Baseball history unpacked, April 21

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:

• 1880 - George Wright turns down the Providence Grays’ final contract offer. Since the club has turned down an offer from the Worcester Ruby Legs, Providence will not allow any other club to negotiate with Wright. He will sit out the entire season (except for one game), becoming the first player victimized by the reserve system. (2)
• 1900 - At South Side Park, the Chicago American League entry opens with the White Stockings losing to the visiting Brewers, 5-4. (2)
• 1929 - At Wrigley Field before 45,000, the Cubs top the Cardinals, 4-0, with Guy Bush winning over Willie Mitchell. Rogers Hornsby is 4 for 4 with two doubles, but he will go 1 for 13 in his next three games. (2)
• 1934 - Washington Senators catcher Moe Berg sets an American League record by playing in his 117th consecutive game without an error. Berg, a backup catcher who plays sparingly for Washington, started the streak three seasons earlier. (1,2)
• 1959 - Stan Musial breaks up another no-hitter, as his seventh-inning double off Glen Hobbie is the Cardinals’ only hit in a 1-0 loss to the Cubs. (2)
• 1966 - The Chicago Cubs make one of the best trades in franchise history, acquiring future Hall of Fame pitcher Ferguson Jenkins** from the Philadelphia Phillies in a five-player deal. The Cubs surrender pitchers Bob Buhl and Larry Jackson for Jenkins, outfielder Adolfo Phillips, and first baseman John Herrnstein. Jenkins, who had made his major league debut in 1965, will win 20 games for the Cubs in 1967.
• 1967 - After 737 consecutive games, the Dodgers are rained out for the first time since moving to Los Angeles. The St. Louis Cardinals were scheduled. (1,2)
• 1991 - In the greatest extra-inning comeback in major league history, the Pittsburgh Pirates score six runs in the bottom of the 11th inning to erase a five-run Cubs lead built in the top of the inning on Andre Dawson’s grand slam. The Pirates had rallied earlier from a 7-2 deficit to tie the game in the 9th. (1,2)
• 2006 - Chicago Cubs first baseman Derrek Lee, last year’s National League batting champion and a two-time Gold Glove winner, will be sidelined at least two months with two broken bones above his right wrist. His glove hand was bent backward in a collision with Rafael Furcal of the Dodgers on April 19th. (2)
• 2011 - Major League Baseball and the Major League Baseball Players Association come to an agreement on paying pensions for major league players active from 1947 to 1979 who failed to qualify for benefits at the time. Until 1979, players needed to have completed four full years of major league service to qualify for a pension, leaving hundreds short. Since 1980, benefits accrue from the first day a player spends in the majors. 904 players will receive payments thanks to the agreement. (2)
• 2012 - With two-thirds of their starting outfield on the disabled list, the reeling BoSox make a trade after the game, acquiring CF Marlon Byrd from the Cubs in return for P Michael Bowden and a player to be named later. (2)
• 2016 - Jake Arrieta throws the first no-hitter of the year in the major leagues as the Cubs defeat the Reds, 16-0. It is the highest-scoring no-hitter since Pud Galvin won one by a score of 18-0 back on August 4, 1884. Kris Bryant homers twice, including a grand slam, to lead the offence. For Arrieta, who is now 4-0, 0.87 in four starts this year, it is his second career no-hitter. (2)

Cubs birthdays: Lefty Weinert, Bill Faul, Les Lancaster, Joc Pederson, Edwin Rios.

Today in history:

• 753 BC - Romulus and Remus found Rome (traditional date).
• 1820 - Danish scientist Hans Christian Ørsted is the first to identify electromagnetism, when he observes a compass needle.
• 1972 - Orbiting Astronomical Observatory 4 (Copernicus) launched.

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.