Take Me Out to the Ballgame

I used my last pair of Cubs tickets yesterday, and took my middle son Johnny to the game.

I know people think I'm an idiot for rooting for the most pathetic franchise in history, but I refuse to let the naysayers ruin the experience for me. All it takes is an afternoon at Wrigley Field with my son to remind me why I love this game and this team.

Johnny loved every second of the experience. The sun was shining, the wind was blowing out, the hot dogs were tasty, he kept score with his Cubs pencil, and wouldn't you know it, the Cubs won the game in the bottom of the eighth thanks to a Geovany Soto home run.

In the future will Johnny's memory of yesterday be ruined by a fifth place finish? No, it won't. It was just a great day at the ballpark with Dad.

And if that makes us pathetic idiots, then so be it. I wish that kind of pathetic idiocy on all of you.

Ken Hubbs

On this day in 1962, Cubs rookie second baseman Ken Hubbs set a National League record for most plays handled without an error.

This is what it sounded like.

The record was broken in 1965 by Jerry Adair of the Dodgers.

By then, Hubbs was dead. He died in a plane crash in February of 1964.

Emil Verban

His name has become known because of the Washington group of Cubs fans formed in his honor (jokingly); The Emil Verban Society. Among it's one-time members; Ronald Reagan.

On this day in 1948, Emil did something on a baseball field for the only time in major league career.

He hit a home run.

He hit it off Johnny Van Der Meer, the man who once pitched consecutive no-hitters.

Maddux Debuts

He was just a skinny kid when the Cubs brought him up from Iowa on this day in 1986. No one was predicting a Hall of Fame career for him.

Maybe they couldn't see past the mustache.

Ernie & Curt Simmons

Curt Simmons was the first pitcher Ernie Banks ever faced in the big leagues in 1954. Just eleven years later, on this day in 1965, Ernie hit his 400th career home run against the same pitcher, Curt Simmons.

By the middle of the following season, the two men were Cubs teammates.

Simmons had a great career. He won 193 career games, and a World Series title with the 1964 St. Louis Cardinals, but with the Cubs he won seven games in parts of two seasons.

Lee Smith

One of the greatest relief pitchers in baseball history debuted on this day, exactly thirty years ago.

His name was Lee Smith, and he pitched for one of the worst Cubs teams in history.