~Joe E. Brown, born July 28, 1892 (Cubs fan/movie star)
His name isn’t remembered by many people today, but Joe E. Brown was an actor, comedian, and baseball nut. He was also one of the biggest movie stars in America during the 1930s. He made his mark in a series of baseball movies, and in his two biggest box office hits (“Elmer, the Great” and “Alibi Ike”) he portrayed fictional players on the Chicago Cubs. Both of those films were written by the great baseball writer Ring Lardner, and filmed in LA’s Wrigley Field. Brown called the character of Elmer his all-time favorite: a lovable, walking, talking, egocentric braggart. Elmer also does something in the movie that we can only dream of witnessing…he hits a grand slam to win the World Series for the Cubs. Several real-life Cubs were in that movie too: Babe Herman, Larry French, Tuck Stainback, and the man who allegedly served up the pitch for Babe Ruth’s called shot: Charlie Root. In his next baseball movie, “Alibi Ike,” Brown played another Chicago Cubs player, pitcher Francis X. Farrell. They called him Alibi Ike because he had an excuse for everything. One of his famous lines: “I coulda won more than 30 games last year, but I had malaria half the season.” Brown’s Ike is a clowning excuse maker that forgets what made him who he is as he pursues his rookie season with the Chicago Cubs. But, like all of Brown’s characters, Ike has a heart of gold, and eventually gets back together again with his estranged girlfriend (Olivia de Havilland). Ike realizes that she is more important to him than wearing a Cubs uniform, and it’s not until he realizes it that he fulfills his baseball potential.
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July 30,1962
The All-Stars gather in Chicago's Wrigley Field to play their second All-Star game of the season. The first one was played in Washington in early July.
There are 21 Hall of Famers in the game on this Monday afternoon (yes, that's right, a Monday afternoon All Star Game). The American League has White Sox shortstop Luis Aparicio in the starting lineup, and Brooks Robinson, Yogi Berra, Al Kaline, and Mickey Mantle on the bench. Their other two hall of famers are in the bullpen; Jim Bunning and Hoyt Wilhelm.
The National League might be fielding one of the best lineups ever assembled. Roberto Clemente, Willie Mays, Orlando Cepeda, and Bill Mazeroski are in the starting lineup, Ernie Banks, Eddie Mathews, Hank Aaron, Richie Ashburn, Billy Williams, Stan Musial, and Frank Robinson are on the bench, and Bob Gibson, Juan Marichal and Warren Spahn are in the bullpen.
None of the Cubs (Banks, Williams, and George Altman) start for the National League, but all of them get into the game. Ernie Banks comes in the 5th inning, replacing Orlando Cepeda at 1B. He grounds out to first base in the bottom of the 6th, but triples to deep center field in the bottom of the 8th. He later scores on a Billy Williams’ groundout. Billy replaced Stan Musial in the 7th inning, and that is his only at-bat of the game. Earlier, George Altman pinch hit for Bill Mazeroski in the bottom of the 4th and flew out to end the inning.
Despite the powerhouse National League lineup, and the friendly National League crowd, the home team can't pull out a win.
LA Angels outfielder Leon Wagner is the MVP after hitting a two-run homer against Phillies pitcher Art Mahaffey. But he isn't the only one that belts a round-tripper. Red Sox infielder Pete Runnels and Cleveland outfielder Rocky Calavito both hit one too. Rocky’s is a three run bomb (in the 7th). He drives in four for the game. Dodger John Roseboro also hit a homer for the National League.
The final score was 9-4. The save is recorded by Baltimore Orioles (and future Cubs) pitcher Milt Pappas.
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August 2, 1923
President Warren G. Harding dies unexpectedly. He wasn't from Chicago, but Chicago nevertheless played an important role in the his presidency. For one thing, in 1920 he was nominated by Republican party leaders in a smoke filled Chicago hotel room; Suite 4046 on the 13th floor of the Blackstone hotel. Harding had lots of powerful friends in Chicago who helped propel him to the Presidency. A minority owner of the Cubs, Albert Lasker, was actually one of those Republican operatives who helped Harding secure the nomination in that smoke filled room.
Harding even attended a Cubs game during the Presidential campaign, at the invitation of a big supporter and friend; Cubs majority owner William Wrigley. After he was elected, Harding invited his all-time favorite baseball player, Cubs legend Cap Anson to the White House. But it was another minority Cubs shareholder, Harry Sinclair, that really had an impact on the Harding Presidency. He was at the heart of Harding's biggest scandal, Teapot Dome. In 1922, Albert B. Fall, U.S. Secretary of the Interior, leased, without competitive bidding, the Teapot Dome fields to Sinclair. When the Senate got wind of this, they investigated.
It was found that in 1921, Sinclair (photo below) also “loaned” Secretary Fall a large amount of money. Fall was indicted for conspiracy and for accepting bribes. Convicted of the latter charge, he was sentenced to a year in prison and fined $100,000. Sinclair was acquitted, but was subsequently sentenced to prison for contempt of the Senate and for employing detectives to shadow members of the jury.
Most of this was discovered after Harding's death on August 2, 1923. That's not all investigators discovered. During his time in his office, his veteran Bureaus chief skimmed profits from war surplus sales, bootlegged drugs to dealers, and took kickbacks from purchasing agents; his Alien property Custodian took bribes—using Harding’s Attorney General’s personal aide as a bagman; and Harding also had a young mistress, mother of his illegitimate child, and another mistress, who was inconveniently married to one of his friends.
Nevertheless the Republican party and the Chicago Cubs emerged from these scandals unscathed. The Republicans won again in 1924, and the Cubs overcame the loss of Harry Sinclair. They finished the 1923 season 12 games over .500.
