Baseball history unpacked, February 22

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:

• 1881 - George Wright signs a contract with the Boston Red Caps which he states allows him not to travel with the team on western road trips, but just play in games played in New England and Troy, NY. The arrangement is necessary due to his business commitments. (2)
• 1885 - Boston Beaneaters P Charlie Buffinton invents a baseball “roller skate” that gives pitchers greater impetus and swing in their delivery while still allowing them to keep both feet on the ground. (2) More about this from SABR.
• 1889 - At the Villa Borghesi outside of Rome, the Chicagos edge the All-Americas, 3-2, before a crowd that includes King Humbert of Italy. (2) More about this road trip from the HOF.
• 1922 - Cards C Pickles Dillhoefer, 26, dies from typhoid fever following an operation. (2)
• 2017 - Major League Baseball adopts a significant rule change, as part of a strategy to speed up the game: a pitcher will no longer need to throw four pitches deliberately outside the strike zone in order to issue an intentional walk, but instead the defensive team’s manager will simply need to signal his intention to the home plate umpire, who will immediately direct the batter to advance to first base. However, given that there is on average one intentional walk every 2.5 games, the change is expected to have only a minimal impact on playing time. (2)

Cubs birthdays: Steve Barber, Eric Yelding, Brian Duensing. Also notable: Sparky Anderson HOF.

Today in history:

• 1632 - Galileo’s book “Dialogue Concerning the Two Chief World Systems” is published comparing the Copernican and Ptolemaic systems and whether the Earth orbits the sun.
• 1774 - British House of Lords rules authors do not have perpetual copyright.
• 1819 - The Adams–Onís Treaty between Spain and the United States is signed, ceding Florida to the US and defining the boundary between the US and New Spain.
• 1907 - 1st cabs with taxi meters begin operating in London.
• 1972 - US President Richard Nixon, meets with Chinese Premier Zhou Enlai in Beijing.
• 1980 - ”Miracle on Ice”: US ice hockey team beats the heavily favored Soviet Union, 4-3 at Lake Placid in one of the biggest upsets in Olympic history; Americans go on to win the gold medal.
• 1997 - Dolly the Sheep, world’s first cloned mammal (from an adult cell) is announced by the Roslin Institute in Scotland.

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 (this also includes the history bullets). Thanks for reading, and thanks also for your cooperation.