Some Cardinals-Cubs Series History

Happy Easter and it's Opening Day in Major League Baseball. It's a beautiful day in New Orleans right now. Let's have some fun.

Tonight, the St. Louis Cardinals visit the Chicago Cubs to kick off the 2015 MLB season. Chicago leads the series 1,190-1,116-19. In this decade however, the Cardinals lead the series 48-37 and they led the series last season 10-9. Yes, there were the St. Louis Brown Stockings. However, they folded after the 1875 season due to a game fixing scandal and the 1876-81 teams are not considered to be part of this St. Louis franchise.

Also, according to Wikipedia, there were 19 ties in the series, but those games aren't listed on mcubed.net (Cubs v Cards series). The ties are listed as losses for both teams, so I subtracted 19 losses from their records. The Baseball Reference head to head page isn't any better. The tie games aren't even counted in the head to head series. At least they're counted with overall records.

The series began in 1892, when the St. Louis Browns fell to the Chicago Colts 14-10. They went to extra innings 106 times. St. Louis leads the series in extra innings wins 58-48. In 1930, the Cubs and Cards went 20 innings before St. Louis won 8-7.

Believe it or not, in the 123 years of this rivalry, they never met in the playoffs. Prior to 1903, postseason games were considered exhibition games. With that said, before the series as we know it began, the St. Louis Browns did play the Chicago White Stockings (later the Cubs) in two "World Series." In 1885, they tied 3-3-1 and in 1886, the Browns won the series 4-2.

The most runs St. Louis ever scored against Chicago was a 21-3 win in 1977. There were also a couple of 20-5 victories in 1904 and 1925. The most runs Chicago ever scored against St. Louis was a 26-8 spanking in 1894.

Unlike football, shutouts are fairly common in baseball, so they won't be listed. Each team shut out the other at least once last season.

Here are a few other tidbits:

In 1898, the Chicago Colts changed their name to the Orphans. The name lasted until 1904, when they became the Cubs.

In 1899, the St. Louis Browns changed their name to the Perfectos. That only lasted one season. In 1900, they became the St. Louis Cardinals. The Perfectos went 84-67-4 that season.

On May 15, 1960, in the second game of a double-header, Don Cardwell of the Cubs threw the only no-hitter in the series against the Cardinals. Cardwell pitched a complete games and struck out 7 batters, including Hall of Famer Stan Musial. Chicago won the game 4-0. Cubs Hall of Famer Ernie Banks went 1-4. His only hit was a two run homerun.

In 1910 King Cole also threw a no-hitter against the Cardinals. However, the game isn't counted, because it ended after 7 innings.

And the series is renewed tonight. Good luck to both teams.

Until next time...

Have a great day!!!!

MLB All-Time Records, et al

With Opening Day coming this weekend, baseball returns to the national spotlight. Hopefully my Atlanta Braves will fare better this season than last. Also, thank you Readers, for checking out my past Today In posts.

I'm on mcubed.net MLB page and am having a little fun here. My Braves come into the 2015 season at with an all-time record of 10,382-10482. There are only 7 teams with a win total greater than 10,000: Chicago Cubs (10,503-10,277), Cincinnati Reds (10,307-10,109), Los Angeles Dodgers (10,156-9,368), New York Yankees (10,255-7,895), San Francisco Giants (10,876-9,514), St. Louis Cardinals (10,597-9,969), and the Braves. The Yankees have the MLB best winning percentage (56.5) and the the Giants have the NL's best percentage (53.3).

There are only two teams with more than 100 playoff game (including World Series) wins. The obvious and correct first guess is the New York Yankees. They have the most wins and a playoff record of 224-154. The other team is the St. Louis Cardinals, with a playoff record of 129-114. Now the Los Angeles Dodgers broke 100 in a different way. Their playoff record is 82-105 and 37 of those losses came at the hands of the Yankees.

