Baseball history unpacked, January 4

A wildly popular Cubs-centric look at baseball’s past. Here’s a handy Cubs timeline, to help you follow along as we review select scenes from the rich tapestry of Chicago Cubs and Major League Baseball history. The embedded links often point to articles that I’ve chosen as illustrative of the scenes, from The Society for American Baseball Research, reproductions of period newspapers, images, and other such material.

Today in baseball history:

• 1884 - Pitcher Larry Corcoran, who had signed with the Chicago team of the outlaw Union Association, breaks his contract to re-sign with his old club, the Chicago White Stockings of the National League. (3)
• 1898 - After the death of Charles H. Byrne, team secretary Charles Ebbets replaces the one-third owner as president of the Bridegrooms (Dodgers). The team’s former office boy and future owner will also manage the Brooklyn nine for the last 110 games of the season, finishing tenth in the 12-team National League circuit. (1)
• 1904 - The Highlanders (Yankees) announce plans to play their Sunday home games this season at Long Island’s Ridgewood Park. In March, the National Commission’s chairman August Herrman will announce he will not allow the club to play there due to the close proximity of the ballpark to Brooklyn, the home of the National League’s Superbas (Dodgers). (1)
• 1918 - The Chicago Cubs acquire Boston Braves pitcher Lefty Tyler in exchange for Larry Doyle, Art Wilson and $15,000. Tyler will win 19 games for the Cubs this year. (1)
• 1942 - Rogers Hornsby becomes the 14th player selected to the Hall of Fame, getting 78 percent of the vote, while both Frank Chance (58%) and Rube Waddell (54%) miss out. Hornsby’s offensive numbers rival those of any player before or since. He and Ted Williams are the only players to win the Triple Crown twice, and Hornsby’s .424 mark in 1924 is the highest National League batting average in the 20th century. (3)
• 1977 - Mary Shane is hired by the Chicago White Sox as the first woman TV play-by-play announcer. (3)
• 1995 - Five bills aimed at ending the Major League Baseball strike are introduced in the United States Congress. (3)

Good article on the strike by Cliff Corcoran.

• 2002 - Tony Tavares, citing he is tired of losing, resigns as the president of the Angels. The 52 year-old executive, who was also the chairman of the NHL’s Mighty Ducks, assumed the baseball post after Disney bought the team from Jackie Autry in 1996. (1)
• 2005 - Wade Boggs, a five-time batting champion, and Ryne Sandberg, a nine-time Gold Glove Award winner at second base, are elected to the Hall of Fame. Boggs becomes the 41st player elected to Cooperstown in his first year of eligibility, while receiving 474 of the record number of 516 votes cast (92%). Sandberg receives 393 votes, six more than the minimum number. Relief pitchers Bruce Sutter (66.7%) and Goose Gossage (55%), and outfielders Jim Rice (59.5%) and Andre Dawson (52%), are the only other players to be named on at least half of the ballots cast. All four will be voted in over the next five years. (1)
• 2008 - The city of Chicago gives approval for the Cubs to add 70 ‘bullpen box seats’ and to incorporate additional signage at Wrigley Field. The 93-year-old ballpark, due to its landmark status, needed permission from the Department of Planning and Development to make the changes. (1)
• Cubs Birthdays: Al Bridwell, Alex Metzler, Ted Lilly, Kris Bryant.

Sources:

• (1) — The National Pastime.
• (2) — Today in Baseball History.
• (3) — Baseball Reference.
• (4) — Society for American Baseball Research.
• (5) — Baseball Hall of Fame.

Thanks for reading. #Cubsnews