Cubs historical sleuthing: Ron Santo edition

Here we have a photo of Ron Santo and Rusty Staub, two players who were significant contributors to their teams for many years. Santo’s in the Hall of Fame, as you all know. Staub played 23 MLB seasons and is definitely a Hall of Very Good player, with 2,716 career hits, 292 home runs and an excellent nickname from his time in Montreal, “Le Grand Orange.”

Here, we see Staub playing for the Expos, where he spent three seasons from 1969-71, sliding into third base with Santo about to catch a throw. Santo is standing right on third base, unfortunately the photo crops here cut that part out.

So when was this?

First, this has to be 1971. Why? Santo’s hair is why. He didn’t wear his hair that length or have sideburns that long until that year. Here’s a photo of Santo with his family taken on Ron Santo Day at Wrigley Field, Aug. 28, 1971 — the hair basically matches.

This is going to be a puzzle for you. I have identified have two possible plays this photo could be from, and I am not sure which one it is, though I lean toward one of them.

Play 1: July 19, 1971, top of the sixth

Staub was on second base after he walked and advanced to second on a single. Then he stole third! That’s … unusual. Staub stole only 47 bases in his entire career and was looked at as rather a lumbering slugger. The pitcher was Ken Holtzman, a left-hander, so it’s possible we are seeing Holtzman whirling and trying to throw Staub out at third.

Play 2: Sept. 2, 1971, top of the fourth

Staub was on second base after he walked and advanced to second on a single. (No, that’s not copy/paste by accident — the setup was exactly the same!)

Then Staub was forced at third, pitcher to third base. The pitcher was Juan Pizarro, a left-hander, so it’s possible we are seeing a throw from the left-handed Pizarro on a ground ball by Gary Sutherland, a right-handed hitter.

This photo really could be either one of those plays. I lean toward the first one, only because it was so rare to see Staub try to steal that a photographer might have tried to quickly grab a shot. Plus, the Cubs had fallen well out of contention by September 1971 and it seems more likely a photographer in that era would have been at a July game than a random Thursday afternoon game in September.

What do you think? You make the call.