The 14-61 New York Knicks are still Kings of the Cellar. They are 2-10 since my last post and are sporting an 8 game losing streak. The 16-59 Minnesota Timberwolves are nipping at their heels. Today's honorable mention goes to the 37-38 Milwaukee Bucks. They're 3-7 in their last ten games, but at least they're 3-2 since March 24.

I'm waiting on one more set of edit notes before putting the final touches on The Curse. Once I get them, the process should be quick. I also finished the first edit of Justice and will start the draft my inner circle will see. So far, the final checks of Second Chance look good. Someone is designing a cover, but until it's ready, I'll use a more generic cover.

Camp NaNoWriMo has started. For those of you who don't know, NaNoWriMo is National Novel Writing Month, which is in November. The Camp NaNoWriMo months occur in April and July. Although I participated in all three last year, I will not be participating in the camps this year. There's a ton of editing to be done from last year's camps, not including other works that need editing. However, this is subject to change.

Until next time...

Have a great day!!!

Counting the Days...

With eight days to go for NaNoWriMo, I have a good idea what story wants to be told. It lost the battle for July's Camp NaNoWriMo, but the story that wants to be told is one I started over three years ago, Return To Origin. The story is inspired by one of my favorite History Channel shows, Ancient Aliens.

I started writing this story soon after finishing the first draft of The Curse. Then I made the worst mistake involving Return To Origin. I stopped less than halfway through to begin editing The Curse. Since then, the writing process has sputtered at best. There were other issues, but they're mostly resolved now. However, that's no excuse to stop writing a novel in favor of editing another one.

In December, I have another decision to make. With four novels somewhere in the editing pipeline, should I participate in the April and July Camp NaNoWriMo? If I had to decide now, the answer would be no. However, it depends on how much time the upcoming edits and revamps take.

Speaking of, I'm currently revamping my novella, Rickshaw, New Mexico. So far, there are some minor rephrases and clarifications that were needed. The challenge will be my novel, The Curse, which is getting an overhaul. The story will remain intact. However, as my two-star reviewer said, it needed another edit. He was right and that's what's happening. After Rickshaw, The Hunted is next, followed by The Acts of 1.


Now for some sports trivia...

• Congrats to the Kansas City Royals for winning Game 1 of the World Series. This is their first World Series game they won in 10,587 days.
  
• Since we're counting days, here's another one. It has been 38,725 days since the Chicago Cubs last won the World Series (1908). The days continue.
  
• There are quite a few for football. Here are the teams who never made it to the Super Bowl, with the number of days since their last championship: Detroit Lions - 20,752 days (1957) and the Cleveland Browns - 18,197 (1964). The Houston Texans and Jacksonville Jaguars were born in the Super Bowl era, but never played in one.
  
• For one of the Super Bowl contenders, it has been 19,659 days since the Philadelphia Eagles won an NFL championship (1960).
  
• It's also been a long drought for three former AFL champions. The Buffalo Bills last won the AFL title 17,833 days ago (1965). It's been 18,554 days for the 1963 AFL Champion San Diego Chargers. Finally, the Houston Oilers (now Tennessee Titans) won their last AFL title 19,296 days ago (1961).
  
• One of the most famous Super Bowl games, Super Bowl III, it has been 16,720 days since the New York Jets won their only championship.

Counting all these days makes one thirsty. So who's drinking the beer in the cellar in the NFL? Why that would be this week's Kings of the Cellar, the 0-6 Oakland Raiders, who are on a 12 game losing streak and haven't won one since November 17 against the Houston Texans. This week's honorable mention goes to my 2-4 New Orleans Saints. This is a talent laden team who has performed like the New Orleans Saints teams of the 1970's. By no means is the season over nor have the Saints collapsed as past teams have. Unless they get their act together, they will be mentioned here again.

Here are historic scores for teams playing each other this week, October 23,

1955  Chicago Cardinals 24 - Philadelphia 24
1983 - Denver 14 - San Diego 6
1988  Minnesota 49 - Tampa Bay 20
1994  Denver 20 - San Diego 15
2011  Atlanta 23 - Detroit 16
2011  Houston 41 - Tennessee 7


Have a great day!!!

