Baseball history unpacked, November 21

On Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays, Bleed Cubbie Blue is pleased to present a light-hearted, Cubs-centric look at baseball’s colorful past, with plenty of the lore and various narratives to follow as they unfold over the course of time. Here’s a handy Cubs timeline, to help you follow along.

Today in baseball history:

• 1888 - The Cleveland Spiders are formally admitted to the National League, creating a vacancy in the American Association. Cleveland will replace the Detroit Wolverines. (2)
• 1889 - The National League issues its reply to the Players League manifesto. Claiming that the League saved baseball in 1876 and that under the reserve rules players’ salaries have “more than trebled,” the NL denounces the Brotherhood movement as “the efforts of certain overpaid players to again control [baseball] for their own aggrandizement... to its ultimate dishonor and disintegration.” (2)
• 1893 - Ban Johnson is named president, secretary, and treasurer of the recently reorganized Western League. Under Johnson’s leadership the league will prosper and eventually become the American League. (2)
• 1933 - Philadelphia Phillies right fielder Chuck Klein, who won the Triple Crown after hitting .368 with 28 home runs and 120 RBI, is sold to the Cubs for $125,000 and veterans Mark Koenig and Harvey Hendrick, and rookie Ted Kleinhans. Hendrick will play one year with the Phillies, while Koenig and Hendrick quickly go to the Reds. Klein, who also led the National League in hits (223), doubles (44), extra-base hits (79), total bases (365), slugging percentage (.602), on base percentage (.368) and OPS (1.025), and finished second in runs (102) and fourth in steals (15), is the only player in major league history to be traded after a Triple Crown season. Klein will have two-plus seasons at Wrigley Field before returning to Philadelphia in 1936. (2)
• 1934 - In a pitchers transaction, the St. Louis Cardinals send 16-game winner Tex Carleton to the Chicago Cubs for Bud Tinning and Dick Ward, and cash considerations. Carleton will win 11 in Chicago while Tinning and Ward will help little. (2)
• 1949 - Bill Veeck sells the Cleveland Indians for $2.2 million to a local syndicate headed by Ellis Ryan. Hank Greenberg will be general manager. (1,2)
• 1959 - In the first inter-league trade, the Chicago Cubs send 1B Jim Marshall and P Dave Hillman to the Boston Red Sox for 1B Dick Gernert. (2)
• 1990 - Free agent signings today include P Mike Boddicker with the Kansas City Royals, P Danny Jackson with the Chicago Cubs, and P Tom Browning, re-signed by the Cincinnati Reds. (2)
• 2017 - The Commissioner’s office issues its ruling in the investigation of improprieties committed by the Atlanta Braves by willingly circumventing international signing rules from 2015 through 2017. Former General Manager John Coppolella receives a lifetime ban, and 12 prospects in the organization are declared free agents. The Braves are also forbidden from signing any prospect for a bonus of more than $10,000 in the 2019-20 signing period, their bonus pool will be cut by 50% the following year, and they will lose a third-round selection in the 2018 amateur draft while sanctions against other employees are expected to follow. The scam involved secretly diverting bonuses declared for certain prospects towards others governed by signing pool limits, in order to make it appear as if the team had not exceeded these limits. (2)

Cubs birthdays: Billy Clingman, Freddie Lindstrom HOF, Warren Hacker, Dick Bertell, Tony Balsamo, Alan Hargesheimer, Mike Mason, Quintin Berry, Robert Stock*. Also notable: Stan Musial HOF, Ken Griffey Jr. HOF.

Today in history:

• 164 BC - During Maccabbean revolt Judas Maccabaeus recaptures Jersusalem and rededicates the Second Temple, commemorated since as Jewish festival Hanukkah.
• 1783 - Jean-François Pilâtre de Rozier and Marquis d’Arlandes make 1st manned free balloon flight in a Montgolfier balloon.
• 1789 - North Carolina ratifies constitution, becomes 12th US state.
• 1922 - Rebecca L Felton (GA) sworn in as first female US Senator.
• 1925 - Red Grange plays final University of Illinois game, signs with Chicago Bears.

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.

*pictured.

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.

Also please remember that this is supposed to be fun.