TODAY’S CUBS BIRTHDAYS (MAY 3)
~George Gore 1854–1933 (White Stockings 1879-1886)
Gore had one of the greatest nicknames of all-time; they called him Piano Legs. George was the centerfielder for the Cubs (then known as the White Stockings) during the team’s longest period of excellence. During Gore’s eight seasons, the team won the championship four times, including three years in a row (1880-1882). Piano Legs won a batting title (1880), hit over .300 six times, led the league in runs twice (1881-1882), and walks three times (’82, ’84, ’86), and still holds the club record most steals in a game (7). But George was also known as a big drinker and hell raiser off the field, and ran into constant conflict with team manager/captain Cap Anson. After the 1886 season, when some of the “drunks” on the team didn’t play up to their abilities in the World Series against St. Louis, Gore was shipped off to New York. (The others soon followed) In Anson’s book (which came out in 1900) he said that he saw Gore years later, and that his life had been ruined by “wine and women.”
