapoport makes a point to stress how good of a ballplayer Banks was, a fact that sometimes gets overlooked as so much focus revolves around his sunny personality.
Today would have been Ernie Banks’s 90th birthday. Happy Birthday, Mr. Cub!
Infographic: 14 Things You Didn’t Know About the World Series
Posted: July 30, 2020 Filed under: 20th Century, 21st Century | Tags: Baseball, Chicago Cubs, Don Larsen, history, infographics, Major League Baseball, MLB, sports, World Series Leave a commentI can’t seem to trace the origins of this infographic, but I found it an interesting one. For true baseball fans not all of these items are unknowns, and the graphic was obviously created prior to the 2016 season, given the bit of trivia about the Cubs. The detail about Don Larsen smoking in the dugout during his World Series perfect game was new to me, however, and it appears this tidbit is pretty accurate.