Baseball history unpacked, January 26

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.

Today in baseball history:

• 1895 - Baseball officials discuss the possibility of reinstating the old pitcher’s distance. They are dismayed by the explosion of offense, which resulted in “long drawn out and uninteresting contests. Besides the brainy pitcher of former days would be given another chance to display his ability in the science of the game.”
• 1932 - Chicago Cubs owner William Wrigley dies at the age of 70 in Phoenix, Arizona. Wrigley had owned the team since 1919. Wrigley’s son Philip inherits controlling interest in both the Cubs and the minor league Los Angeles Angels of the Pacific Coast League, but will leave most of the daily operations to Cubs president William Veeck.
• 1962 - New York Yankees outfielders Roger Maris and Mickey Mantle sign contracts with Columbia Pictures to appear in Safe at Home!, a movie that is to be shot during spring training. The movie will star Maris and Mantle as themselves and feature cameos by Whitey Ford and Ralph Houk.
• 1963 - Major League Baseball’s Rules Committee increases the size of the strike zone. The zone will stretch from the top of the batter’s shoulders to the bottom of the knees. The committee hopes the return to the 1950s strike zone will result in a decrease in runs scored. The results will exceed the committee’s expectations, and after the “Year of the Pitcher” in 1968, the strike zone will be tweaked again to give the hitters a break.
• 1983 - The Chicago White Sox trade pitchers Steve Trout and Warren Brusstar to their cross-town rival Cubs for pitchers Dick Tidrow and Randy Martz, and infielders Pat Tabler and Scott Fletcher.

Cubs birthdays: Rip Russell, Kevin Blankenship. Also notable: Bob Uecker.

Today in world history:

• 1793 - Louis XVI of France is executed by guillotine in Paris, following his conviction for “high treason” by the newly created French Parliament (Convention nationale), during the French Revolution.
• 1952 - Jawaharlal Nehru’s Congress party wins general election in India.
• 1968 - The Battle of Khe Sanh — one of the most publicized and controversial battles of the Vietnam War — begins at the Khe Sanh Air Base.
• 2008 - Black Monday in worldwide stock markets. FTSE 100 had its biggest ever one-day points fall, European stocks closed with their worst result since 9/11, and Asian stocks drop as much as 15 percent.

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!