Baseball history unpacked, February 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:

• 1884 - Billy Evans is born in Chicago, Illinois. One of the foremost umpires in history, Evans will spend 22 years in the American League. He will achieve great prestige for his fairness and unquestioned integrity. Following his umpiring career, in 1927 he will become the first full-time general manager in Cleveland Indians history. In 1973, the Hall of Fame’s Veterans Committee will select Evans for enshrinement. (2)
• 1910 - Major League owners are now forbidden to own more than one baseball franchise. (2)
• 1916 - In a sweet deal, the Chicago Cubs send cash to the sinking Chicago Whales of the Federal League and bring back defectors Three Finger Brown, Clem Clemens, Mickey Doolan, Bill Fischer, Max Flack, Claude Hendrix, Les Mann, Dykes Potter, Joe Tinker, Rollie Zeider and George McConnell. (2)
• 1920 - At a joint meeting in Chicago, IL, it is decided that all bleacher prices will be raised to 50 cents, pavilion seats to 75 cents, and grandstand seating to $1.00. Clubs may set aside bleacher space for kids under 14 at 15 and 25 cents if they wish. In other agreements, the May 15-August 30 player limits are raised from 21 to 25, and the American League prohibits player transfers after July 1st; the National League, after August 20th. (2)
• 1920 - “Wanting to make a clean breast of things”, Lee Magee admits to National League president John Heydler and Chicago Cubs president William Veeck that he tried to “toss” a game with the Boston Braves when he was with the Cincinnati Reds in 1918, but that the Reds won the game in the 13th inning. Heydler will later testify on June 8th that Magee told him he became suspicious that Hal Chase had double-crossed him and so he stopped payment on the check. (2)
• 1925 - At an American League meeting, a plan is adopted to alternate the site of future World Series openers by league rather than deciding it by a coin toss, with Games One, Two, Six, and Seven in one park and Three, Four, Five in the other, unless a ban on Sunday baseball interferes in one city. The clubs finishing fourth in the AL will share in the World Series pool. World Series umpires get a raise to $2,500, while umps in city series will earn $700. The plan was proposed in 1924, but is formally adopted at this meeting. (1,2)
• 1950 - The Cincinnati Reds sell veteran pitcher Johnny Vander Meer to the Chicago Cubs. Vander Meer, who gained most of his fame for pitching two consecutive no-hitters in 1938, struggled to a record of 5-10 in 1949 and will last only one season with the Cubs. (2)
• 2018 - The Cubs land one of the biggest remaining free agents of the off-season by signing P Yu Darvish for six years and $126 million. (2)
• 2020 - The ramifications of the 2017 Houston Astros sign-stealing scandal just won’t end. Today, former Dodgers pitcher Mike Bolsinger files a civil suit in Los Angeles Superior Court accusing the Astros of “unfair business practices, negligence and intentional interference with contractual and economic relations.” He points to an appearance on August 4th that season when he was lit up by the Astros, essentially ending his major league career, and asks for the Astros to forfeit the $31 million in bonuses resulting from their World Series win that year and give the money to charitable causes. (2)

Cubs birthdays: Bob Logan, Randy Jackson*, Cesar Izturis, Allen Webster. Also notable: Herb Pennock HOF.

Today in history:

• 1720 - Edmond Halley appointed as the second Astronomer Royal at the Greenwich Observatory.
• 1855 - US citizenship laws amended; all children of US parents born abroad granted US citizenship.
• 1897 - NY Times begins using slogan “All the News That’s Fit to Print.”
• 1920 - Baseball outlaws all pitches involving tampering with ball.
• 2021 - Astronomers confirm the planetoid named Farfarout as the most distant orbiting the Sun, almost four times more distant than Pluto.

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. Thanks for reading.