July 30, 1908 - Cubs win two and inch toward first place. Also, the heat sucks.

The Cubs swept a doubleheader today against Boston. Add in a Pittsburgh loss and first place is just a half game away (for now). Also, the heat sucks.

A strong day for the Cubs today, taking both halves of a doubleheader against Boston. Meanwhile, Pittsburgh got shut out by Brooklyn, so their lead shrinks to a half game over the Cubs.

That said, don't get too excited because ... spoiler alert ... some bad things are about to happen. As you know, it has a happy ending, but the Cubs are about to face their toughest test of the 1908 season. Fortunately, that test didn't start today, with the Cubs cruising 13-4 in game one and then winning a tighter game two 6-3.

Game one was pretty much a beat down. The Cubs led 13-0 by the 6th inning and manager Frank Chance gave a bunch of starters the rest of the game off since it was a hot July day in Boston (more on that later). Jimmy Sheckard was 3 for 3 with a walk and two sacrifices, and Harry Steinfeldt went 3 for 5, including a home run. Ed Reulbach pitched well, and actually went 3 for 3 to boot before getting a breather after the 6th when the game was well out of hand.

Yup ... I crushed it today

Game two was a lot closer, and the Cubs actually trailed 3-2 in the 7th until things took a positive turn for the boys in blue. Manager Frank Chance called his own name to pinch hit for pitcher Jack Pfiester, and managed to battle a walk out of pitcher Tom McCarthy (with a little help from a generous call from the umpire).

Jimmy Slagle then hit an easy ground ball to the pitcher McCarthy, who muffed it for an error that loaded the bases. Really it was errors that killed the Doves all day. In game one, the Doves made four errors in the third inning alone and allowed the Cubs to score four runs that put the game out of reach early. All told, the Doves had NINE errors in the two games, which is pretty terrible.

We sucked today!

Anyway, Jimmy Sheckard then walked with the bases loaded to tie the game and Johnny Kling then added a two run single to give the Cubs the lead for the day. Final score 6-3. The Cubs have won six of seven on this road trip so far though as I mentioned before, the second half of the trip ain't gonna turn out nearly as well. (You'll have to come back for the details!)

In other news, it's hot and stupid. I hate this time of year. It seems like every single forecast is the same pretty much everywhere in America ... hot, humid, and awful. There's always a "chance" of thunderstorms, but it seems like they never happen, and even when they do it only makes everything feel steamy like an African rain forest. Is it fall yet?

I did NOT "wake up like this"

That said, I thank God all the time for the invention of air conditioning. Nobody had it in 1908, so that meant on a hot day like today, people DIED. With a high of only 85 degrees, that was good enough to mean seven people lost their lives and 16 more had to be hospitalized. No thanks!

If nothing else, it helps check me on the nights I'm cranky because my AC can't catch up as much as I want it to on a hot day and my house is an "unbearable" 75 degrees. OK ... maybe not the optimal sleeping temperature, BUT AT LEAST I GET TO LIVE!!! And it's done on a Sleep Number mattress, so ... you know ... first world problems and the like.

In summary, the Cubs wins puts them at 54-36 on the year. Add in the Pittsburgh loss and the Cubs now only trail by a half game. Game four of five against Boston is tomorrow.