Baseball history unpacked, November 22

... on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays, Bleed Cubbie Blue brings a you a lighthearted 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.

Today in baseball history:

• 1883 - New York Gothams owner John B. Day proposes a resolution to prohibit a team from signing a player who has broken the reserve clause of his contract. This resolution, eventually adopted by both the American Association and National League, effectively changes the reserve clause from a device to protect owners from their own greediness to a vindictive weapon to be used against uncooperative players. (3)

More on the League Alliance here.

• 1890 - 1890 - At the American Association annual meeting in Louisville, the Philadelphia Athletics are expelled for violating the league’s constitution. A new team in Philadelphia is admitted, plus entries from Boston, Washington and Chicago, replacing Syracuse, Toledo and Rochester. (1,3)

More about this and related matters here. And the history of the Phillies here.

• 1934 - The Chicago Cubs acquire future Hall of Fame infielder Fred Lindstrom and pitcher Larry French from the Pittsburgh Pirates for outfielder Babe Herman and pitchers Guy Bush and Jim Weaver. (1,3)
• 1957 - After 22 seasons, Larry Goetz is unwillingly “retired” as a National League umpire by Warren Giles. The discharged arbiter had been critical of the Senior Circuit because of the league’s refusal to include umpires in the players’ pension fund. (1,3)
• 1972 - Future Hall of Fame catcher Johnny Bench of the Cincinnati Reds wins his second National League MVP Award in three years. Bench beats out Chicago Cubs outfielder Billy Williams, who also ran second to Bench in the 1970 MVP balloting. (1,3)
• 1983 - The Players’ Association fires executive director Kenneth Moffett after barely a year in the job and chooses Donald Fehr as his successor. (3)
• 2004 - At a lunchtime celebration at Union Station, which includes a protest, the recently relocated Washington National League franchise announces its new name, logo, and colors. Using the official original name of the district’s team which used the nickname the Senators from 1901-56, the club clad in red, white, blue, and gold will be known as the Nationals. (1)
• 2011 - Major League Baseball and the Players Association sign a memorandum of understanding on a new five-year Basic Agreement, ensuring fans of uninterrupted baseball through the 2016 season. The new deal includes mandatory testing of blood for HGH, 15 teams in each league by 2013, another round of playoffs, two more wild-card teams, and the expansion of the use of instant replay. (1)

Here’s the text.

• Cubs birthdays: Dick Bartell, Lew Burdette, Joe Nathan.

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.