September 17, 1908: Cubs stay hot and win 4-1. Also, the first person to ever die in a plane crash.

The Cubs made the most of their scoring chances today while their opponents, the Boston Doves, did not. The result was a 4-1 Chicago win ... their tenth win in the last 11 games.

Ed Reulbach picked up the win today for the Cubs despite a somewhat shaky performance. Granted Bid Ed came thru when he needed to, but the Doves actually outhit the Cubs 11-10 on the day.

Add in two walks and two Cub errors and Boston had runners on base in every inning except one. They also had a runner on third in four different innings, but only managed one run in the 7th when the Cubs already had a 4-0 lead. Needless to say, Reulbach didn't have his best stuff today, but had enough to fly the W.

I'm pitching in a sweater for crying out loud!

In the other dugout, Doves pitcher Tom Tuckey fared much worse, getting a super quick hook after giving up two hits, two walks, and a run in the first inning. Cecil Ferguson took over and managed to keep the Cubs scoreless until the 6th.

[Side note: I love the name Cecil. It's a crying shame that nobody names their kid Cecil anymore. "Oh look at beautiful baby Cecil, what a little angel!" Granted, I have a son and didn't name him Cecil, so I'm part of the problem, but I still love the name.]

Cute baby Cecil is all growed up!

Anyway ... in the 6th inning the Cubs managed to load the bases with one out and pitcher Ed Reulbach helped his own cause by delivering a two run single to break open the game. Jimmy Slagle then followed with an RBI single to center to give the Cubs a 4-0 lead. The Doves got one run in the 7th, but that was it. Final score 4-1.

In other news, it's not exactly a happy news story, but it is interesting to learn that today in 1908 featured the first person in the history of mankind to die in an airplane crash. Now this was for actual motorized aircraft. I'm sure plenty of doofuses had sealed their own fate over their years trying to fly with makeshift wing-like concoctions, but that's their own fault for being dumb.

Unfortunately for Army first lieutenant Tom Selfridge, he became the footnote in history that holds this dubious "honor." Selfridge was the passenger on a flight in Fort Meyer, Virginia with legendary aviator Orville Wright. Wright was fresh off his record-setting flight from just a few days ago, but on this day things didn't go nearly as well.

The right propeller of the aircraft broke, causing a vibration that then split the propeller in half and destroyed the rear vertical rudder. At the time the plane was 75 feet in the air and Wright managed to glide it the ground, but the plane hit the ground nose first and both passengers were thrown from their seats.

Wright was seriously injured and spent seven months in the hospital, but Selfridge hit his head on one of the wooden uprights of the frame of the plane, fracturing his skull and leading to his death. It was later determined that wearing any kind of helmet would've likely saved his life, so from this point forward all Army pilots were required to wear protective headgear.

Selfridge was 26 years old and is buried at Arlington National Cemetary (Section 3, Lot 2158, Grid QR-13/14 if you're ever visiting), which ironically happens to be located very close to the site of the actual accident.

Fort Meyer Crash, 1908

OK back to baseball ... the Cubs win sends them to 85-52 on the year. The Giants continued to stay red hot and won as well, so the Cubs still trail by three games. With the Boston series over, the Cubs now head to Philly for a five game series. Meanwhile the Giants start a huge four game series with the second place Pittsburgh Pirates.