#OnThisDay in @chicagocubs history ▸ in the opening game of a @wrigleyfield twin-bill, outfielder Jim Hickman belts a game-winning, two-run, home run off of Expos reliever Don Shaw to give the Cubs a 7-6, come from behind victory and keeping the Cubs in first place.
Notably, third baseman Ron Santo pounded Hickman's batting helmet so hard, following the home run, that Hickman developed a migraine. This was also the homer that led Santo to begin his leaping, heel-clicking celebration, which defined the good times for the '69 team.
1963 - One loss shy of tying the major league record of 19 consecutive defeats, Roger Craig switches his uniform number to 13 in an attempt to change his luck. The move appears to work when Jim Hickman lofts a short fly ball in the ninth inning with two outs and the bases-full in a tie game, that just ticks the upper-deck overhang in left field at the Polo Grounds for a walk-off grand slam, giving the Mets an improbable 7-3 victory over the Cubs.
1963 - Jim Hickman hits a ninth-inning grand slam off reliever Lindy McDaniel, giving the Mets a two-out walk-off 7-3 victory over Chicago at the Polo Grounds. The game-winning round-tripper, a pop fly that grazes the overhang extending from the left field upper deck, ends Roger Craig's 18-game losing streak.
1963 - Lindy McDaniel becomes the second pitcher in major league history to give up a pair of game-ending grand slams in the same season when Mets pinch-hitter Jim Hickman goes deep, giving the Mets a dramatic 7-3 victory over the Cubs at the Polo Grounds. The Chicago right-hander, who also allowed Houston's Bob Aspromonte to end a game with a bases full walk-off round-tripper in June, joins Satchel Paige (1952) in accomplishing the infamous deed.
I now have a working theory that nationalpastime.com is managed by family members of Jim Hickman, otherwise there is no explanation for why a single August game between ass teams would warrant three blurbs, all of which feature Hickman’s grand slam. I mean, the man should have been given a ticker tape parade in Manhattan for beating the Cubs, but this seems a little much.
The minutes from the first Board of Directors meeting of nationalpastime.com unearths some troubling truths about bias in media.
In the Polo Grounds’ final game, played in front of a paltry 1,752 patrons, Jim Hickman of the Mets hits the last home run in the 52-year history of the Coogan’s Bluff ballpark. The iconic stadium, which served as the home for the Giants (1911-1957), Yankees (1913-1922), and Mets (1962-63), first opened it doors on June 28, 1911.
