JOBC Cubs Almanac--January 25

Today's Featured Cub: Steve Trout

On this day in 1983, the Cubs made a rare blockbuster trade with the crosstown White Sox. The Cubs gave up Scott Fletcher, Randy Martz, Pat Tabler and Dick Tidrow and received Steve Trout and Warren Brusstar in return.

This was one of those rare good trades for the Cubs. Fletcher became the starting second baseman for the White Sox, but the Cubs had another youngster at that position named Sandberg. Tidrow was a serviceable reliever for the Sox, but he was near the end of his career.

Meanwhile, Steve Trout, the son of a man who had beaten the Cubs in the 1945 World Series, somehow became a fan favorite at Wrigley Field. In 1984 he was part of a great rotation that led the team to the brink of the World Series. In his only postseason start, Trout even won Game 2 of that series in Wrigley Field.


Today's Featured Baseball Card: Steve Trout

(1986 Topps Baseball Card)

The season after the Cubs went to the playoffs their entire starting rotation went down with injuries, including Trout.

The stats on the back of this card come from that 1985 season: 9 wins, 7 losses, 140.2 innings pitched, 142 hits allowed, 44 strikeouts, 63 walks, and a 3.39 ERA.




From the Pages of History

On this day in 1898, future gangster Hymie Weiss was born. Hymie was gunned down in a hail of bullets outside of Holy Name Cathedral in 1925. The bullet holes were still there in February of 1998 when Harry Caray was eulogized inside that very cathedral. The bullet holes remain in the base of the church today.





Nickname of the Day: Lucky

Fred Glade was born on this day in 1876. He had one start for the Cubs (then known as the Orphans) in 1902, and gave up eight runs in eight innings and took the loss. But he got his nickname "Lucky" when he was with the St. Louis Browns in 1905. That year he made 32 starts and won only six of them. His final record that season was 6-25, despite having an ERA of only 2.81.



Cup of Coffee

Jimmy Adiar was born on this day in 1907. He got his cup of coffee with the Cubs during the last six weeks of the 1931 season. The 24-year-old shortstop they called "Choppy" hit .276 in 76 at bats for the Cubs. He played another 13 seasons in the minors and never got another sniff of the big leagues.

Jimmy Adair passed away in Texas in 1982.



Other Cubs Birthdays

~Mel Roach 1933 (Cubs 1961)
Roach played eight years in the big leagues, including part of the 1961 season with the Cubs. He missed two full seasons of his prime baseball years because he was serving in the military.

~Jose Macias 1972 (Cubs 2004-05)
He was a utility man (infielder/outfielder/pinch hitter) who was a favorite of manager Dusty Baker. He played for the Tigers and Expos before coming to Chicago.

~Dan Serafini 1974 (Cubs 1999)
Dan had a rough go of it pitching in the big leagues (6.04 lifetime ERA, 1.71 lifetime WHIP), but managed to hang on for parts of seven seasons. In 2006, a Cubs fan with a blog called "Serafini Says" was interviewed by the Twins radio station thinking it was the pitcher himself. They broadcast the interview without realizing their mistake.



A/V Club

Steve Trout's brother Rich writes Cubs poetry. Here he is reciting his poem about Theo Epstein (I kid you not)...