Baseball history unpacked, November 10

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:

• 1919 - Clark Griffith becomes a club owner and president when he joins Philadelphia grain broker William Richardson in buying controlling interest in the Washington Senators for $175,000. Griffith, unable to get financial help from the American League, mortgages his Montana ranch to raise funds. (2)
• 1930 - Veteran pitcher Hippo Vaughn is reinstated by Judge Landis after eight years of ineligibility. Vaughn, who had lost a double no-hitter duel to Fred Toney in the 1917 season, had jumped the Chicago Cubs in 1922. Vaughn chose to pitch for a semipro team following a salary dispute with Chicago. He will go to spring training with the Cubs in 1931 but will fail to make the team at age 43. (2)
• 1950 - After nine years at the helm, Cleveland fires their manager, Lou Boudreau, amid howls of fan protest. Although Boudreau’s overall winning percentage is a moderate .529, he won 92 games in a fourth-place finish - his best showing since 97 victories in the 1948 World Championship season. Al Lopez, who has piloted Minneapolis (American Association) since 1948, takes over with a two-year contract. (1,2)
• 1987 - In the closest vote in Cy Young Award history, Steve Bedrosian edges Rick Sutcliffe, 57-55, to win the National League honors. Bedrosian is the third relief pitcher ever to win the award in the NL. (1,2)
• 2003 - Florida Marlins pitcher Dontrelle Willis wins the National League Rookie of the Year Award. Willis is the only player in either league named on every BBWAA ballot. (2)

Cubs birthdays: Fred Roat, Willie McGill, Jim Cook, Carmen Mauro, Chick King, Mike Vail, Micah Bowie.

Today in history:

• 1630 - Failed palace revolution in France against Cardinal Richelieu.
• 1793 - France ends forced worship of God.
• 1871 - Henry Morton Stanley encounters David Livingstone at Ujiji, near Lake Tanganyika in Central Africa, with the immortal words ‘Dr Livingstone, I presume?’
• 1924 - Dion O’Banion, leader of the North Side Gang is assassinated in his flower shop by members of Johnny Torrio’s gang, sparking the bloody gang war of the 1920s in Chicago.
• 1940 - Walt Disney begins serving as an informer for the Los Angeles office of the FBI; his job is to report back information on alleged Hollywood subversives.
• 1969 - ”Sesame Street” premieres on PBS TV.

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.

Some of these items spread from site to site without being verified. That is exactly why we ask for reputable sources if you have differences with a posted factoid, so that we can address that to the originators and provide clarity if not ‘truth’. Nothing is posted here without at least one instance of corroboration