10 Dubious Brushes of Baseball History Against the Chicago Cubs

The Chicago Cubs. Lovable losers. The team that has gone almost a century without winning a World Series and sixty-two years without reaching the World Series. The team that went to the 1984 Playoffs and led the San Diego Padres 2-0 in a best of five series only to lose the last three games. The team that led the Florida Marlins 3-1 in a best of seven series in 2003 and was only two innings away from the World Series only to see it all come apart starting with Steve Bartman, a fan unfairly blamed for interfering with outfielder Moises Alou on a foul pop up simply because he ended up with the ball (little was said of the other fans equally guilty reaching for the ball). They would lose that game and then lose the last two with their two best pitchers (Kerry Wood, Mark Prior) starting.

The Chicago Cubs. The butt of baseball jokesters for decades. The team that refused to conform to night baseball for decades until 1988. The team that has made some of the worst trades in baseball history.

Recently Barry Bonds came to town with the San Francisco Giants still on his quest to break Hank Aaron's all time homerun record. Bonds left town just short having hit two in one game this failing to add to a dubious brush with history the Cubs have been apart of for almost as long as the game has been played.

Here is a list of 10 dubious brushes with the wrong side of history involving the Chicago Cubs. Perhaps one day they will win it all and put these in the past where they belong as they triumphantly raise the trophy to the cheers of tens of thousands of ecstatic fans. Until then Cub fans must contend with these memorable, if somewhat miserable moments in baseball history.

October 1, 1932
This was the day of the infamous "called shot" by Babe Ruth in which he allegedly pointed to center field after stepping into the batter's box and promptly depositing a home-run right in the area where he pointed. This was Game 3 of the World Series and the Yankees would go on to sweep the Cubs.

July 30, 1933
St. Louis Cardinals pitcher Dizzy Dean set a National League record that afternoon by striking out 17 Cubs in 9 innings.

May 13, 1958
Stan "The Man" Musial pinch hits in a game at Wrigley Field and doubles off Cub pitcher Moe Drabowsky to collect his 3000th hit.

September 16, 1975
Rennie Stennett of the Pittsburgh Pirates becomes the only player in modern major league history to collect 7 hits in 7 at bats in a 9-inning game. Amazingly Stennett did not hit for the cycle (single, double, triple, home-run) but did have four singles, two doubles and a triple. The Pirates would win the game 22-0, one of the biggest blowouts in baseball history.

June 14, 1978
Cincinnati Reds great Pete Rose collected two hits in a 3-1 victory at Wrigley Field. This was the start of Rose's 44 game hitting streak.

August 13, 1979
St. Louis Cardinal great (and former Chicago Cub) Lou Brock hit a line drive single off of reliever Dennis Lamp to collect the 3000th hit of his career. Lamp would injure his hand on the play and had to leave the game. Lamp would later remark to reporters, "I guess I had better send my fingers to Cooperstown."

October 4, 1989
Will Clark of the San Francisco Giants set a National League Championship record by collecting 6 RBI's in game one of the playoffs, including a 4th inning grand slam home-run off of Greg Maddux. Clark would admit many years later that he read Maddux' lips as manager Don Zimmer and the infield converged on the mound for a meeting prior to his at bat. He knew a fastball was coming and took that first pitch and deposited out on the street over the right field wall. The Giants would go on to win the series in 5 games.

August 15, 1993
San Francisco Giants teammates Barry Bonds and Matt Williams would hit back-to-back home-runs twice in the same game that was also delayed by rain - twice.

September 8, 1998
In what was a magical baseball year for fans in which both Sammy Sosa of the Cubs and Mark McGwire of the St. Louis Cardinals would chase the home-run record of 61 set by Yankee Roger Maris. On this night McGwire would break Maris' record by hitting his 62nd home-run at Busch Stadium off Cubs starter Steve Trachsel.

June 20, 2007
Former Cub great Sammy Sosa, ostracized out of Chicago in 2005 after a corked bat incident and for leaving the stadium on the last day of the season prior to game time, plays against the Cubs for the first time since leaving and becomes only the fifth player in baseball history to hit 600 home-runs when he connects off Cub starter Jason Marquis.