NBA & MLB Trivia, and Rickshaw, New Mexico

Wow! Three posts in a week. It's been a while. Camp NaNoWriMo is less than three weeks away and I'm still undecided about which story to write. A couple of nights ago, I wrote a second scene, this one dealing with the fallout from Rickshaw, New Mexico. More on Rickshaw in a bit. If this continues, Return To Origin may once again, go to the back burner.

Now what's going on with Rickshaw, New Mexico? From today until June 17, Rickshaw will be free for the Kindle. The link will be posted after the trivia. Speaking of...

Here's some NBA trivia...

Today in 1993, the Phoenix Suns beat the Chicago Bulls in triple overtime, 129-121. Michael Jordan led all scorers with 44 points. Dan Majerle led the Suns with 28. The Suns improved to 1-2 in the series, but the Bulls went on to win the NBA Championship 4-2.

Today in 1997, the Chicago Bulls defeated the Utah Jazz 90-86. Michael Jordan led all scorers with 39 and Karl Malone led the Jazz with 21. With this win, Chicago won the NBA Championship 4-2.

Today in 2001, the Los Angeles Lakers beat the Philadelphia 76ers 100-86. Allen Iverson led all scorers with 35 points. Shaquille O'Neal led the Lakers with 34. Los Angeles improves to 3-1 in the series and would win the NBA Championship 4-1.

And for some MLB trivia...

Today in 1975, the Big Red Machine got into a slugfest with the Chicago Cubs. By the seventh inning, the Cubs led the Cincinnati Reds 8-6, but the bottom fell out in the eighth. The Reds went on a 12-3 run and won the game 18-11. Johhny Bench and George Foster each hit a homerun for the Reds and  Jerry Morales hit a homerun for the Cubs.

Today in 1988, the St. Louis Cardinals and New York Mets took a 1-1 game into 12 innings. In the bottom of the 12th, Lee Mazzilli hit an RBI single to win the game 2-1. Darryl Strawberry hit a solo homer to get the Mets on the board. Bob Horner hit an RBI single to account for the Cardinals' score.

Today in 2006, a solo homerun by Robinson Cano was all the New York Yankees needed to defeat the Cleveland Indians 1-0. In a respectable effort, LP Paul Byrd struck out six batters.

If you want to explore more trivia and see the box scores, go to Basketball-Reference.com and Baseball-Reference.com.

So what's going on with Rickshaw?

Starting today, my ebook, Rickshaw, New Mexico is free until June 17. Click the link, download your FREE copy today, and please spread the word.

Have a great day!!!

Last Place Update

Welcome to the final Last Place Update of the MLB season. The 55-107 Houston Astros have repeated as Kings of the Cellar. They finished with one more loss than last season. The only other 100 plus game loser in MLB, the 61-101 Chicago Cubs, made it interesting by losing 14 of their last 18 games. The 64-98 Colorado Rockies round out the bottom three. It appears that once again, the 66-96 Minnesota Twins can't seem to stay off the radar, losing their last five games to overtake the 68-94 Cleveland Indians as the AL's worst team.

   The last repeat Kings of the Cellar, the Washington Nationals, finished the season with MLB's best record of 98-64. Could the Astros make the same kind of run in the coming years? Only time will tell.

   Once again, the 69-93 Boston Red Sox earn this week's honorable mention by doing a crash and burn worse than Minnesota, by losing their last eight games. They won the last honorable mention of the season last year. At least this time, they weren't in contention for a playoff spot.

  The Last Place Updates are a tongue-in-cheek look at the worst teams in whatever sport is featured. However, only a tiny percent of our population is good enough to play for a professional sports team and it doesn't matter if that team wins it all or dwells in the cellar. It is important to remember and appreciate that it takes a special kind of athlete to earn the privilege to play for a professional sports team, whether it is for only a season or a long Hall of Fame career.

