A M-W-F digest, replete with #Cubs, #MLB, and #MiLB content, gathered from reputable sources. Happy birthday to Miguel Batista.
On Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays, Bleed Cubbie Blue is pleased to present a light-hearted, Cubs-centric look at baseball’s colorful past, with plenty of the lore and various narratives to follow as they unfold over the course of time. Here’s a handy Cubs timeline, to help you follow along.
“Maybe I called it wrong, but it’s official.” — Tom Connolly.
Today in baseball history:
- 1889 – A tour of baseball players led by John Ward stages its first game in Europe, playing in Naples, Italy. (2)
- 1946 – Giants OF Danny Gardella becomes the first major leaguer to announce he is jumping to the “outlaw” Mexican League, lured by the wealth of Jorge Pasquel. This is the first shot in the series of events that will dominate baseball even more than the return of all the war veterans, as several prominent big-leaguers will follow but will generally be overshadowed by the league’s Negro League and Cuban stars. Gardella’s attempt to return to Major League Baseball a few years later will initiate a major court battle. (1,2)
- 1953 – Ted Williams safely crash-lands his damaged Panther jet after flying a combat mission in Korea. The plane was hit by enemy fire. (1,2)
- 1970 – Commissioner Bowie Kuhn announces the suspension of Tigers ace Denny McLain, effective April 1, for McLain’s alleged involvement in a bookmaking operation. The suspension will last three months. McLain declares bankruptcy.
- 2016 – The Federal Bureau of Investigations arrests player agent Bart Hernandez on charges of human trafficking and conspiracy stemming from his association with two convicted fraudsters and their role in extorting large amounts of money from Cuban players seeking to defect to the United States. A lawsuit filed by OF Leonys Martin prompted the FBI investigation. (2)
- 2018 – Commissioner Rob Manfred announces that he has come to an agreement with the Players Association on pace of play initiatives. Contrary to what he had announced a month earlier, the Commissioner retreats from his threat of imposing a pitch clock unilaterally. However, the two sides agree to place limits on the number of mound visits and to reduce the allotted time between innings. (2)
- 2019 – Manny Machado signs the biggest free agent contract in history**, agreeing to a ten-year deal worth $300 million with the San Diego Padres. This tops the $275 million given by the Yankees to Alex Rodriguez following the 2007 season. There were many teams interested in the infielder’s services, but only the unlikely Padres, in the middle of a rebuild, were willing to make the kind of long-term commitment that Machado was seeking. **This has been succeeded by larger deals in latter days.
Cubs birthdays: Jim Cosman, Miguel Batista*.
Today in History:
- 1594 – Having already inherited the throne of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth through his mother, Catherine Jagellonica of Poland, Sigismund III of the House of Vasa is crowned King of Sweden, succeeding his father John III of Sweden.
- 1803 – US Congress accepts Ohio’s bid for statehood, but neglects to ratify their constitution; an oversight that was not corrected until 1953.
- 1878 – Thomas Edison is granted a patent for his cylinder phonograph.
- 1906 – Will Keith Kellogg (after falling out with brother over development credit and wanting to add sugar to cereal) joins Charles D. Bolin in founding the Battle Creek Toasted Corn Flake Company, now the multinational food manufacturer Kellogg’s.
- 2002 – NASA’s Mars Odyssey space probe begins to map the surface of Mars using its thermal emission imaging system.
Common sources:
- (1) — Today in Baseball History.
- (2) — Baseball Reference.
- (3) — Society for American Baseball Research.
- (4) — Baseball Hall of Fame.
- (5) — This Day in Chicago Cubs history.
- (6) — Wikipedia.
- (7) — The British Museum.
- For world history.
*pictured.
Some of these items spread from site to site without being verified. That is exactly why we ask for reputable sources if you have differences with a posted factoid. We are trying to set the record as straight as possible. But it isn’t brain surgery.
Also, the ‘history’ segment is highly edited for space and interest. Of course a great many other things happened on those days. We try to follow up on the interesting or unfamiliar ones.
Thanks for reading.