August 10, 1908: "Quitter" Cubs lose 5th straight. Also, brushing your teeth with acid.

The Cubs lost their 5th straight today, 3-2 to the Giants, despite Orval Overall throwing a one hitter. Also, brushing your teeth with acid.

Things are going from bad to worse this week for the Cubs. Plain and simple ... the Cubs don't have their heads in the game right now, as witnessed by yet another day where they come out of the gates terribly and give up a bunch of unearned runs in the first inning. A walk, errors by Johnny Kling and JImmy Slagle, and then the one hit of the day by Giants catcher Roger Bresnaham gave the home team a 3-0 cushion that was enough for a 3-2 win.

Cubs pitcher Orval Overall deserves all the credit on the day. After that one hit in the first, he didn't even allow another baserunner until a Joe Tinker error in the 8th allowed one man to reach.

All this while dealing with the emotional stress of his wife being seriously ill back in Chicago. Overall had even been prepared to leave the team this morning to be with her, but when he received a telegram on his way to the train station that reported his wife's condition as improving, he decided to turn around and stay to help the team. Despite all that, his teammates totally let him down today.

Thanks for nothing, guys!

Not only that, but the Tribune accused many Cubs players of straight up quitting on the team. They pointed out that in these tough times, several Cubs players "curled up like a basketful of Saratoga chips in a frying pan," and weren't even bothering to hustle out ground balls hit in the infield. Not a good sign at all.

[Side note: These are Saratoga chips, and they look delicious]

Mmmm ... chips

Christy Mathewson didn't have his best stuff, scattering seven hits and only striking out two, but it was enough to take down a slumping Cubs team that may or may not even care if they win or lose right now. Pretty much the only good news on the day is that the Pirates also lost, so the deficit for the Cubs remained four games. Not exactly a cause of much celebration though.

In other news, bad tooth advice! Now I will at least give the Tribune credit for telling people that taking care of your teeth is an important thing to do. Not enough people in 1908 did this. Heck not enough people in 2016 do this!

That said, I'm not sure I agree with the advice.

1) Brush your teeth immediately after meals. [OK ... this one I agree with]

2) Keep two fairly stiff toothbrushes on hand. [Meh ... I kinda prefer "soft" myself]

3) Use one brush for two days, and then wash it in carbolic acid water and let dry in the sun for two days. [Ummm ... hang on ... acid on my toothbrush? Come again?]

You know, I'm gonna go ahead and pass on the whole "put acid on your teeth" thing. Now carbolic acid is something that's found in stuff like aspirin and Chloraseptic, but it also was extracted from COAL TAR, so I think I'll pass on it when it comes to the care of my toothbrush.

So I'll give you an "E" for effort on at least attempting at some tooth advice, but I'm gonna stick to my Colgate for now.

No.

In summary ... the Cubs loss drops them to 56-42 on the season. Pittsburgh also lost, so the Cubs remain four games back and in third place. One final game with the Giants tomorrow, followed by a huge series with the first place Pirates.