   Hats off the Major League Baseball for yet again, another great season!!

   Note: The Last Place Updates for the NFL start tomorrow.

Last Place Update

Welcome to this week's Last Place Update. It's down to the wire now. The 58-94 Colorado Rockies have made their move, losing nine of their last ten games, but it's too little, too late. The 50-103 Houston Astros need two more losses or a Rockies win and an Astros loss to clinch a repeat as Kings of the Cellar. The 59-94 Chicago Cubs are a half game behind the Rockies and a win from being out of contention for the title. The AL worst Cleveland Indians are 63-90.

   This week's honorable mention goes to the Toronto Blue Jays. They lost ten of their last twelve games and have six straight losses. The MLB leading and the last repeat Kings of the Cellar champions Washington Nationals have earned an honorable mention. Although they have the best record in the majors, they lost six of their last nine games.

  Since the last update, the Astros are 2-4, the Rockies went 0-7, and the Cubs went 1-6. The Minnesota Twins did some winning and went 4-2, so they are off the radar for now.

   Last year's Astros were 53-100 after 153 games.

   Will the Astros clinch a repeat this week? Will the Rockies continue their collapse? Will the Cubs surprise everybody for no particular reason?

  Stay tuned. Have a great day!!

Last Place Update

Welcome to this week's Last Place Update. The new magic number is 6. The 48-99 Houston Astros did a little winning, but still lead the 58-88 Chicago Cubs by 10.5 games.  The Astros need six losses to clinch an outright repeat as Kings of the Cellar. The Cubs lead the 58-87 Colorado Rockies by half a game. The AL worst Minnesota Twins are  60-87.

   This week's honorable mention goes to the 78-68 Tampa Bay Devil Rays. They are 3-7 in their last ten games, losing five of their last six games.

   Since the last update, the Astros went 4-3, the Cubs went 4-2, both respectable numbers. However, the Rockies went 2-4 and the Twins went 2-5.

   Last year's Astros were 50-97 after 147 games.

  Will Houston clinch a repeat this week? Will the Cubs continue their winning ways and let Colorado be Houston's runners-up? Will Minnesota make a move on both teams?

  Stay tuned. Have a great day!!!

Last Place Update

Welcome to this week's Last Place Update.

   And so it's done. The last of the modern records of futility, the 2003 Detroit Tigers, is safe for another season. The last goal for the 44-96 Houston Astros to achieve is a repeat as the 2012 Kings of the Cellar. With 22 games to go, they have a ten game lead over the 54-86 Chicago Cubs, so unless the Cubs collapse further, a repeat is a forgone conclusion. The Cubs lead the 56-83 Colorado Rockies by 2.5 games. The AL worst Minnesota Twins are 58-82.

   This week's honorable mention goes to the Sox...yes, both of them. The Boston Red Sox are 1-9 in their last ten games and 6-19 since August 14. The AL Central leading Chicago White Sox are 3-7 in their last ten games and 4-9 since August 27.

   Since the last update, the Astros went 2-3, the Cubs 3-3, and Colorado's five game losing streak put them back on the radar. The Twins went 3-2.

   Last year's Astros were 47-93 after 140 games.

   Can the Astros maintain or increase their lead over the Cubs? Will Houston lose more games this year than  last year? Will Minnesota pull a September surprise? Can the Sox (either of them) win this week?

   Stay tuned. Have a great day!!

Last Place Update

Welcome to this week's Last Place Update. Now that Hurricane Isaac has passed and power has been restored, let's get started.

   The 1962 New York Mets' record of futility is safe for another year. The 42-93 Houston Astros have one game left to tie the 2003 Detroit Tigers modern record of cellar dominance. The 51-83 Chicago Cubs shrunk Houston's lead to 8.5 games. The 55-80 Minnesota Twins trail the Cubs by 3.5 games.

   This week's honorable mention goes to the 70-64 Pittsburgh Pirates. They're 3-7 in their last ten games, losers of their last four. The Pirates are 4-11 since August 18.

