Baseball history unpacked, October 21

... on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays, Bleed Cubbie Blue brings a you 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 pertain to the scenes, such as reproductions of period newspapers, images, and/or other such material as is often found in the wild.

Today in baseball history:

• 1934 - An All-Star team led by Babe Ruth and Connie Mack sails on tour to Hawaii and Japan. Players with wives include Lou Gehrig, Jimmie Foxx, Charlie Gehringer, Lefty Gómez, Earl Averill and Lefty O’Doul. (3)

The Baseball Hall of Fame wrote about this. This is a better version of their footage.

• 1964 - After just 11 years in Milwaukee, the Braves’ Board of Directors votes to ask the National League for permission to move to Atlanta. Milwaukee County officials sue to block the move. (2,3)
• 1975 - Carlton Fisk breaks up one of the best games in World Series history with a home run in the 12th inning to give the Boston Red Sox a 7-6 victory against the Cincinnati Reds, forcing a seventh game to decide the winner of the 1975 World Series. In 2002 this event, seen by a record-75.9 million viewers, will be chosen as one of baseball’s most memorable moments. (1,3)

Box score.

• 2005 - On the eve of the World Series beginning in Chicago, Jim DeMint (R-S.C.) and Tom Harkin (D-Iowa) sponsor a resolution in the U.S. Senate calling for ‘Shoeless’ Joe Jackson to be “appropriately honored for his outstanding baseball accomplishments.’’ The former White Sox outfielder, considered to be one of the greatest players in the history of the game, was banned from baseball for life by commissioner Kenesaw Mountain Landis for his role in the 1919 ‘Black Sox’ Fall Classic fix. (1)

Text of S. RES. 289

• Cubs birthdays: Jack Hayden, Bill Lee, Johnny Goryl, George Bell*. Also notable: Whitey Ford (HoF).

*George Bell spent just one year with the Cubs, but he was an All-Star, hitting .285 with 25 home runs & 86 RBI for the 1991 team. He was traded for Sammy Sosa and Ken Patterson. Bell had one more good year with the White Sox and never played again in the majors after a disastrous 1993 season.

Sources:

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

Thanks for reading.