Baseball history unpacked, October 29

On Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays, Bleed Cubbie Blue brings a you a light-hearted, Cubs-centric look at baseball’s colorful past, with plenty of the lore and deep dives into various narratives that expand over the course of time. Here’s a handy Cubs timeline, to help you follow along. Don’t be afraid to click the links for ‘inside baseball’ on the entries, which change from year to year as we re-examine the subjects.

Today in baseball history:

• 1942 - Branch Rickey, the architect of the St. Louis Cardinals minor league system, resigns as the team’s vice president. The future Hall of Famer will become the president of the Brooklyn Dodgers. (1,2)
• 1979 - Hall of Famer Willie Mays severs all ties to Major League Baseball after signing a contract with the Bally Corporation, which is involved with legalized gambling in Atlantic City, New Jersey. (1,2)
• 1981 - Bill Giles, Phillies vice president for the past 11 years, heads a group that purchases the club for just over $30 million, the highest price paid to date for a major league club. Giles is the son of long-time National League president and Hall of Fame member Warren C. Giles. (1,2)
• 2001 - Commissioner Bud Selig says Major League Baseball is considering eliminating two teams by the start of next season. Contraction would include the Montreal Expos and either the Minnesota Twins or the Florida Marlins. (2)
• 2018 - The Mets hire prominent player agent Brodie Van Wagenen as their General Manager, replacing Sandy Alderson. Other GMs have worked briefly as agents in the past, but none so prominent as Van Wagenen, who heads his own firm, CAA Baseball, and has a number of his clients currently playing in the organization. (2)

Cubs birthdays: Mark Baldwin, Solly Hofman, Richie Barker, Arismendy Alcantara.

Also notable: Bob Ross, Winona Ryder, Richard Dreyfuss, Andy Dalton, Dan Castellaneta.

Today in history:

• 1390 - First trial for witchcraft in Paris.
• 1618 - English adventurer, writer and courtier Walter Raleigh is beheaded for allegedly conspiring against King James I of England.
• 1889 ”World Championship” Baseball Series, Polo Grounds, NYC: defending champion NY Giants (NL) beat Brooklyn Bridegrooms (AA), 3-2 in Game 9 to claim series, 6-3.
• 1929 - ”Black Tuesday” Wall Street Stock Market crashes triggering the “Great Depression”.
• 1945 - Happy Chandler resigns as US Senator, remains as baseball commissioner
• 1967 - Galt MacDermot, Gerome Ragni and James Rado’s musical “Hair” premieres in NYC
• 1969 - US Supreme Court orders end to all school segregation “at once”.

Common sources:

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

There is a very active baseball history community and there are many facets to their views. We strive for clarity. Please be aware that we are trying to make the historical record as represented by our main sources coherent and as accurate as is possible. No item is posted here without corroboration. Some of these items spread from site to site without being verified. That is exactly why we ask for reputable sources, so that we can address them to the originators. BBRef is very cooperative in this regard, as are SABR and the Baseball Almanac. We have removed thenationalpastime from our sourcing list, as there have been multiple complaints about their content and they do not respond to attempts to communicate.

Thank you for your cooperation.