  Since the last update, the Astros went 2-5, the Cubs went 2-6, and the Twins went 3-5. The 55-78 Colorado Rockies did a little winning and went 6-3, getting themselves taken off the radar for now.

  Although it appears the 2003 Detroit Tigers' record will be safe for another year, they were 34-101 after 135 games.

  Will the Astros maintain their lead and repeat as Kings of the Cellar? Will the Cubs have a greater collapse and take Houston's title? Will the 62-74 Boston Red Sox, losers of their last seven games, give the Twins a run for the AL's worst team?

   Stay tuned. Have a great day!!!

Last Place Update

Welcome to this week's Last Place Update. It is a tie! Yup, the 40-88 Houston Astros are tied with the 1962 New York Mets for wins. One more win and the Mets' record will be safe for another year. The other magic number is four, with the 2003 Detroit Tigers. The Astros have a ten game cushion over the 49-77 Chicago Cubs and a 12 game lead over the 51-75 Colorado Rockies. The AL worst Minnesota Twins are 52-75.

   This week's honorable mention goes to the 56-70 Toronto Blue Jays. They are 1-9 in their last ten games, losers of their last seven.

  The Astros went 1-5 since the last update. The Cubs went 2-4, the Rockies went 4-2, and the Twins went 1-5 since then.

   The 1962 Mets were 30-92 and the 2003 Tigers were 31-91 after 122 games. Again, Houston need four wins to make both records safe for another year.

   Will the Astros do some winning or continue on their slide to repeat as Kings of the Cellar? Will the Cubs continue their losing ways? Will the Twins continue their collapse and make a run on all the leaders?

   Stay tuned. Have a great day!!!

Last Place Update

Welcome to this week's Last Place Update. The magic number is one. The 39-83 Houston Astros are one game away from the 1962 New York Mets 40-160 record of futility. The Astros have increased their lead to repeat as Kings of the Cellar champions over the 47-74 Chicago Cubs by 8.5 games. The 47-73 Colorado Rockies trail the Cubs by half a game. The AL worst Minnesota Twins are 51-70.

   This week's honorable mention goes once again to the 62-60 Los Angeles Angels. They're 3-7 in their last ten games, losing their last four and 5-13 in their last eighteen games.

   The Astros went 1-4 since the last update, the Cubs are 2-5, and the Rockies are 5-2. Last week's AL worst 54-67 Kansas City Royals did some winning and are now off the radar.

   If the Astros do a little winning, it won't be over yet. The 1962 Mets were 30-92 after122 games. The 2003 Detroit Tigers were 31-91 after 122 games.

  Will the Astros continue their plummet to a repeat? Will they do some winning and make both records of futility safe for another year? Will the Cubs do a classic collapse and make a run at the Astros?

   Stay tuned. Have a great day!!!

Last Place Update

Welcome to this week's Last Place Update. The 38-79 Houston Astros increased their lead over the 42-71 Colorado Rockies by six games on their quest to repeat as Kings of the Cellar. The 45-69 Chicago Cubs are still hanging around, only 2.5 games behind the Rockies. The AL worst Kansas City Royals are 49-65.

   This week's honorable mention goes to the 60-56 Los Angeles Angels. They are 3-7 in their last ten games and 3-9 in their last twelve games.

   Since the last update, Houston went 2-5, Colorado went 3-3, and the Cubs also went 2-5. The Royals did a little more winning and went 4-2.

   The magic number is now two. The 1962 Mets, who have the modern record of futility finished that season 40-120. After 117 games, the '62 Mets were 30-87. The 2003 Tigers were 31-86.

   Will the Astros post an 0-fer like Cleveland did last week and collapse further? Will the Cubs make a run of their own? Will the Royals win their way off the radar? Will the last repeat Kings of the Cellar champion Washington Nationals make a different run and finish the season with the best record in the majors?

   Stay tuned. Have a great day!!!

