Baseball history unpacked, March 15

Baseball history marches forth ... as always on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays, I bring 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. It’s all lightly unpacked and folded neatly, just for you.

You might learn something, but mostly, it’s for fun!

Today in baseball history:

• 1885 - A lower court in New York, NY decides that playing baseball on Sunday is a crime. This decision will be overturned, but it will be appealed. (3)
• 1925 - Chicago Cubs shortstop Rabbit Maranville breaks his leg sliding into third base in an exhibition game in Los Angeles, CA. At 33, the injury threatens to end his career, but Maranville will be back in the lineup by May 24th.
• 1945 - 1925 - Chicago Cubs shortstop Rabbit Maranville breaks his leg sliding into third base in an exhibition game in Los Angeles, CA. At 33, the injury threatens to end his career, but Maranville will be back in the lineup by May 24th.
• With World War II travel restrictions still in effect, the Brooklyn Dodgers open spring training at Bear Mountain, New York, with 15 players in camp. Seven teams - the St. Louis Browns, Detroit Tigers, Cincinnati Reds, Cleveland Indians, Chicago Cubs, Pittsburgh Pirates and Chicago White Sox - are training in Indiana, the most of any state. The Boston Red Sox are at Tufts College while the Boston Braves are prepping at the Choate School in Wallingford, Connecticut. (3)
• 1971 - Bernice Gera, a 39-year-old New York, NY housewife, files a lawsuit against organized baseball, claiming violation of her civil rights. Mrs. Gera had completed an umpire school and signed a contract to work in the New York-Penn League, only to see the deal be voided six days later with no explanation. Gera will eventually umpire one game before quitting.(3)
• 2012 - The website Baseball-Reference.com chooses to leave a blank space next to 2011 on its National League MVP list instead of identifying Ryan Braun as the award’s winner. The Brewers outfielder, who received a 50-game suspension scheduled to the start of the 2012 season, became the first player to successfully challenge the results of a drug test when an arbitration panel overturned the suspension due to the improper handling of the specimen taken last Fall. (1)
• Cubs birthdays: Roscoe Coughlin, Doc Casey, Dick Scott, Bob Locker, Bobby Bonds, Freddie Bynum, Jon Jay. Also notable: Harold Baines (HoF) (even if I have a hard time swallowing that one, he’s in)

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