Baseball history unpacked, March 8

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:

• 1900 - In New York, the National League meets, voting to shrink to eight teams. They pay the Baltimore owners $30,000 for their franchise, with Charles Ebbets and Ned Hanlon reserving the right to sell the players. Cleveland, Louisville, and Washington receive $10,000 each, with Louisville owner Barney Dreyfuss sending most of his players to his Pittsburgh Pirates team. The circuit will remain the same until the Boston Braves move to Milwaukee, WI in 1953. (1,2)
• 1913 - The Federal League is organized as a six-team outlaw circuit and elects John T. Powers president. It will play 120 games at a level equivalent to the lower minor leagues, but will enhance its status considerably in 1914 to challenge the major leagues. (1,2)
• 1923 - Judge Kenesaw Mountain Landis allows former New York Giants pitcher Rube Benton to return to the National League. Benton had admitted prior knowledge of the 1919 World Series fix, but remained active, winning 22 games for St. Paul (American Association). NL President John Heydler disagrees with Landis, calling Benton undesirable, but does not stop the Cincinnati Reds from signing him. Benton, at age 35, will be 14-10 for the second-place Reds. (1,2)
• 1966 - The Hall of Fame Special Veterans Committee waives one of its election rules and selects manager Casey Stengel as the newest member of the Hall. Stengel managed the New York Mets for much of the 1965 season before falling and breaking his hip. The injury ended the elderly Stengel’s career. Given his age, the Veterans Committee decides to make him immediately eligible for Cooperstown. (2)
• 2011 - Major League Baseball names Dodgers Assistant General Manager Kim Ng, the highest-ranking woman in the major leagues, as senior Vice-President of baseball operations. She will report to former Dodgers manager Joe Torre, who was named Executive Vice-President last month. (2)
• 2015 - In a spring training game, nine Braves pitchers combine on a no-hitter against the Astros, but the game ends in a 2-2 tie after 10 innings. Houston manages to scratch together a pair of runs without the benefit of a hit in the seventh, taking advantage of some wildness, as the Braves’ hurlers walk nine and hit a batter even though they don’t give up a safety. (2)
• 2019 - Major League Baseball announces that it has reached an agreement with the independent Atlantic League to have the circuit test out some potential rule changes this year, including larger bases, moving back the pitcher’s mound by two feet, limiting defensive shifts and imposing a minimum numbers of batters faced a by a relief pitcher brought into the game. All balls and strikes will also be called by an automated system, and not the home plate umpire, except for a few specific exceptions. (2)

Cubs birthdays: Jim Hughey, Toby Atwell, George Gerberman, Ryan Freel*. Also notable: Jim Bouton, Dick Allen, Jim Rice HOF.

Today in history:

• 1531 - Henry VIII recognized as supreme head of Church in England by the Convocation of Canterbury.
• 1817 - The New York Stock Exchange is founded.
• 1884 - Susan B. Anthony addresses U.S. House Judiciary Committee arguing for an amendment to the U.S. Constitution granting women the right to vote, 16 years after legislators first introduced a federal women’s suffrage amendment.
• 1913 - Internal Revenue Service begins to levy & collect income taxes.
• 1934 - Edwin Hubble photo shows as many galaxies as Milky Way has stars.
• 1948 - US Supreme Court rules in McCollum v. Board of Education that religious instruction in public schools is unconstitutional.
• 1971 - Joe Frazier ends Muhammad Ali’s 31-fight winning streak at Madison Square Garden, NYC; retains heavyweight boxing title by unanimous points decision over 15 rounds in the “Fight of the Century”.
• 2014 - Malaysia Airlines Flight MH370 with 239 people loses contact and disappears, prompting the most expensive search effort in history and one of the most enduring aviation mysteries.

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.