Last Place Update

Welcome to this week's Last Place Update. The 36-74 Houston Astros have solidified their hold on Kings of the Cellar by leading the 39-68 Colorado Rockies by 3.5 games. The 43-64 Chicago Cubs lost six straight and are back on the radar. They trail the Rockies by  four games. The AL Worst Kansas City Royals are 45-63.

   This week's honorable mention goes to the 50-59 Cleveland Indians. Anytime a team posts a goose egg and is not in last place, it earns an honorable mention spot. The Indians are 0-10 in their last ten games and are 5-18 since July 14.

   Since the last update, the Astros went 1-6, the Rockies went 2-5, and the Cubs went 1-6. The Royals did a little winning and went 4-3.

   The 1962 Mets and 2003 Detroit Tigers were 29-81 after 110 games. Houston is only seven games and a late season collapse from them.

   Will Houston totally collapse and not only repeat as Kings of the Cellar, but surpass the Tigers and Mets? Will the Cubs decide whether to win or lose? Will the Royals keep up its winning ways or make a run at Houston?

  Stay tuned. Have a great day!!!

Last Place Update

Welcome to this week's Last Place Update. Man, take a week off for the All-Star break and everything changes. What was a neck and neck race between the Chicago Cubs and San Diego Padres turned into a takeover of last place by the defending Kings of the Cellar champion, the 34-56 Houston Astros. The Cubs (36-52) and Padres (36-55) are now three and 1.5 games behind respectively. The 35-54 Colorado Rockies trail the Astros by a game and a half. The AL worst Minnesota Twins are 37-52.

   This weeks honorable mention goes to the New York Mets. The 46-43 Mets are 3-7 in their last ten games and currently in a four game losing streak.

  What is going on with the Cubs? They're 7-3 in their last ten games and 12-4 since June 25. The  Padres are 5-5 in their last ten games and 10-8 over the same period of time. Now the Astros, on the other hand, are 4-14 since June 25.

  The 1962 Mets and 2003 Detroit Tigers were 24-66 after 90 games. None of the competitors appear to be a threat to either of these records for now.

  Will Houston now dominate the cellar and repeat as Kings of the Cellar? Will the Cubs be the Cubs and stumble into last place? Will the Padres or Twins surprise everybody?

   Stay tuned. Have a great day!!!

Last Place Update

Welcome to this week's Last Place Update. The 29-49 Chicago Cubs lead by a slim margin over the 30-50 San Diego Padres for Kings of the Cellar. The 30-48 Colorado Rockies are nipping at their heels only trailing both teams by a game. The AL worst Seattle Mariners passed the Minnesota Twins and are at 34-47.

   This week's honorable mention goes to the Los Angeles Dodgers. They are 2-8 in their last ten games and 7-15 since June 8.

   The defending champion Houston Astros are making a move. They're 32-47, only 2.5 games behind the Cubs.

   Since the last update, the Cubs and Padres have been doing some winning. The Cubs are 5-1 and the Padres are 4-3 since the last update. The 1962 New York Mets were 21-57 after 78 games. Chicago is seven games off that pace. A more modern team of futility, the 2003 Detroit Tigers, were 18-60 after 78 games. At this pace, those records of futility may be safe for another year, but that's why they play the games.

   Will one of the leaders make a move and threaten one of these records? Will Houston have a late season collapse and overtake both San Diego and Chicago for last place?

  Stay tuned and have a great day!!!

Last Place Update

Welcome to this week's Last Place Update. The 26-47 San Diego Padres continue to nip at the heels of the current Kings of the Cellar, the 24-48 Chicago Cubs. The Cubs hold a slim game and a half lead over the Padres. The 27-44 Colorado Rockies are in third, 3.5 games behind the Cubs. The AL worst, 29-42 Minnesota Twins, are two games behind the Rockies and 5.5 games behind the Cubs.

   Once again, this week's honorable mention goes to the 34-38 Miami Marlins. They are 1-5 since the last update and are 3-15 since June 3.

