Baseball history unpacked, November 17

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:

• 1887 - The National League meets and officially recognizes the Brotherhood by meeting with a committee of three players, Monte Ward, Ned Hanlon, and Dan Brouthers. (2)
• 1903 - Chicago Cubs shortstop Joe Tinker tells an interviewer that it is “impossible to fix” a major league baseball game. (2)
• 1940 - Jimmie Wilson is named as the new Chicago Cubs manager. He gets his reward for managing the woeful Philadelphia Phillies in the 1930s and for his late-season role filling in at catcher with the Cincinnati Reds. (2)
• 1953 - The St. Louis Browns officially become the Baltimore Baseball Club Inc. The Baltimore franchise board officially changes its name to the Orioles, the traditional name for baseball teams from the city.
• 1965 - Major League Baseball owners unanimously elect William D. Eckert as Commissioner, succeeding Ford Frick, who leaves office after 14 years. Eckert, a retired Lt. General in the United States Air Force, becomes baseball’s fourth commissioner. He will serve only one term before being replaced by Bowie Kuhn. (1,2)
• 2011 - The Chicago Cubs announce they have hired Dale Sveum as their new manager, replacing Mike Quade. Sveum managed the Milwaukee Brewers at the tail end of the 2008 season, ending a swoon and leading them through their first playoff appearance since the 1982 World Series, but has not managed since. (2)
• 2013 - Cubs prospect Kris Bryant is named MVP of the Arizona Fall League after batting .364 and leading the circuit in most hitting categories. (2)

Cubs birthdays: Tom Dettore, Mitch Williams, Darnell McDonald, Scott Moore. Also notable: Tom Seaver HOF.

Today in history:

• 1603 - English explorer, writer and courtier Walter Raleigh goes on trial for treason.
• 1869 - Suez Canal in Egypt opens, linking Mediterranean and Red seas.
• 1926 - NHL’s Chicago Black Hawks play their first game, beat Toronto St Pats 4-1.
• 1973 - US President Richard Nixon tells AP: “...people have got to know whether or not their president is a crook. Well, I’m not a crook.”

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