A M-W-F digest, replete with #Cubs, #MLB, and #MiLB content, gathered from reputable sources. Happy birthday to Michael Hermosillo*, Chicago-area native, and others, plus news from yesteryear.
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:
- 1885 – The New York Clipper reports that Paul Hines has canceled his Washington Monument ball-drop exhibition. “The experiment of trying to catch a ball thrown from the top of the Washington Monument has proved to be a failure. The ball reaches the ground with such great speed that it indents the ground almost as much as a heavy cannon ball would dropped from a proportionate height. The fact is that, independently of the difficulty of judging the ball falling from such a height, the speed is too great to allow of any one holding it when it nears the ground.” (2)
- 1915 – According to the Cleveland Plain Dealer, the American League hometown franchise will now be known as the Indians replacing the nickname the Naps – a change due to Napoleon Lajoie, the player-manager for whom the team is presently named, leaving for the Philadelphia Athletics. Team owner Charles W. Somers asked the city’s baseball writers, who in turn asked their readers for suggestions. A false rumor claims that the origin of the name was former Cleveland Spiders outfielder, Chief Sockalexis. (2)
- 1934 – National League MVP Carl Hubbell comes to contract terms with the New York Giants. Hubbell, who won league honors unanimously in 1933, will earn $18,000 for the upcoming season. (1,2)
- 2002 – Commissioner Bud Selig indicates that the Washington, DC area is a “prime candidate” to get a team if a franchise relocates in the near future. The nation’s capital has two lost major league teams, the original franchise shifted to Minnesota and became the Twins in 1961 and were replaced by the expansion Senators who moved to Texas a decade later, becoming the Rangers. (2)
- 2008 – Major League Baseball owners unanimously vote to extend commissioner Bud Selig’s contract through the 2012 season. The contract extension will make Selig baseball’s second-longest-serving commissioner, behind only Kenesaw Mountain Landis. The vote comes in a week when Selig has been criticized by the U.S. Congress for not cracking down hard enough on steroids. (2)
- 2011 – The Nationals acquire P Tom Gorzelanny from the Cubs in return for three minor leaguers: OF Michael Burgess and Ps A.J. Morris and Graham Hicks. (2)
Cubs birthdays: Milt Scott, Bob Glenalvin, Hank Leiber, Don Zimmer, Pete LaCock, Tyler Houston, Jeff Beliveau, Michael Hermosillo*. Also notable: Louis Santop HOF.
Today in History:
- 1524 – Italian explorer Giovanni da Verrazzano’s sets sail aboard French ship La Dauphine to find a passage to China – finds North America instead.
- 1773 – Captain James Cook becomes the first to cross Antarctic Circle (66° 33’ S).
- 1905 – Punchboards patented by Charles Brewer & C G Scannell, Chicago.
- 1920 – First day of prohibition of alcohol comes into effect in the US as a result of the 18th Amendment to the Constitution.
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.