   The defending Kings of the Cellar champion Houston Astros are 30-42, six games behind the Cubs.

   Since the last update, the Cubs went 1-4, the Padres went 2-3, the Rockies went 2-4, and the Twins went 3-3. The 1962 New York Mets were 20-52 after 72 games. The Cubs are four games behind that pace for modern futility. Will the Cubs sink further? Will the Padres pull the Cubs from the bottom of the heap?

   Stay tuned and have a great day!!

Today in 1982 - Chicago Cubs vs Pittsburgh Pirates

This one's for the suffering fans of the current Kings of the Cellar, Chicago Cubs. Today in 1982, the Cubs invaded Three Rivers Stadium to take on the Pittsburgh Pirates in this National League East rivalry game. Tom Filer of the Cubs would face off against Manny Sarmiento of the Pirates.

   Mike Easler put the Pirates on the board in the bottom of the second inning with a two run homer with Dave Parker on base. The Cubs answer in the top of the third on a RBI single by Ryne Sandberg, scoring Filer. In the top of the fourth, Chicago tied the game on a RBI single by Larry Bowa, scoring Leon Durham. The Cubs took the lead in the top of the fifth inning when Durham hit in Bump Wills. After five, the Cubs led 3-2.

   In the top of the sixth, Rod Scurry relieved Sarmiento with men on base and Chicago took advantage. Wills hit a single to left field, scoring Jody Davis. After getting Sandberg out, Scurry walked Bill Buckner, loading the bases. He faced Durham and on a full count, Scurry walked in Bowa. Enrique Romo relieved Scurry and got Steve Henderson out to close the inning.

  However, Pittsburgh would not go quietly into the night. In the bottom of the sixth, Dale Berra hit a double to left field, scoring Tony Pena. Berra came through again in the bottom of the eighth, this time against reliever Willie Hernandez, hitting a single to left field, scoring Parker.

   In the bottom of the ninth, all Chicago reliever Bill Campbell had to do was get out the side and the Cubs would win the game. He quickly got into trouble. By the time Parker came to bat, the Pirates had loaded the bases with one out. Parker hit the ball to first base and got out, but Johnny Ray scored, tying the game. Campbell got himself together and got Pena to hit a grounder for the third out. The game would go to extra innings.

   In the top of the tenth, Pirates reliever Randy Niemann faced Junior Kennedy with one out and a man on base. Kennedy hit a left to center field and Bowa scored. Niemann recovered and finished the inning with a runner in scoring position. In the bottom of the tenth, Pittsburgh batters once again faced Campbell. However, Campbell had a better inning and got the Pirates to go three up and three down. The Chicago Cubs beat the Pittsburgh Pirates 6-5.

   Although blowing a save opportunity, Campbell got his first win of the season, going to 1-3. Niemann got the loss, going to 0-1. Chicago improved to 26-44, 5th in the NL East. Pittsburgh fell to 30-44, 4th in the NL East. The Cubs trailed the NL East leading Montreal Expos by 14.5 games and the Pirates trailed the Expos by 7.5 games. Chicago ended the season at 73-89, 5th in the NL East and Pittsburgh finished the season at 84-78, 4th in the NL East.


Trivia

• There was only one Hall of Famer playing in this game: Ryne Sandberg of the Cubs.
• This was Lee Elia's first season managing the Cubs. He would be replaced in his second season by Charlie Fox, who himself was replaced by Jim Frey after the 1983 season. Elia also managed the Philadelphia Phillies from 1987-88.
• This was Chuck Tanner's sixth season managing the Pirates. He managed the team from 1977-85, leading them to a World Series championship in 1979. He also managed the Chicago White Sox (1970-75), Oakland A's (1976), and the Atlanta Braves (1986-88).
• Elia played for both Chicago teams, the White Sox in 1966 and the Cubs in 1968.
• Tanner played for the Milwaukee Braves (1955-57), Chicago Cubs (1957-58), Cleveland Indians (1959-60), and Los Angeles Angels (1961-62).
• Dale Berra is the son of Yogi Berra.
• Tony Pena went on to manage the Kansas City Royals from 2002-05.
• Larry Bowa managed the San Diego Padres (1987-88) and the Philadelphia Phillies (2001-04).
• Although he is best known for letting an easy ground ball go between his legs in the 1986 World Series that could have prevented the Boston Red Sox from losing to the New York Mets, Bill Buckner actually had a 22 year career in the majors. He played for the Los Angeles Dodgers (1969-76), Chicago Cubs (1977-84), Boston Red Sox (1984-87, 1990), California Angels (1987-88), and Kansas City Royals (1988-89).

