Cubs 365, February 14

Every day in 2012, the Just One Bad Century blog will feature a story about this day in Cubs history. We're calling it Cubs 365.

On this day in 1929 one of the most famous and gruesome events in Chicago occurred: The Saint Valentine's Day Massacre. And it happened only a few blocks away from Wrigley Field at the S.M.C. Carting Company (2122 N. Clark St). The intended target was North Side crime boss Bugs Moran (a Cubs fan).

Ironically, Bugs Moran, was not among the dead. He arrived late. He just happened to see the suspicious arrival of the police car on his way to the garage that doubled as a gang hideout, and got out of there unscathed. The men who died were Reinhold Schwimmer (an optometrist who had met Bugs because they both lived at 2100 Lincoln Park West), 41-year-old Bugs accountant Adam Heyer, 39-year-old James Clark, 40-year-old safe-cracker Johnnie May, 36-year-old speakeasy owner Al Weinshank, and hired guns Frank (40) and Pete (36) Gusenberg.

To say that Chicago was a rough town in 1929 is to understate the level of violence, crime, and vice. The Cubs team that played at Wrigley Field that summer, however, fit the mood of the town perfectly.

Some of the Cubs were pretty comfortable running in these circles, particularly centerfielder Hack Wilson and pitcher Pat Malone. Both were heavy drinkers, and in the Prohibition era, the only places to drink were illegal speakeasies run by the very same gangsters who perpetrated the massacre. Al Capone's Cicero speakeasies were favorite destinations of both Wilson and Malone. (Drinking eventually ended both of their careers and lives--they each died in their 40s.)

The Cubs were the toast of that unbelievably rough and tumble Chicago during the summer of 1929, as they made it all the way to the World Series, losing to the Philadelphia A's in 5 games.

Cubs 365, February 13

Every day in 2012, the Just One Bad Century blog will feature a story about this day in Cubs history. We're calling it Cubs 365.

On this day in 1964, the Cubs lost their second baseman in the most tragic way imaginable.

Ken Hubbs wasn't even 20 when he debuted for the Cubs in September of 1961, but he made enough of an impact to be named the starting second baseman in 1962. It was a rough year for the Cubs (they finished with their worst record ever—behind even the expansion Houston Colt 45s, and ahead of only the worst team of all-time, the '62 Mets), but it was a breakout year for Ken Hubbs. He won a gold glove for his play at second base and was named the Rookie of the Year.

One of the roughest transitions for Hubbs had been the travel schedule. He was terrified of flying. (His roommate Ron Santo vividly describes the sheer terror Hubbs felt every time the Cubs had to fly in his autobiography "For the Love of Ivy," a book we highly recommend)

Instead of letting it get the best of him, Hubbs tackled it head on and learned how to fly himself. The technique worked. He purchased an airplane (a Cessna 172) in November of 1963, and got his pilot's license in late January of 1964. By learning how to fly, he had conquered his fear.

On February 13th, he took his life-long pal Larry Doyle up in the plane from their hometown in California to Provo Utah, to visit Doyle's wife. On the way home, however, he made the mistake of taking off in a snowstorm. Ken Hubbs and Larry Doyle died when they crashed into a lake just five miles from the airport. Their bodies weren't found until two days later. Hubbs was only 22 years old.

Cubs 365, February 12

Every day in 2012, the Just One Bad Century blog will feature a story about this day in Cubs history. We're calling it Cubs 365.

On this day in 1895 future Cub Sweetbreads Bailey was born in Joliet, Illinois. He pitched for the Cubs from 1919 to 1921.

What is the origin of his nickname? Well, "sweetbreads" is defined as "the thymus or, sometimes, the pancreas of a young animal (usually a calf or lamb) used for food," and though the origins of Bailey's nickname have been lost to time, historians think it may have come from Bailey's tendency to swerve his pitches right into the batter's "sweetbreads". He hit seven batters there.

The Chicago Cubs signed him in 1917, but before he jointed the team he served in the military with the 72nd field artillery. A relief pitcher for the Cubs for three seasons, he won four games, saved none, and finished up the 1921 season pitching for Brooklyn. After 1921, he was out of baseball.

After his baseball career he returned to his hometown of Joliet, and that's where he died of pituitary cancer in 1939 at the way too young age of 44.

Cubs 365, February 11

Every day in 2012, the Just One Bad Century blog will feature a story about this day in Cubs history. We're calling it Cubs 365.

