August 28, 1908: Cubs get a day off as they prepare for two more big games against the Giants. Also

The Cubs are riding high after their 5-1 victory in the first game of the series against the first place Giants, and all of Chicago (OK ... all of Cubs Nation) is officially gripped with pennant fever.

Trailing by just two and a half games, the Cubs and Giants continue their huge showdown tomorrow as Hall of Fame legends Christy Mathewson and Mordecai "Three Finger" Brown take the mound to face each other. Man ... talk about a game that makes you wish television was invented so we could watch a replay of it today! Big Train vs. Three Finger ... I love it!!!

Cubs fans were lined up around the corner today in an attempt to get a shot at the 6,000 reserved seats for each of the next two games, as depicted in this cartoon that ran in the Tribune today ...

In addition to the game itself, two electric scoreboards will be set up in downtown Chicago to relay the game results to interested fans ... one in front of the Tribune offices on Michigan Ave, and the other on top of the Illinois Central station on Randolph Street. Needless to say, Cubs fans are PUMPED for this series!

In the meantime let me ask this question ... What do you do when a baby is weird looking? I mean lets be honest here, we say things like "ALL babies are beautiful," but I think we all know darn well that some of 'em are just kinda weird looking, right?

Every time we go visit a new baby, we know we are pretty much obligated to say "My what a BEAUTIFUL baby!" Even if the child was born with a lizard tongue and devil horns, we'd still be terrified to say anything other than "My what a BEAUTIFUL baby!"

Oh and while I'm ranting about babies ... what's the fascination with having to go "see the baby" after they're born? I have two kids and I didn't find either of them that exciting when they were born. Yes, they're a miracle of life and all that blah blah, but they're also just crying poop factories that don't bring much to the table in terms of conversation or personality. Further, it was really an inconvenience more than anything else to have to deal with random company that came over with the sole goal of "seeing the baby."

Hey look ... it's the baby!

Yup.

Ummm ... now what?

OK ... back to weird looking babies. The Wheaton County Fair was taking place this week in 1908, and today was the cute baby contest. So here's blue ribbon winner George Water Snyder ...

I look like mini Al Capone

So yeah ... I ... uh ... My what a BEAUTIFUL baby!!!

[Side note: That's a hell of a head on that kid.]

We return to baseball tomorrow. The Pirates won 1-0 today in the only game in the National League, so they actually take over second place by a half game over the Cubs, but Chicago can leapfrog them over the course of the next two days with wins against the Giants. Get ready for the huge pitcher's duel tomorrow!