Game stats can be found at Baseball-Reference.com on the box score page at Chicago Cubs vs Pittsburgh Pirates - June 23, 1982.

Last Place Update

Welcome to this week's Last Place Update. The 23-44 Chicago Cubs have a slim lead for Kings of the Cellar over the 24-44 San Diego Padres by half a game. The 25-40 Colorado Rockies are making a move by going 1-10 in their last eleven games. The AL worst Minnesota Twins are 26-39, a game behind the Rockies.

   This week's honorable mention goes to the Miami Marlins, who are 33-33 and 4th in the NL East. As with the Philadelphia Phillies last week, the Marlins are 2-8 in their last ten games. Miami is also 2-10 in the last twelve games.

   The defending Kings of the Cellar champion Houston Astros are 28-39, only five games behind the Cubs.

   With the Cubs going 3-4 and San Diego going 4-3 since the last Update, the 1899 Cleveland Spiders' record of futility is officially safe for another year. The 1962 New York Mets were 19-48 after 67 games, with only a four game difference between them and the Cubs. Will one of the contenders make a move on the modern record of futility?

   Stay tuned and have a great day!!

Last Place Update

Welcome to this week's Last Place Update. The teams are now engaged in interleague play, something the Update does all season long. The 20-41 San Diego Padres have a tenuous hold on their Kings of the Cellar status with a half game over the 20-40 Chicago Cubs. The Padres and Cubs need one more win to ensure the 1899 Cleveland Spiders will retain its 113 year old record of futility. The Minnesota Twins and Colorado Rockies are tied for third with a 24-35 record, five games behind the Padres.

   This week's honorable mention goes to the 29-33 Philadelphia Phillies. The Phillies are 2-8 in their last ten games, including losing the last two. Philadelphia is last in the NL East.

   The defending Kings of the Cellar champion Houston Astros are 26-34. After 60 games last season, the Astros were 23-37, only three games behind where they are now.

   The 1962 Mets were 16-45 after 61 games, four games behind San Diego's pace. Again, both San Diego and Chicago have tied the 1899 Spiders's season win total and only need one more win to surpass it.

Stay tuned and have a great day!!

Last Place Update

Welcome to this week's Last Place Update.  Before we get started, hats off to Johan Santana for doing something very un-1962-like; throwing the first no-hitter in New York Mets history.  Job well done!

   We have yet again, a new leader for Kings of the Cellar.  The 18-37 San Diego Padres leads the 18-35 Chicago Cubs by a game.  The Cubs lead the 20-33 Minnesota Twins by two games. San Diego went 1-3 since the last update to pass the Cubs, who went 3-3 since last week.  The Twins went 4-1, allowing San Diego to put some distance on them.

   This week's honorable mention goes to the Oakland A's, who went 1-9 in the last ten games and 5-15 in the last twenty games.  The A's have the second worst record in the AL.

   The defending champion Houston Astros are 23-31, definitely hanging around in case they crash and burn.

   After 55 games, the 1962 Mets were 16-39.  Although the Padres, Twins, and Cubs aren't a real threat at this time, as you can see, the Padres only have two more wins than the '62 Mets after the same number of games.  The 1899 Cleveland Spiders were 10-45 after 55 games and some team would have to have a complete collapse to come close to this infamous record..

   Who will have the lead next week?  Stay tuned.

  Have a great day!!!