Today in 1908 - Cubs rally falls short, and a very scary log

A 9th inning Cubs rally falls short as Chicago falls 6-5 to visiting Philadelphia. Also, a very scary log.

Based on the recap of this game, it was 95 degrees on this day with about 1000% humidity. Everybody was sweaty and miserable. Cubs pitcher Carl Lundgren was described as resembling "a drowned rat," which definitely doesn't sound very sexy. For the record, Lundgren was by far the worst pitcher on the Cubs squad in 1908, sporting a team high 4.22 ERA. To give you perspective, no other pitcher on the team had an ERA higher than 2.27. So yeah ... he sucked.

Another interesting observation ... the Cubs basically used six pitchers for the entire season. SIX!!! Four other pitchers made appearances in a total of nine games, but outside of that, every other pitch was thrown by the same six dudes. That's pretty damn impressive. Scary for your elbow, but impressive nonetheless.

In hindsight, today was definitely a day you didn't need to let your "drowned rat" Lundgren go a full nine, since he gave up two pivotal runs in the top of the 9th. The Cubs managed to scratch out two in the bottom of the 9th, but the rally fell short and they lost 6-5. They had runners on second and third with two outs in the inning, but Harry Steinfeldt fouled out to end the game. So yeah ... maybe having a closer on the roster wouldn't have been the worst idea in the world.

Hi ... I'm Carl. I stink ...

Defensively, the star of the game for the Phillies was again Mr. Toothpick John Titus. The Tribune referred to him as "that pest in right field," after making a few more great plays to rob the Cubs of several runs. The Cubs pounded out 14 hits, but ultimately it wasn't enough and they fell 6-5.

In other news, a very scary log fooled a dopey girl into thinking she saw a giant sea monster. Miss Anna Madison, 18 years old and clearly not the brainiest girl in the bunch, saw what she thought was a 30 foot sea monster swimming in a lake in Evanston, IL. To make matters worse, she heard it making a terrible, loud honking noise.

The culprit? A giant log and a fog horn.

Called the cops and everything. Police showed up (adorably) with their guns drawn, only to find out that the very scary monster was just a giant log, and the very scary howling was just a nearby foghorn. One can only imagine Miss Madison went on to become ... well ... not much of anything, cuz she thinks floating logs are monsters.

In summary, the Cubs loss sends them to 45-30 on the year. In good news, the Pirates lost both games of a doubleheader, so the Cubs now have a half game lead. (Don't get used to it though, leaner days are coming for a while.) Last game of the series against the Phillies is tomorrow.