A M-W-F digest, replete with #Cubs, #MLB, and #MiLB content, gathered from reputable sources. Popeye in the news, and that ain’t all. Strong to the finish.
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 – The Executive Council of the Brotherhood of Professional Base Ball Players, formed the previous year, meets and chooses officers. Monte Ward is re-elected president, Dan Brouthers vice president, and Tim Keefe secretary-treasurer. (2)
- 1889 – The Joint Rules Committee of the National League and the American Association makes only minor changes in the playing rules, the most important of which is to allow two substitutes per team, up from one last season. (2)
- 1891 – The National League meets and dismisses the charges of collusion and game throwing against the eastern clubs brought by the Chicago Colts, thereby formally giving the Boston Beaneaters the pennant. The league also plans its strategy for conquering the American Association by consolidating the four strongest Association clubs into a 12-team league for next year. (2)
- 1899 – Chicago Orphans star outfielder Bill Lange returns to San Francisco, CA and vows he will never appear on the diamond again. He is only 28 and hit .325 this season. (2)
- 1926 – The Chicago White Sox fire one future Hall of Famer and replace him with another. Second baseman-manager Eddie Collins is released by the White Sox, despite his record of 81-72 and .344 batting average. He will rejoin the Philadelphia Athletics as a player-coach. In his place, Chicago hires catcher Ray Schalk, who will guide the White Sox to a record of 70-83 next season. (1,2)
- 1981 – Los Angeles Dodgers pitcher Fernando Valenzuela becomes the first rookie ever to win a Cy Young Award, edging Tom Seaver of the Cincinnati Reds by a 70-67 margin for National League honors. Valenzuela was the first rookie since Herb Score in 1955 to lead his league in strikeouts with 180. (1,2)
- 1987 – Jim Frey, who managed the Chicago Cubs to the 1984 NL East division title, and spent last season as a broadcaster for the Cubs, is named the club’s director of baseball operations. His first major move will be to hire longtime friend Don Zimmer* as manager on November 20th. (2)
- 1996 – Milwaukee Brewers owner Bud Selig meets with Don Fehr, the players’ labor leader, in a futile attempt to convince Fehr to accept the owners’ demands. With the deadline for an agreement at midnight on the 14th, there is virtually no hope that the two sides will agree. If the two sides reach the deadline without an agreement, the interleague schedule for next year will be wiped out, and a traditional schedule ensue. (2)
Cubs Birthdays: Bert Abbey, Rabbit Maranville HOF, Scott May. Also notable: Pie Traynor HOF.
Today in History:
- 887 – The end of the Carolingian Empire: King Charles III resigns as Emperor after a revolt led by his nephew Arnulf, the empire is then split up.
- 1400 – Battle of Aleppo: Timur and his army defeat the forces of Sultan Faraj, Mameluke ruler of Egypt, 20,000 people reportedly massacred and a pyramid of their skulls built.
- 1620 – Mayflower Pilgrims make their first landing in America, at Provincetown Harbor, Massachusetts.
- 1918 – WW I Armistice signed by the Allies and Germany comes into effect and World War I hostilities end at 11 a.m., “the eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month.”
- 1925 – The city of Chicago renames Municipal Grant Park Stadium as Soldier Field, in honor of US soldiers killed in combat during World War I.
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.
- 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.