Baseball history unpacked, April 25

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 deep dives into various narratives that we can observe as they expand over the course of time. Here’s a handy Cubs timeline, to help you follow along. We also include Cubs’ player birthdays and a bit of world history, for context. Perfectly useful information, largely unread. Enjoy!

Happy Monday!

Today in baseball history:

• 1876 - Chicago Cubs 1st NL game, beats Louisville 4-0 (1st NL shutout). (2)
• 1904 - New York Highlanders pitcher Jack Chesbro posts the first of his 41 wins on the season, an American League record that still stands. (1,2)
• 1922 - In a 5 - 3 win over Detroit, Ken Williams of the St. Louis Browns hits his sixth home run in four days, off Howard Ehmke, tying Babe Ruth’s 1921 feat. Williams will take the American League home run and RBI titles and become the first 30-30 man in major league history, with 39 home runs and 37 stolen bases. (2)
• 1957 - The major leagues adopt a new rule that prohibits baserunners from interfering with batted balls in the field of play. The rule is adopted in reaction to recent actions by several Cincinnati Redlegs baserunners. Earlier in the week, Don Hoak and Johnny Temple had intentionally interfered with batted balls as a way of preventing double plays. (2)
• 1962 - Catcher Harry Chiti is traded for himself when the Cleveland Indians send him to the New York Mets in exchange for a player to be named later. On June 15th, the Mets will sell Chiti back to Cleveland to complete the deal. (2)
• 1976 - Chicago Cubs centerfielder Rick Monday rescues an American flag from two spectators who try to set it on fire in the outfield of Dodger Stadium. The incident happens in the 4th inning of a 5-4, 10-inning loss to Los Angeles. (1,2)

Cubs birthdays: Marty Shay, Fred Haney, Roy Parmelee, Dave Owen, Erik Pappas, Jacque Jones, Trevor Williams, Daniel Norris. Also notable: John Henry Lloyd HOF.

Today in world history:

• 1507 - German cartographer Martin Waldseemüller is the first to use the name America on his world map “Universalis Cosmographia”.
• 1684 - Patent granted for thimble.
• 1792 - Guillotine first used in France, executes highwayman Nicolas Pelletier.
• 1846 - Thornton Affair: Open conflict begins over the disputed border of Texas, triggering the Mexican–American War.
• 1953 - Francis Crick and James Watson’s discovery of the double helix structure of DNA is published in “Nature” magazine
• 1960 - 1st submerged circumnavigation of Earth completed by USS submarine Triton in 60 days, 21 hours.
• 1961 - Robert Noyce patents integrated circuit.
• 1990 - Hubble space telescope is placed into orbit by space shuttle Discovery.

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.

And thanks to JohnW53 and our other reader for additional wisdom.

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!