Baseball history unpacked, June 15

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. We also include Cubs’ player birthdays and a bit of world history, for context.

Today in baseball history:

• 1923 - Lou Gehrig makes his Major League debut with the New York Yankees as a pinch hitter. (2)
• 1928 - Ty Cobb of the Philadelphia Athletics steals home for the 54th and final time in his 24-year career to extend his major league record. It comes in the 8th inning against the Cleveland Indians. The Athletics beat Cleveland, 12-5, as Lefty Grove is the winning pitcher. (1,2)
• 1938 - Johnny Vander Meer of the Cincinnati Reds stuns the baseball world by pitching his second successive no-hitter in five days, defeating the Brooklyn Dodgers, 6-0, as Brooklyn plays the first night game ever at Ebbets Field. In front of 38,748 fans, including spectator Babe Ruth, Vander Meer strikes out seven and walks eight, including three one-out walks in the ninth inning. A force at home and a fly ball end the game. Vander Meer no-hit the Boston Bees, 3-0, on June 11th. (1,2)
• 1949 - Eddie Waitkus of the Philadelphia Phillies is shot by 19-year-old Ruth Steinhagen at Chicago’s Edgewater Beach Hotel. She will later be placed in a mental hospital. Waitkus battles for his life but will come back to play the following season. (1,2)
• 1964 - The St. Louis Cardinals make one of their best trades ever, acquiring outfielder Lou Brock from the Chicago Cubs for pitchers Ernie Broglio and Bobby Shantz and outfielder Doug Clemens. As a member of the Cardinals, Brock will set the all-time stolen base record and reach the 3,000-hit mark. (2)
• 1993 - In a small but necessary first step, Minor League Baseball bans the use of smokeless tobacco on the field, in dugouts and on any mode of transportation used by its teams, with violators subjected to fines and ejection. It will take until 2016 for Major League Baseball to adopt a similar measure as part of the Collective Bargaining Agreement. (2)
• 2020 - The impasse over the resumption of the MLB season gets deeper, as Commissioner Rob Manfred now states that there may not be a season at all. It was expected that he would decree a 60-game season, as allowed by the March 26th agreement between the MLBPA and owners, but he is now reluctant to do so. (2)

Cubs birthdays: Charlie Dexter, Babe Dahlgren, Gene Baker, Billy Williams HOF, Ty Cline, Ken Henderson, Champ Summers. Also notable: Wade Boggs HOF.

Today in world history:

• 763 BC - Assyrians record a solar eclipse that will be used to fix the chronology of Mesopotamian history.
• 1094 - Rodrigo Diaz de Vivar [El Cid] occupies Valencia on the Moren.
• 1215 - King John signs Magna Carta at Runnymede, near Windsor, England.
• 1667 - First fully documented human blood transfusion is performed by French physician, Dr. Jean-Baptiste Denys, when a small amount of sheep blood is transfused into a 15-year-old boy, who survives the procedure.
• 1804 - Twelfth Amendment to the US Constitution, establishing the procedure for electing the President and Vice President, ratified in Congress.
• 1844 - Charles Goodyear patents the vulcanization of rubber.
• 1924 - J. Edgar Hoover assumes leadership of the FBI.

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. 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.

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Also please remember that this is supposed to be fun.

Thank you for your cooperation. And thanks for reading!