» June 3, 1985: The Brewers select University of North Carolina catcher B.J. Surhoff with the first pick in what will prove to be an extremely fruitful free-agent draft. Surhoff was the catcher for the U.S. Olympic Team last summer, and fellow Olympians Will Clark (Mississippi State), Bobby Witt (University of Oklahoma), and Barry Larkin (University of Michigan) are drafted 2nd, 3rd, and 4th by the Giants, Rangers, and Reds, respectively. The Cubs get a good one in the 24th round: Mark Grace while the White Sox take Randy Velarde on the 18th round. The Brewers take Phil Clark with the 18th pick of the first round, following his brother Isaiah Clark who was a 1st round pick last year. Neither will play in the ML, but brother Jerald Clark, who goes to the Padres on the 12th round today, will make it. The Tigers pick a winner in the 22nd round with John Smoltz, then trade him in 1987.
» May 18, 1988:
In a deal made possible by the emergence of rookie 1B Mark Grace, the Cubs deal veteran 1B Leon Durham to the Reds for reliever Pat Perry.
» November 1, 1988: Chris Sabo, who hit .271 with 11 home runs and 46 stolen bases as the Reds 3B, wins the National League Rookie of the Year award. Chicago's Mark Grace is runner-up.
» July 30, 1989: Mark Grace belts a 2-out 3-run homer, off Rick Aguilera, to give the Cubs a 64 win over the Mets. Les Lancaster is the winner as the Cubs sweep three from the Mets.
» September 16, 1992:
The Cubs blow out the Phils 149 to give Greg Maddux his 18th win. Maddux gives up three earned runs in six innings. Led by Andre Dawson's four hits, the first four hitters collect 11 hits and 11 ribbies for the Cubs. Dave Hollins homers for the Phils, while Dawson, Ryne Sandberg and Rick Wilkins go deep for Chicago. Mark Grace makes his an error, ending his streak of 102 errorless games at 1B; his streak began after two errors on May 18 vs. the Dodgers.
» May 9, 1993:
Cubs 1B Mark Grace hits for the cycle in Chicago's 5-4 loss to the Padres. He is the 14th Cub to do so.
» July 20, 1994: Mark Grace collects four hits, including three doubles, as the Cubs beat the Rockies, 98. His 3rd double, in the 8th, drives home the game winner.
» July 12, 1995: Montreal defeats the Cubs by a score of 3-2. Throughout the game, Expo 1B David Segui shares his mitt with Chicago's Mark Grace as Grace's glove did not arrive at the ballpark due to a shipping mix-up. The player's leave the mitt in the field between innings, as players did at the turn of the century.
» August 18, 1995: In a slugfest at new Coors Field, the Cubs defeat the Rockies by a score of 26-7. A two 1/2 hour rain delay interrupted the contest which takes more than six hours to play. OF Luis Gonzalez drives home six runs for Chicago while Sammy Sosa goes 4-for-4, with four RBIs and four runs scored. Several ML records are tied by the Cubs: nine teammates each score two or more runs (Scott Servais and Sosa score 4, while Mark Grace plates 3); 14 Cubs hit safely, and 26 RBIs (ties the National League mark) are collected. The Cubs now have scored 20 or more runs 39 times, extending their ML record. Kevin Foster pitches the first three innings for Chicago, allowing only a Andres Galarraga homer before departing to rest with the Cubs up 91. Anthony Young picks up an easy win with one 1/3 innings of relief.
» April 19, 1996:
The wind is blowing out in Chicago, and Brian McRae, with a grand slam, Ryne Sandberg and Mark Grace hit consecutive homers in the 6th to give the Cubs a 106 win over the Giants. Losing lefty Mike Watson serves up five Cub homers and shows little respect for venerable Wrigley Field: "I hate this place. They should burn it down."
