... 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*. Beware of rabbit holes.
Today in baseball history:
- 1881 - The Providence Grays round out their roster by signing pitcher Charley Radbourn, who missed most of last season with a bad arm. (3)
- 1900 - Pitcher Jack Taylor, three-times a 20-game winner and 20-game loser, dies of Bright’s disease in Staten Island, New York, at 26 years of age. Not the same Jack Taylor that pitched for the Cubs. (3)
- 1916 - The Federal League’s year-old suit charging antitrust violations by organized baseball is dismissed by mutual consent in U.S. District Court in Chicago by Judge Kenesaw Mountain Landis. No appellate decision is written and it will not be until 1922 when the courts rule on antitrust, in another suit stemming from the Federal League.
- 1959 - Chicago White Sox president Mrs. Dorothy Rigney agrees to sell the team to Bill Veeck for a reported $2.7 million. Chicago insurance broker Charles O. Finley allows that he can match the price. Charles Comiskey, Dorothy’s brother, will try to stop Veeck from buying the Sox, but will be unsuccessful. (2,3)
- 1994 - Former National Basketball Association star Michael Jordan signs a minor league contract with the Chicago White Sox. Jordan will report to spring training before being assigned to the Double-A Birmingham Barons. After one season in the minors, Jordan will return to the NBA.
- 2014 - A class action suit is brought to federal court by former minor league players, who allege MLB teams violated the Fair Labor Standards Act and other state laws by not paying their farmhands minimum wage and overtime. The case filed as Senne v. the Office of the Commissioner of Baseball, initially scheduled for a hearing in February of 2017, will be postponed indefinitely until U.S. district court Joseph C. Spero decides the question of class certification. (1)
- 2019 - Hall of Famer Frank Robinson, a member of the 500 Home Run Club, a Triple Crown winner, the first player to win the MVP Award in both leagues, and the first African-American manager in major league history, passes away in hospice care in Los Angeles, CA at the age of 83. He was also a senior executive for Major League Baseball and was still serving as the honorary President of the American League. (3)
- Cubs birthdays: Ted Kennedy, Tom Daly, Pat Moran, Earl Whitehill, Dummy Lynch, Burt Hooton, Jon Leicester, Scott Feldman.
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 try to vet each item. Please let us know if an item is in error, especially if you have a source.
Thanks for reading.