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:
- 1918 - John Heydler becomes president of baseball’s National League for the second time.
- 1919 - The National League votes to ban the spitball’s use by all new pitchers. The ban will be formally worked out by the Rules Committee in February. (1,2)
- 1935 - Ford Frick is re-elected National League president for two years and given a raise. The American League votes down night ball and awards a $500 cash prize for batting leaders retroactive to include Buddy Myer in 1935. (2)
- 1956 - The Cubs buy perennial backup C Charlie Silvera from the Yankees. They also trade pitchers Sad Sam Jones and Jim Davis, IF Eddie Miksis, and C Hobie Landrith to the Cardinals for pitchers Tom Poholsky and Jackie Collum, C Ray Katt, and a minor league pitcher. (2)
- 1972 - The major leagues make modifications to the official save rule, a statistic officially adopted before the 1969 season. A pitcher shall be credited with a save if, when entering a game as a reliever, he finds the tying or winning run on base or at the plate, and he preserves the lead. Or he pitches three effective innings and preserves the lead. The rule will be tweaked again, to take its lasting form, before the 1975 season. (2)
- 1993 - The Colorado Silver Bullets are officially recognized as the first all-women’s baseball team in the minor leagues. (2)
- 2011 - ESPN reveals that Ryan Braun, the reigning National League MVP, tested positive for PEDs during the postseason. Facing a 50-game suspension, Braun claims his innocence and announces he is appealing the test result. (2)
Cubs birthdays: Jimmy Johnston, Ed Donnelly, Steve Renko, Paul Assenmacher*, Rick Wrona.
*cover image
Today in world history:
- 1690 - Massachusetts Bay becomes the first American colonial government to issue paper money.
- 1799 - Metric system first adopted in France.
- 1817 - Mississippi admitted as 20th state of the Union.
- 1898 - Treaty of Paris which ended the Spanish–American War is signed by US President McKinley; US acquires Philippines, Puerto Rico and Guam.
- 1922 - First National Football League Championship: undefeated Canton Bulldogs (10-0-2) named inaugural champions.
- 1948 - UN General Assembly adopts the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.
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.
- For world 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.
Also please remember that this is supposed to be fun.
Thank you for your cooperation. And thanks for reading.