On Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays, Bleed Cubbie Blue is pleased to present a Cubs-centric look at baseball’s colorful past. Here’s a handy Cubs timeline, to help you follow the various narrative paths.
“Maybe I called it wrong, but it’s official.” — Tom Connolly, HoF Umpire.
Happy birthday to Dave Hansen* and other former Cubs.
Today in baseball history:
- 1883 – The American Association agrees to expand to 12 teams by admitting the Brooklyn Atlantics, Indianapolis Hoosiers, Toledo Blue Stockings and Washington Nationals. (2)
- 1913 – Joe Tinker is out as the Cincinnati Reds manager, but is still their property as a player. On December 12th he will be sold to the Brooklyn Robins for $25,000, $10,000 of which goes to him. Pitcher Earl Yingling and outfielder Herbie Moran are sent to Cincinnati later as part of the deal. When Brooklyn owner Charles Ebbets puts off signing Tinker, he jumps to the Federal League, signing to manage the Chicago Whales for $12,000. (2)
- 1953 – The Brooklyn Dodgers sign the relatively unknown Walter Alston to a one-year pact as their manager for next season. Alston, who had served as the skipper of the Dodgers’ Triple-A affiliate in Montreal, replaces Chuck Dressen after Pee Wee Reese turns down the job. Alston will manage the Dodgers in Brooklyn and Los Angeles over the next 23 seasons, winning 2,040 games and four World Championships. He will sign a one-year contract every year. (1,2)
- 1976 – Bob Kennedy is named head of baseball operations for the Chicago Cubs. His first move is to inform Jim Marshall he is fired as manager and Salty Saltwell, after a year as general manager, is named secretary and director of park operations. Herman Franks, briefly a Cubs coach under Leo Durocher, will be named the new manager. Ironically, Durocher turned down an offer to manage the Cubs for the 1977 season. (2)
- 1977 – Former major league manager Mayo Smith dies at the age of 62. Smith skippered the Philadelphia Phillies, Cincinnati Reds and Detroit Tigers during a nine-year managerial career, but gained most of his fame when he guided the Tigers to the 1968 World Championship. Smith later scouted for the Oakland Athletics. (2)
Cubs Birthdays: Pete Noonan, Billy Rogell, Dave Hansen*, Jeimer Candelario. Also notable: Joe Medwick HOF.
Today in History:
- 1221 – Battle of the Indus: Genghis Khan’s Mongol force defeats Shah Jalal ad-Din’s army, last battle in Mongolian conquest of Khwarezmian Empire.
- 1434 – River Thames in London freezes over.
- 1639 – First observation of transit of Venus by Jeremiah Horrocks and William Crabtree – helped establish size of the Solar System.
- 1715 – London’s Thames River freezes over.
- 1859 – English naturalist Charles Darwin publishes “On the Origin of Species” radically changing the view of evolution and laying the foundation for evolutionary biology.
- 1874 – American inventor Joseph Glidden patents barbed wire.
- 1966 – The Beatles began recording sessions for their album “Sgt.Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band.”
- 1971 – American D. B. Cooper (“Dan Cooper”) hijacks plane, extorts $200,000 ransom before jumping out of plane over Washington State, never seen again.
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.
- (6) — Wikipedia.
- (7) — The British Museum
- (8) — For world history.
*pictured.
Some of these items spread from site to site without being fact-checked, and that is why we ask for verifiable sources, so that we can help update the records and have documentation. Also, this is supposed to be fun.
