Chicago Cubs history unpacked — August 17

Free of charge for the discerning reader.

Happy birthday to Victor Caratini, and a mighty host of others.

Today in baseball history, in 1973 – At Shea Stadium, 42-year-old New York Mets outfielder Willie Mays hits the 660th and final home run of his career off Reds lefty Don Gullett, and other stories as well.

Today in baseball history:

1909 – Walter Johnson gives up four hits in topping the A’sCharles Bender in 12 innings. The Nats win, 1 – 0, but the overwork will take its toll on the young ace. He will develop a sore arm and in his next two outings he will give up 27 hits.
1923 – After 111 games, Babe Ruth is hitting .401 with 31 homers. He’ll wind up with his highest batting average, .393. With 205 hits, a major league record 170 walks, and four times hit by pitches, Ruth will reach base a record 379 times.
1969 – The Tigers tie a club record with six homers, and Denny McLain wins his 19th, beating the A’s at Oakland, 9-4. Al Kaline homers in the 7th and 9th off relievers, but the first three Bengal homers come off starter Catfish Hunter.

Today in Cubs history:

1932 – The Cubs and the Braves play 19 innings, the longest game of the season, with Chicago winning 3-2. Guy Bush wins in relief. The following day he will again beat the Braves with a brief extra-inning outing.
1940 – Stan Hack’s fourth hit of the game, a two-out single in the 13th, gives the Cubs a 6-5 win over the Pirates. Claude Passeau, the last of five Cub pitchers, is the winner.
2018 – The Cubs tie a major league record by turning seven double plays in a 1-0 win over the Pirates. Fittingly, the game ends when David Freese hits a grounder to 3B David Bote who starts the record-tying twin killing. They are the third team to achieve the feat in a nine-inning game.

Cubs Birthdays: Victor Caratini*, Thomas Neal, Bill Landrum, John Buzhardt.

Today in history:

1807 – Robert Fulton’s steamboat Clermont begins its first trip up the Hudson River.
1903 – Joseph Pulitzer donates $1 million to Columbia University and begins the Pulitzer Prizes in the United States.
1946 – George Orwell publishes “Animal Farm” in the United Kingdom.
1959 – Columbia Records releases “Kind of Blue,” a studio album by American jazz trumpeter and composer Miles Davis, leading a sextet featuring saxophonist John Coltrane and pianist Bill Evans; the work is widely considered a masterpiece and is one of the most influential and best-selling albums of Davis’ long career.
1982 – First compact discs (CDs) released to the public in Germany.
1987 – Muhammad Ali is elected to “Ring” magazine’s Boxing Hall of Fame.
2008 – The US team of Michael Phelps, Aaron Peirsol, Brendan Hansen, and Jason Lezak wins the 4 x 100 m medley relay at the Beijing Olympics in a world record time of 3:29.34; Phelps’s eighth gold medal of the Games breaks Mark Spitz’s 1972 record of seven.
2025 – Bodhana Sivanandan (10) defeats grandmaster Pete Wells (60) in final round of 2025 British Chess Championships in Liverpool, England, becoming youngest female player to beat a grandmaster