A M-W-F digest, replete with #Cubs, #MLB, and #MiLB content, gathered from reputable sources. Big Z makes his mark in the Caribbean League, and other stories.
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:
- 1886 – Albert Spalding begins a sporting goods company with $800. He will become the manufacturer of the first official baseball as well as tennis balls, and equipment for basketball, golf and football. (2)
- 1934 – The St. Louis Cardinals and St. Louis Browns decide to cease broadcasting home games. The teams hope the move will result in better attendance at their shared ballpark.
- 1942 – Major League owners hold a meeting to discuss regulations to be used during World War II. The owners decide to have each team play 14 night games, except for the Washington Senators, who will be permitted 21 games under the lights at Griffith Stadium. Two All-Star Games will be played, one with a military All-Star team. Curfews are set for night games with no inning to start after 12:50 a.m. (2)
- 1965 – Milwaukee Braves officials propose a $500,000 payment to county officials if the club’s lease to play in Milwaukee can be terminated a year early. The offer is refused. (1,2)
- 1979 – The Minnesota Twins trade star first baseman Rod Carew to the California Angels for outfielder Ken Landreaux and three lesser players (Dave Engle, Paul Hartzell and Brad Havens). Carew, who hit .333 for the Twins in 1978 and is the reigning AL batting champion, had vowed never to play again for owner Calvin Griffith after he made disparaging remarks against black players a few months earlier. He will hit .318 for the Angels this season and will be inducted into the Hall of Fame in 1991. (2)
- 2014 – In a matchup of unbeaten teams at the 2014 Caribbean Series, the Navegantes del Magallanes knock out Naranjeros de Hermosillo starter Nate Reed in the second inning, up 4-0, with Ezequiel Carrera scoring and driving in runs. Carlos Zambrano* winds up the victory in a 6-3 win. Mexico is down, 4-3, with Jon Weber on third in the 6th but Luis Ramirez retires cleanup man Zelous Wheeler and No. 5 batter Daryle Ward. Ramón Hernández hits a two-run insurance homer off Jose Lopez. In the other game, Villa Clara again falls flat, losing, 9-2, with Jon Leicester of Licey tossing seven innings of shutout three-hit ball. (2)
- 2022 – With the start of spring training threatened, MLB proposes that a federal mediator be invited to assist in the talks with the Players’ Association in order to help resolve the issues that have led to the current lockout. However, the players will reject the offer within 24 hours, asking instead for the owners to table the counter-proposal to their latest offer, as promised earlier. (2)
Cubs birthdays: Newt Randall, Don Kaiser, Joe Coleman.
Today in History:
- 1451 – Sultan Mehmed II, the Conqueror inherits the throne of the Ottoman Empire.
- 1488 – Bartolomeu Dias and his crew are the first Europeans to land on South African soil at Mossel Bay (east of modern Cape Town).
- 1809 – Territory of Illinois organizes (including present-day Wisconsin).
- 1882 – Circus owner P. T. Barnum buys his world-famous elephant Jumbo.
- 1928 -Paleoanthropologist Davidson Black reports his findings on the ancient human fossils found at Zhoukoudian, China, in the journal Nature and declares them to be a new species he names ‘Sinanthropus pekinensis’ (now known as ‘Homo erectus’).
- 1959 – Plane crash known as “The Day the Music Died” kills musicians Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens, J. P. Richardson (aka The Big Bopper), and the pilot near Clear Lake, Iowa.
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.
- 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.