BCB reader Clark Addison sent me this photo just because he thought it was funny, showing umpire Bruce Froemming in the middle of expectorating.

He didn’t expect me to want to sleuth it, but… come on now, you know me pretty well by now. I had to do it.

So what do we know about this photo? Froemming, obviously, is one of the base umpires. The player in the background is Neifi Perez, he’s instantly recognizable. From the angle of the photo, Neifi is playing second base in this game. And, it’s a day game where it’s probably somewhat rainy, as we see some fans wearing ponchos.

Neifi Perez played for the Cubs from Aug. 19, 2004, when he was signed after the Giants released him, until Aug. 20, 2006, when he was traded to the Tigers. Then-Cubs GM did Neifi a solid by doing that — the Cubs were on their way to a 96-loss season, and the Tigers made the World Series. That made Neifi almost $300,000.

Anyway, over that time span there were 22 games in which Neifi Perez played second base in a day game at Wrigley Field.

In how many of those games was Bruce Froemming a base umpire?

There are two. One of those games was played Thursday, Aug. 11, 2005 against the Cardinals. The thing is, though, there’s video of that game and it shows that it was mostly sunny that afternoon, even though the boxscore says “overcast” at game time.

So that leaves the first game of a doubleheader Thursday, Aug. 3, 2006 against the Diamondbacks. This DH has been referenced here before; as a reminder, this is the most recent single-admission doubleheader at Wrigley Field. It was done that way because the previous night’s game was rained out and there wasn’t time to hastily arrange a split DH under the conditions and league rules of the time.

That would also explain the somewhat smallish crowd you see in the photo, even though a full house of 40,715 was reported for that doubleheader. A doubleheader hastily rescheduled would likely have fans arriving late, and I personally recall that afternoon as drizzly early, with the sun coming out about the time the nightcap started.

The Cubs lost this game 10-2. A five-run first inning off Carlos Marmol did the Cubs in. Yes, Marmol was dabbling in starting pitching at the time and that didn’t work well at all. He posted a 5.99 ERA in 13 starts that year and never started a game after 2006.

Just another little slice of Cubs and Wrigley Field history.