#larry corcoran

[otd-in-cubs-history]

April 21, 2016

#OnThisDay in @chicagocubs​ history ▸ Pitcher Jake Arrieta becomes Jake ‘Pair-rieta’, throwing his second no-hitter (and the Cubs’ 15th overall) against the Cincinnati Reds in a 16-0 drubbing.  

Arrieta becomes the third Cubs pitcher to throw multiple no-hitters, following in the footsteps of Larry Corcoran and Ken Holtzman. Corcoran threw three, one each in 1880, 1882, and 1884 with Holtzman’s two coming in 1968 and 1971.

[otd-in-cubs-history]

May 1, 1880

#OnThisDay in @chicagocubs history ▸ The White Stockings record the first “walk-off” in @mlb history when Joe Quest’s ninth-inning single plates Larry Corcoran and Tom Burns, giving the North Siders a 4-3 victory over the Cincinnati Reds in Cincy*.

Prior to 1880, the rules of baseball simply did not allow for the possibility a “walk-off”. Here is the relevant rule from 1879:

The game shall consist of nine innings to each side, but should the score then be a tie, play shall be continued until a majority of runs for one side, upon an equal number of innings, shall be declared, when the game shall end. All innings shall be concluded when the third hand is put out.

In other words, no matter which club was ahead in the bottom of the ninth (or the bottom of an extra inning), the inning was not over until all three outs were made.

*Yes, the game was in Cincinnati rather than Chicago, but in 1880, a coin flip determined which team batted first.

Images (left to right): Joe Quest, Larry Corcoran, Tom Burns