Baseball history unpacked, March 3

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:

• 1932 - In Century, Florida, Boston Red Sox pitcher Ed Morris dies at age 32 of knife wounds inflicted in a fight at a party given in his honor two days ago in Brewton, Alabama. Boston owner Bob Quinn is reported to have had a New York Yankees offer of almost $100,000 for the pitcher. (2)
• 1953 - The Boston Braves, owners of the Milwaukee minor league franchise, block the St. Louis Browns’ attempt to shift their franchise to Milwaukee. Lou Perini, the Braves’ owner, invokes his territorial privilege, stating he has not been offered enough for the rights. By the time the season starts, it is the Braves who will have made Milwaukee their new home. (1,2)
• 1967 - The White Sox are given permission to use a semi-designated hitter in training camp. With home club permission, clubs will be allowed to use a designated pinch hitter twice in the same game. (1)

• 1984 - Peter Ueberroth, the highly successful chairman of the Los Angeles Olympic Organizing Committee for the upcoming Summer Games, is elected to a five-year term as Commissioner of Baseball. Ueberroth will take office on October 1st, succeeding Bowie Kuhn. (1,2)
• 1998 - Hall of Fame broadcaster Jack Brickhouse undergoes surgery to remove a tumor from the lining of his brain. (2)

Cubs birthdays: Art Bues, Joe Jaeger. Also notable: John Ward HOF, Willie Keeler HOF.

Today in history:

• 1791 - Congress establishes US Mint.
• 1845 - Florida becomes 27th state of the Union.
• 1887 - Anne Sullivan begins teaching six-year-old blind-deaf girl Helen Keller.
• 1913 - Woman’s suffrage procession through Washington, D.C. organized by Alice Paul and Lucy Burns and led by Inez Milholland. Ida B. Wells marched with her Illinois delegation despite Blacks being told to march in a separate section.
• 1917 - US Congress passes first excess profits tax on corporations.
• 1931 - ”The Star-Spangled Banner” officially becomes US national anthem by congressional resolution; lyrics by Francis Scott Key in 1814, set to John Stafford Smith’s 18th century tune “The Anacreontic Song”.

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.