Chicago Cubs veteran writes great baseball history on his 30th birthday

The Chicago Cubs lost to the Cleveland Guardians on Monday night at Progressive Field in Cleveland. The 9-8 game dropped the Cubs’ season record to 59-61, while the Guardians’ win moved them to 70-49.

The loss puts the Cubs 4.0 games behind the third and final wildcard spot in the National League.

Cubs veteran Ian Happ played on his 30th birthday and had a historic night in many ways, batting 1 for 2, hitting one home run, two RBIs, three walks and scoring three runs.

According to @OptaSTATS, this has never happened in over 50 years of baseball history.

Happy 30th birthday to Ian Happ of the @Cubs who had a home run and three walks tonight.

The only other player in the modern era (since 1901) to hit a home run and walk more than 3 times in a game on his birthday was Baltimore’s Boog Powell on August 17, 1970.

But it wasn’t just Happ’s offense that went down in history: His defense did too, according to Sarah Langs of MLB.com:

Ian Happ is the first player since 1900 to hit a home run and multiple assists in the outfield on his birthday

Birthdays are important

h/t @EliasSports

Happ also threw out Austin Hedges and David Frye at second base.

Happ has just a .230 batting average this season, but has provided plenty of power with 20 home runs and 67 RBIs. He has an OPS of .784 entering Tuesday’s game.

His batting average was .247. He made his debut in 2017.

On Tuesday evening, the Cubs will face the Guardians again.

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