On this day in 1939, future Cub Willie Smith was born. His greatest day as a Cub happened just over 30 years later. On April 8, 1969, Willie hit a pinch-hit 2-run walk off home run to win the game on Opening Day. That began a year long love affair between the Cubs and their fans.

On September 4, 1969, with the Cubs still holding onto a 5-game lead over the Mets, Willie and teammate Nate Oliver released a parody of the Righteous Brothers hit "You've Lost that Lovin' Feeling" called "That pennant feeling".

Unfortunately for Willie, Nate and Cubs nation, they weren't "going, going, going, all the way" like the song predicted.

Cubs 365, February 10

Every day in 2012, the Just One Bad Century blog will feature a story about this day in Cubs history. We're calling it Cubs 365.

On this day in 1926, future Cubs third-sacker Randy Jackson was born. His real first name was Ransom, and gosh darnit, he was kind of handsome, so his teammates began calling him Handsome Ransom (His teammates thought he looked like Gregory Peck). "Handsome Ransom" Jackson was one of the best players on the Cubs in the early 50s; a National League all-star third-baseman in 1954 and 1955. He hit 19, 19, and 21 homers in 1953-55 (his three seasons on the Cubs), and was a pretty good fielder too. (In 1955 he led NL third basemen in double plays.)

His greatest day in a Cubs uniform was April 17, 1954 against St. Louis. Jackson had four hits - including a home run that hit an apartment building on Waveland Avenue. With the wind blowing out at Wrigley Field, the Cubs beat the Cardinals 23–13 in a National League record (at the time) three hour and 43 minute game. The two teams combined for 35 hits — including five homers.

The Dodgers traded Walt Moryn, Don Hoak, and Russ Meyer to the Cubs for Jackson and pitcher Don Elston after the 1955 season with the expectation that the slugger would succeed Jackie Robinson at third base. Unfortunately for Jackson and the Dodgers, he suffered a serious knee injury in 1957, and Handsome Ransom never played regularly again.

Cubs 365, February 9

Every day in 2012, the Just One Bad Century blog will feature a story about this day in Cubs history. We're calling it Cubs 365.

On this day in 1914, William Veeck Jr. was born. His father (Bill Veeck Sr.) was the President of the Chicago Cubs, and Bill Jr. idolized his dad. The elder Veeck was probably the greatest innovator of his time. He was the first man to bring Ladies Day to the big leagues, and was the first to realize how important it was to broadcast the games on the radio (The Cubs were the first team to do so). While other teams were afraid of giving away the product for free--Veeck Sr. saw it for what is was--a free 3 hour commercial for the team and the ballpark.

At the age of 11, young Bill started helping out his dad at the ballpark. He worked on the grounds crew, as an office boy, and a vendor. (Photo: Bill with manager Joe McCarthy) As a fifteen year old kid, he was taking care of the Ladies' Day passes at Wrigley Field by day, and was tagging along with baseball hero Hack Wilson to the speakeasies in Cicero by night.

"With a father who ran a ball club, my boyhood was the kind most kids dream about," Veeck says in his autobiography. It's no wonder that Wrigley Field meant so much to him. Young Bill wasn't only hanging out with famous ballplayers like Wilson, Grover Cleveland Alexander, and Charlie Grimm, he really felt like he was part of the team.

After his father died in 1933, Veeck quit college to work for the Cubs full-time. He eventually rose to the job of Treasurer, but when he wasn't given the job of President a few years later, he moved on (in 1941). His most lasting accomplishment at Wrigley Field is something that still draws fans into the ballpark seventy years later...the ivy on the walls. Veeck was the one that planted the ivy in 1937.

In his final years Veeck re-adopted the Chicago Cubs. He was a frequent sight at Wrigley Field, often found sitting in the bleachers without a shirt. He had owned several different teams in his long baseball career (The Browns, the Sox, the Indians, and the Brewers), but when he could go to any ballpark in the big leagues in any town in America, there was only one ballpark he came to again and again as a fan. He came home to his favorite place; the place of his childhood dreams, Wrigley Field.

Cubs 365, February 8

Every day in 2012, the Just One Bad Century blog will feature a story about this day in Cubs history. We're calling it Cubs 365.

On this day in 1951, future Cub second baseman Steve Dillard was born. Dillard may have only been a backup infielder for the Cubs from 1979-1981, and he may have only hit .225 and .218 in two of those years, but Steve Dillard's mustache didn't take a back seat to anyone. He once pulled the hidden ball trick by hiding it in his mustache.

Not really, but he could have.

His mustache was that spectacular.