July 29, 1908 - Cubs cruise to victory on Brown's magic fingers, a historical triple play, and g

The Cubs mowed down the Boston Doves today 6-0 behind the strong pitching of Mordecai Brown. Also, a historical triple play and a guy gets sued by a hooker.

This one was pretty easy as the sixth place Boston Doves were about as peaceful as their nickname, getting only four hits as Mordecai "Three Finger" Brown cruised to an easy victory. Not only did the Doves manage just four hits, but those four all came from just two players ... Joe Kelly and Frank Bowerman. Brown added five strikeouts to his tally and walked none ... basically a dominating performance all around.

The only thing that managed to keep Brown down at all were the mosquitoes ... specifically the bites he got in New York the day the mosquitoes tortured the Cubs' dugout (Full story here). Mordecai had to wear a bandage soaked in a "soothing syrup" on the wrist of his pitching hand to alleviate the swelling, but clearly it didn't affect his performance at all.

I ain't 'fraid of no bugs!

The Cubs bats came out to play as well, rapping out 12 hits on the day, including a four hit day from shortstop Joe Tinker. Tinker is on fire right now, going 21-45 in the last 12 games for a .407 batting average during the stretch. Centerfielder Jimmy Slagle added three hits of his own and the Cubs cruised to victory.

In other baseball news, a legendary triple play took place on this day in Sioux City, Iowa in a church league game between Mayflower Congregational and First Presbyterian. With runners on first and second and nobody out, the First Presbyterian batter hit a line drive right at the pitcher, which resulted in a pitcher to second to first triple play.

And what makes it significant is that Mayflower pitcher Harry Cummins caught the ball, threw it to second baseman Earl Cummins, his brother, who then threw over to first to Clyde Cummins, the third brother. So not only was it a triple play, but everyone involved in the play was brothers with the others (Side note ... that rhymes is a kinda cool way). The Tribune called it the only triple play by three brothers ever pulled off in baseball history. I have no idea if that is still the case, but it's still pretty cool.

This triple play is pretty cool too ... A "walkoff" triple play with the bases loaded in the 9th inning of this high school game in California. Thanks YouTube!

And finally ... some guy got sued by his hooker. OK ... she says "dancer," but don't all hookers say that once the law is involved?

A lovely lass by the name of Grace Bartell, better known by her stage name "Chooceeta," sued dentist Joseph Kerrigan for $185, which Chooceeta claims he "borrowed" from her and never paid back.

By the way ... Is the name Chooceeta sexy? Can't say I've ever heard of anyone using it except for this one lady in 1908. And actually, a Google search of the name will quickly let you know that this isn't the sexy Chooceeta's first (or last) appearance in front of the law. Not surprisingly, Chooceeta didn't see any money on this day.

Gimme my money!!!

In summary, the Cubs win moves them to 52-36 on the year. The Pirates also won today, so the Cubs still trail by two games in the standings. A doubleheader with Boston is on tap for tomorrow.