Baseball history unpacked, November 25

... 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:

• 1889 - Sporting Life reports that New York Giants owner Andrew Freedman wants to reduce the National League to eight clubs and purify the game by eliminating “certain parties who have been unduly prominent in the sport for cheap notoriety and the money there is in it.” (3)

See also for more Freedman.

• 1930 - The Sporting News selects Giants first baseman Bill Terry (.401, 14, 117) as the NL’s Most Valuable Player, and Senator shortstop Joe Cronin (.346, 13, 126) receives the American League honor. The Associated Press also names Joe Cronin as its unofficial AL MVP, and the Baseball Writers Association awards the National’s MVP to Hack Wilson, with the Cubs presenting him with the $1000 bonus for receiving the honor. (1,3)
• 1941 - With only three years of major league experience, shortstop Lou Boudreau is named as the Cleveland Indians’ manager. He takes over for Roger Peckinpaugh, who moves up to the front office as the Indians’ general manager. At the age of 24 years, four months, and eight days, Boudreau becomes the youngest skipper to pilot a team in the 20th century. Scotland-born Jim McCormick managed Cleveland in 1879 at age 23. (3)
• 1944 - Judge Kenesaw Mountain Landis, the first Major League Baseball Commissioner, dies of a heart attack at age 78 in Chicago. Landis had ruled over baseball since November 1920 in the wake of the Black Sox scandal, and wielded authority perhaps unparalleled in any other industry. Landis had entered the hospital on October 2nd. He will elected to the Hall of Fame on December 9th in a special ballot. (1,3)
• 1958 - The Baseball Writers Association of America names Chicago Cubs slugger Ernie Banks as the National League Most Valuable Player. Willie Mays of the San Francisco Giants is the runner-up. (3)
• 2002 - The Red Sox hire the youngest general manager in major league history. Twenty-eight-year-old Theo Epstein, a lifetime Red Sox fan who grew up about a mile from Fenway Park, becomes the team’s eleventh GM since the club first established the position in 1933. (1)
• 2003 - The Chicago Cubs trade first baseman Hee Seop Choi (who hit .210 with 10 home runs and 32 RBI) and Mike Nannini to the World Champion Florida Marlins in exchange for Gold Glove first baseman Derrek Lee (.271, 31, 92). (1,3)
• Cubs birthdays: Frank Corridon, Joe Vernon, Jakie May, Jim Weaver, Ben Wade, John Pyecha, Chico Walker, Randy Veres. Also notable: Joe DiMaggio HOF.

Common 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.

*We vet each item as much as time allows. Please let us know if an item is in error, especially if you have a source. Thanks for reading!