» June 18, 1996:
Cub 1B Brant Brown, recalled three days ago to fill in for Mark Grace, slugs three homers in four at bats in a doubleheader against the Dodgers. It's Brant's high water mark as he will return to Iowa on the 28th. The Cubs split the two games, losing the opener, 9-6, before winning the nightcap, 7-4.
» July 19, 1997: The Cubs sweep two from the visiting Rockies, 70 and 65, to hand Colorado its 15th loss in 16 games. Steve Trachsel tosses seven shut out innings in the opener for the win, and the Cubs score the winning run in the nitecap on Mark Grace's sac fly. The Rocks have 13 hits in the nitecap, but strand 14 runners. Larry Walker is 0-for-9 for the afternoon, dropping his average 10 points to .392.
» May 12, 1998:
The Cubs defeat the Diamondbacks, 76, as Chicago 1B Mark Grace becomes the 1st player to hit a home run into the swimming pool behind the right field fence at the BOB.
» May 4, 1999: The Cubs blow an early 8-2 lead, as the Rockies score three in the 6th, three in the 7th, and three in the 8th to take an 11-8 lead. Chicago bounces back with two in the bottom of the 9th, however, to defeat Colorado, 12-11. Cub 1B Mark Grace hits a bases-loaded homer in the 3rd inning, relinquishing his title as the active player with the most at bats without a grand slam (6,136 at bats). Cincinnati SS Barry Larkin is the new leader with 5,817 at bats.
» May 18, 1999:
1B Mark Grace's 3-run home run in the 11th inning gives the Cubs a 4-1 victory over the Marlins. SS Alex Gonzalez has all three of Florida's hits.
» March 29, 2000: The Cubs open the major league season in the Tokyo Dome in Tokyo, Japan, by defeating the Mets, 5-3, in the first big league game ever played outside of North America. Jon Lieber gets the victory and new ace Mike Hampton takes the loss. Shane Andrews hits the first home run of the new millennium. Mark Grace and Mike Piazza also homer.
» August 6, 2000:
The Padres defeat the Cubs, 8-6, behind rookie Adam Eaton, who gives up two runs in seven innings. Another rookie, Dan Garibay, takes the loss. In front of his home-town fans 1B Mark Grace records his first 5-hit day, going 5-for-5 for Chicago, with two doubles and a home run. Grace had his 1st ML hit and his first home run in San Diego.
» September 23, 2000:
At Wrigley, the Cardinals defeat the Cubs, 6-5, despite 1B Mark Grace's 1,000th career RBI for Chicago. Joey Nation makes his ML debut and takes the loss. His consolation is singling in his first ML at bat, off Britt Reames.
» October 1, 2000:
After Sister Sledge sings the National Anthem to a season-high crowd of 55,352, the Cubs edge the Pirates, 10-9, in the final game to be played at Three Rivers Stadium. The Bucs have a chance when the first three batters in the 9th single, but three outs follow, including the final PO by Mark Grace, who is then hugged by his teammates. Bucs soon-to-be manager Gene Lamont gets a 2-minute standing O when introduced.
» December 8, 2000: The Diamondbacks sign free agent 1B Mark Grace to a 2-year contract. Grace was with the Cubs for 13 years and had more hits in the 1990s than any other player.
» May 22, 2001: The Giants lose to the Diamondbacks, 12-8, despite Barry Bonds' 9th home run in the last six games. His streak of six straight games with homers is his 2nd of the season. Mark Grace has four hits, including two doubles.
» August 4, 2001:
In a 42 Mets win at Arizona, Mark Grace ends the game with a ground single, which hits pinch runner David Dellucci for the last out. It's the D-backs 7th loss in nine games.
» September 2, 2002:
The Dodgers pummel the Diamondbacks, 191, with only a 9th inning score preventing them from tying the team mark for most lopsided shutout ever. The 24 hits ties the mark for the team in Los Angeles. They score eight of their runs in the 7th inning, with Beltre and Kinkade homering in the frame. The last hit for LA is the first ML homer by Dave Ross, and it comes off Mark Grace, who pitches the 9th inning.
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