June 24, 1908 - Cubs win, concussions are for wimps, and R.I.P. Grover Cleveland

Cubs defeat St. Louis 2-1 in 10 innings, pitcher gets clocked in the head

Before we get to the game, the big news on this day in 1908 was the passing of former President Grover Cleveland at the age of 71. Cleveland is unique because he's the only President in U.S. history to serve two non-consecutive terms on office. He won the election in 1884, and then lost in 1888 to Benjamin Harrison, despite winning the popular vote (sound familiar?). He then came back in 1892 to defeat Harrison, which I'm sure led him to do some kind of "in your face" victory dance on the desk in the Oval Office when he returned. Benjamin Harrison meanwhile is known as "The President I Completely Forgot About." Seriously, I was a history minor in college, and I totally forgot the guy was ever president.

Another tidbit: Cleveland is also the only U.S. President to have a Baseball Hall of Famer named after him ... pitcher Grover Cleveland Alexander, who in 1908 was a 21 year old kid playing semi-pro ball in Nebraska, and would later debut for the Philadelphia Phillies in 1911. He was later inducted into the HOF in 1938.

Maybe some day we will be celebrating the baseball skills of some kid named Barack Obama Jones, but in the meantime, Grover Cleveland Alexander is the only one we've got. Here's one of the Grovers, I bet you can guess which one ...

OK on to the Cubs game ... finally a victory!

And if you ask me, all of the props go to pitcher Ed Reulbach. Not only did Big Ed pitch a 10 inning complete game, he also had a hit, two walks and a sacrifice in the game. And as if that wasn't enough, he did all this while getting drilled in the SKULL in the 7th inning while breaking up a double play.

In today's game Big Ed probably would've immediately been removed from the game, and probably put on the 7 day concussion DL whether he liked it or not. Well in 1908, I'm pretty sure he just rubbed some dirt on his boo boo and went back out there and pitched three more innings for the win. Heck ... the Chicago Tribune said he pitched better after getting hit in the head!

The Cubs managed to score the winning run with two outs in the 10th when Frank Schulte attempted to steal second to get into scoring position for batter Harry Steinfeldt. Well that's all it took because the Cardinals catcher Art Hoelskoetter launched the ball into center field, which then promptly got past outfielder Red Murray, which allowed Schulte to score the winning run all the way from first.

As you can probably guess ... the Cardinals stunk in 1908 and actually finished the season in last place with an abysmal 49-105 record.

Interesting tidbit about Art Hoelskoetter ... He is the ONLY player in MLB history to play at least 15 games at every single position (including pitcher). He also was badly in need of a new way to comb his hair ...

So ... Cubs win 2-1 to go to 33-20 on the year. Pittsburg also won, taking down tomorrow's opponent Cincinnati 5-3 to keep the Cubs lead at just one game. Speaking of Cincy ... tomorrow will be the first of eight games in a row against the Reds. Time to get really familiar with the Reds!

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