Sosa and Palmeiro free as birds, and other stories. Happy Birthday to Xavier Nady!*
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.
Today in baseball history:
- 1887 – The Cleveland Blues of the American Association announces a new uniform design featuring dark blue stripes and piping. The new suit will inspire the nickname “Spiders” because of the web-like pattern. (2)
- 1900 – The National League rejects the American League as an equal, declaring it an outlaw league outside of the National Agreement, thus inaugurating a state of war. This follows the AL’s announcement two days ago that it has made arrangements to go into Washington, DC, Baltimore and Philadelphia. Two weeks later the American Association makes it a three-way battle, but that third circuit will remain a minor league. (2)
Peter Bendix of Beyond the Box Score had an excellent writeup of this situation and the evolution of the National and American leagues. Rather than duplicate that effort, I recommend the work.
- 1929 – Former pitching star Joe McGinnity dies at the age of 58. McGinnity, nicknamed “Iron Man,” posted 246 wins in only 10 major league seasons. He will enter the Hall of Fame in 1946. (2)
- 1956 – The Pittsburgh Pirates say the franchise may have to move unless a new municipal stadium is built to replace Forbes Field. (2)
- 1961 – John Fetzer, a passionate fan of the game, becomes the lone owner of the Tigers when he buys out the estate of Fred Knorr. After the 1983 season, the media mogul will sell the team to pizza entrepreneur Tom Monaghan. (1,2)
Fetzer was a radio station owner originally, and an electrical engineer by training, and is credited with a lot of innovation, especially regarding developments in broadcasting signal. He was also a spiritualist, founding the Fetzer Institute. He is largely to blame for the spread of Muzak but let’s not hold that against him.
Monaghan sells bad pizza but is otherwise a pretty decent sort by most reports.
- 1986 – The Doubleday Publishing Company agrees to sell the World Champion New York Mets to Nelson Doubleday and Fred Wilpon for $80.75 million. The company had purchased the Mets for a then-record $21.1 million in 1980. (2)
- 2005 – The Baltimore Orioles officially announce that they will not be bringing back outfielder Sammy Sosa or first baseman Rafael Palmeiro, though both have indicated that they would like to return to baseball. “At this point, we are heading in a different direction,” club executive VP Mike Flanagan says. (2)
Cubs Birthdays: Jim Brewer, Willie Hernandez, Kent Bottenfield, Xavier Nady*. Also notable: Jim Piersall.
Today in History:
- 1666 – Samuel Pepys reports on first blood transfusion (between dogs).
- 1856 – American Gail Borden is issued a patent for technology related to his invention of condensed milk.
- 1922 – BBC begins daily radio broadcasts from the 2LO transmitter at Marconi House.
- 1943 – Chicago Bear Sid Luckman passes for seven touchdowns vs NY Giants (56-7).
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.
Thanks for reading.
