July 2, 1908 - Cubs split, give Pirates the Finger, and Seinfeld comes to 1908

The Cubs split a doubleheader with the Pirates, Mordecai Brown shines, and an episode of Seinfeld happened 1908 style

First things first ... everybody reading this needs to promise to visit me in the nursing home when I'm old and blind because it's this blog that will eventually take my sight. Squinting through and reading PDF files of old newspaper microfilm is an adventure to say the least, and it is murder on the eyeballs. But I shall persevere and do it for the Cubbies! I shall also drink a couple gin and tonics before reading it, which always makes it easier too. And ultimately, I could just make stuff up, since most of you ain't gonna check anyway. I'm not gonna do that, but I COULD if I wanted to!

Anyway ... the Cubs kicked off a huge series today with the now first place Pittsburgh Pirates, on the road in the Steel City. Two doubleheaders in four days of games. You think today's player would stand for that? Yeah ... me neither. But that don't matter, we got baseball to talk about!

Three Finger Brown is a beast. He's finally back from his family issues, and immediately comes out and shuts down the Pirates in game one. So that begets the question ... If it made you a dominant pitcher in the major leagues, would you be OK with having your hand mangled in a farming accident in order to do it?

The answer for me is a resounding "Hells yeah" ... I'll give up a couple fingers to be able to win a World Series. Heck ... I think plenty of Cubs FANS would sacrifice body parts for a championship, and they ain't even on the team. So really it's a no-brainer. Brown went 29-9 in 1908 with 312 innings pitches and a 1.47 ERA. Suck on THAT, Clayton Kershaw!

Unfortunately, the Cubs got spanked in game two, losing 9-4. They also lost catcher Johnny Kling to a thumb injury. He will hopefully only be out a couple games, but it's terrible timing as the Cubs have their six game showdown for first place against Honus Wagner and his Pirates (yeah ... the expensive baseball card guy).

One other game note ... Given the magnitude of the series, a huge crowd of 18,000 was on hand for these games. Now I know 18,000 doesn't seem like much in today's numbers (unless you're a Marlins fan), but in 1908 there weren't nearly as many boundaries for the fans. So an attendance of 18,000 meant the fans were RIGHT up on the playing field, leading to essentially what were called "overflow ground rules" where fans were basically standing in the outfield while watching the game, and the Pirates took advantage in game two with five ground rule doubles into these overflow fans. Nothing like having to play outfield and having the other teams fans trying to push you out of the way while you go for the ball!

In other news, an episode of the TV show Seinfeld basically happened in 1908. Remember when George started eating his Snickers bar with a knife and fork? If not, here it is ...

So in 1908 it turns out that there was political SCANDAL because a Republican candidate for governor in Madison, Wisconsin named J.F. Jacobson DARED eat his pie with a knife and fork. The horror!!!

The Tribune questioned his competency as "a plain son of the people who transfers his pastry to his mouth on a knifeblade."

So yeah ... the next time you get a stomach ache trying to figure out if your wanna feel bad voting for Hillary or feel equally bad voting for Trump, just think to yourself ... "But how do they eat their pie?" I can promise you this ... if Hillary eats her pie with a knife, Trump's gonna let you know about it in the debates this fall. Is that good? I have no freakin' clue.

In summary ... the Cubs split means a 39-24 record for the year, and no change in the standings, still a half game off of Pittsburgh. Four more against the Pirates to come.